3 FAM 2700
Training and Employee Development
Foreign Service Career DevelopMent
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(Office of Origin: PERT/CDA)
3 FAM 2711 AUTHORITY
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
The Foreign Service Act of 1980 (as amended) authorizes the Department of State to “establish a professional development program to assure that members of the Service obtain the skills and knowledge required at the various stages of their careers.” (22 U.S.C. §4023)
3 FAM 2712 FOREIGN Service Professional Development Program
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
3 FAM 2712.1 Career Development Program (CDP) and Professional Development Program (PDP)
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. CDPs and PDPs are career planning tools whose purpose is to help employees manage their assignments and career choices so that they acquire the experience and breadth of service that will prepare them for more senior positions in the Foreign Service. CDPs and PDPs have been developed for Foreign Service Generalists and for each of the professional specialties within the Foreign Service. Each PDP includes a schedule when the PDP will fully replace the CDP. The CDP and PDP for generalists and for each specialty category can be found in the HR Portal. Note that the Department will retire the Generalist CDP on December 31, 2025. For Generalists, the PDP will be the only pathway into the Senior Foreign Service (SFS) starting in 2026. The Department will retire Specialist CDPs on varying timelines as found in the HR Portal.
b. Each CDP and PDP includes requirements that employees must complete to be eligible for promotion into the SFS or to the highest promotable grade of their professional specialty.
3 FAM 2712.2 Waiver of CDP and PDP Mandatory Requirement for Service at Hardship Posts
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
Employees have an affirmative obligation to manage their careers in a way that allows them to meet the mandatory requirement to serve at hardship differential posts as specified in their CDP or PDP. Most employees, including those who have (or whose EFMs have) Class 2 or post-specific medical clearances, can meet their hardship service requirement. Employees may have the option to serve at posts that do not have the needed medical resources if they are willing to travel to obtain the necessary medical care. Rest and recuperation and hardship differential benefits at hardship posts are financial avenues afforded to employees to make this possible. However, there may be rare cases when employees are not able to fulfill these requirements. In such cases, the director of the Office of Career Development and Assignments (PERT/CDA) or, upon appeal, the chief human capital officer may waive all or part of the hardship differential service requirement to enable consideration for promotion into the SFS (or, depending on specialty, the highest promotable grade) based on one or more of the criteria in paragraph b below:
(1) Waiver criteria:
The Bureau of Medical Services found the employee to be not medically qualified for such assignments. Documentation of the employee’s medical clearance status during relevant time periods (email is acceptable) from the Medical Clearances Division of the Bureau of Medical Services (M/MED/MC) is required to confirm that the employee was found not medically qualified for assignments at a qualifying hardship differential post. Employees must also submit evidence of the efforts they made to serve at qualifying differential posts over the course of their career.
(2) The employee is medically qualified to serve at qualifying hardship differential posts but did not accept such assignments because the employee cares for a spouse or a dependent ineligible to receive the medical clearance needed to accompany the employee to such posts of assignment. Employees seeking a waiver under this provision must provide confirmation that the spouse or dependent was not medically cleared to accompany the employee to the relevant qualifying differential post(s) (email is acceptable) from M/MED/MC. When reviewing waiver requests under this criterion, PERT may give consideration to whether a one-year unaccompanied tour would have been practicable; and
(3) There are extraordinary compassionate circumstances. Such circumstances may include issues pertaining to the special educational needs of the employee’s child(ren); the inability of the employee to obtain an assignment at a post that accredits their spouse; the employee’s repeated separation from their family across a career span; good-faith efforts by the employee to serve in qualifying posts without being able to secure a position at such a post (employees must submit evidence of bids AND lobbying on qualifying hardship differential posts). Time spent in leave without pay or in Domestic Employee Teleworking Overseas status at a qualifying differential post may serve as evidence of an employee’s good faith efforts to secure such positions. In limited and rare circumstances, employees may request a waiver to allow consideration for partial service if they were unable to complete a tour of duty for reasons outside the employee’s control (e.g., if the employee’s assignment is curtailed after their post goes on ordered departure, or if their assignment is curtailed for medical reasons, either their own or a family member’s). While family separation in and of itself may not constitute an extraordinary circumstance, PERT considers the good-faith efforts of tandems and same-sex couples to seek assignments at qualifying posts despite nepotism or privilege-and-immunity restrictions.
c. Procedures for Applying for a Waiver: A candidate who has not met the hardship differential service requirements of their PDP or CDP may request a waiver of the hardship differential service requirement to the director of PERT/CDA through their CDO. The waiver request must include the reason(s) for the request and must address the criteria in 3 FAM 2712.2 paragraph b.
d. If the director of PERT/CDA or, on appeal, the chief human capital officer, grants a waiver, the employee’s CDO will inform the employee and place a copy of the approved waiver in the employee’s Official Personnel File. A waiver is valid for one Senior Threshold Open Season, or opportunity for the employee to open their window for promotion to the Senior Foreign Service. If the employee opens their window, they will be entitled to the appropriate number of reviews as their time-in-class/time-in-service status permits. If the employee does not open their window in the Senior Threshold Open Season for which they received the waiver, renewal of the waiver is not automatic; therefore, the employee must reapply for the waiver. The deadline for applying for a waiver is included in the annual cable announcing the deadline for opening one’s window for consideration for promotion to the SFS. If the waiver is denied, the employee’s file is not forwarded for consideration for promotion over the threshold by the promotion panel. In this case, the employee’s window remains closed, and the employee can reapply for a waiver the next year.
e. Appeal of Denial of Waiver: Employees may appeal the director of PERT/CDA’s denial of a waiver to the chief human capital officer of the Foreign Service via DG Direct (dgdirect@state.gov) within ten business days after receipt of the waiver denial. The chief human capital officer then renders a decision on the appeal prior to the convening of the Foreign Service Selection Boards. Decisions by the chief human capital officer are final and may not be appealed.
3 FAM 2713 Foreign Service Mentoring Program
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
3 FAM 2713.1 Purpose
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. The Foreign Service Mentoring Program provides comprehensive mentoring resources that account for the unique contingencies of Foreign Service careers, such as competitive entry; promotion; changing assignments; frequent moves; constant cultural/organizational adaptation; and numerous shifts of job functions. More information is available on the iMentor Mentoring Portal.
b. PERT recognizes that the varied nature of our overseas missions and domestic operations means there are many approaches to professional development and leadership. One of the Department’s Leadership and Management Principles, Value and Develop People, addresses mentoring. Mentoring helps to fuel professional development and growth of employees consistent with the Core Precepts, Executive Core Qualifications, and the Department’s Leadership and Management Principles (see 3 FAM 1214).
3 FAM 2713.2 Administration
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
The Continuity Counseling Unit, Office of Career Development and Assignments, Bureau of Personnel & Training (PERT/CDA/CC) manages the Foreign Service Mentoring Program. The Foreign Service Mentor Council, under direction of the Office of the Director General, was established to oversee the program. The Council is composed of SFS employees representing Generalist and Specialist career tracks from regional and functional bureaus in the Department and PERT representatives from the Office of Employee Relations (PERT/ER) and the Office of Performance Evaluation (PERT/PE). The PERT principal deputy assistant secretary (PDAS) chairs the Council. If the PDAS is unavailable, the PERT/CDA office director or deputy office director chairs the Council. The Council typically meets three times per year to affirm preliminary mentor/mentee matchings, to vote on mentor award nominations, and to review the effectiveness of the program components. Details to apply for a mentor or be a mentor can be found on the iMentor Mentoring Portal.
3 FAM 2713.3 Components
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)
(State Only)
(Applies to Foreign Service Employees Only)
a. The Foreign Service Mentoring Program is voluntary and has the following components:
(1) The First Domestic Tour Program provides mentors for employees on their first domestic assignments to help them navigate work in domestic locations. Interested mentees apply utilizing the iMentor website and are matched with Washington-based mentors using a comprehensive matching process. All pairing requests are made through the iMentor website. PERT/CDA/CC completes pairings, with final approval granted by the Foreign Service Mentor Council;
(2) PERT/CDA/CC provides Mentor Group Dialogues to interested newly hired Foreign Service employees during or shortly after the conclusion of orientation. Mentor Group Dialogues allows new employees to meet with experienced employees for structured conversation. A mentor will guide a cohort of approximately ten new-hire employees through a one-time facilitated group discussion and readout session;
(3) Situational mentoring offers employees the flexibility to brainstorm solutions to issues one-on-one with Foreign Service mentors who have expertise in the area the employee would like to address. PERT/CDA/CC maintains a mentoring database of the situational mentors available to respond to requests from employees for assistance. Interested employees can contact PERT/CDA/CC at FSMentoring@state.gov with their specific concerns so that they can be matched with a situational mentor; and
(4) The FS-01 Leadership Program provides SFS mentors for FS/FP-01 employees, particularly those interested in competing for promotion to the senior ranks. Interested employees can contact PERT/CDA/CC at FSMentoring@state.gov with their specific concerns so that they can be matched with an SFS mentor.
b. The Department continues to support mentoring at overseas posts. Programs for first- and second-tour Generalists and Specialists provide entry-level Foreign Service employees with mentoring by the deputy chief of Mission or principal officer at U.S. missions. Mid-level programs provide additional guidance and development opportunities for mid-level employees. All posts, under the direction of their leadership, are required to implement or maintain an active structured professional development program in collaboration with entry-level and mid-level Generalists and Specialists at their posts. The iMentor Mentoring Portal provides resources to assist posts with developing mentoring programs to include unique training/coaching opportunities, and regular training time for employees to sharpen critical skill sets. The Department shares missions’ best practices through the iMentor Mentoring Portal.
3 FAM 2714 through 2719 unassigned
(CT: PER-1240; 08-28-2025)