This is an unofficial guide based on student experiences. For the most authoritative, up-to-date information, see the official orientation website.
You will receive a Department of State (DOS) badge during your first week of orientation. Until you receive your badge, you will not have access to your DOS e-mail or other applications.
Orientation staff will schedule your badging appointment during the first few days of orientation so be on the lookout for an e-mail or calendar invite. For previous classes, badging appointments occurred over two days at the badging office located at SA-09 (2025 E St NW, Washington, DC), which is a 10-minute walk from the Foggy Bottom metro station.
Note: If someone tells you to schedule your badging appointment, e-mail FSIOrientation@state.gov to resolve the conflict.
Orientation staff will include detailed instructions in a calendar invitation or e-mail. However, you should bring the following:
a printed copy of the security briefing memo (e-mailed to you)
two forms of government-issued photo ID
You will have your photo taken during your appointment, so we recommend business formal attire.
During your appointment, badging office staff will:
collect your security briefing memo and identification
take your photo
print your badge
provision your badge
The provisioning process allows you to use your badge to access Department facilities and computer systems. As part of this process, you will need to choose a six-digit PIN, which you will use to sign into Department systems and facilities.
Expect to spend about two or more hours at the badging office.
Note: If you have issues accessing Department buildings through the badge readers at turnstiles or doors after provisioning, please let your Mission Group leader know immediately so that orientation staff can work with Diplomatic Security to resolve the issue. Having access control technical difficulties WILL NOT prevent you from accessing FSI or HST. If access issues persist, you can call DS at (202) 647-4418.
For previous classes, orientation staff arranged for a Diplomatic Technology Officer (DTO) team to be on-site at SA-09 immediately after badging appointments to set up access to most Department IT systems. Note that it will take a bit longer for you to be able to access a couple of the IT applications. Access to HR Applications will take longer as the Department processes your onboarding paperwork. Your access to Employee Express, where you can check your Earn and Leave Statements will come later after you are e-mailed an access code.
If you need the code e-mailed to you, please ask TACFSNewHire@state.gov for further instructions or ask in your class Teams channel under "HR (GTM) Help".
Before your session, you should :
Download the Microsoft (MS) Authenticator application onto your smart phone via Google Play or the Apple Store.
During your session, DTO staff will:
provision your badge for access to OpenNet;
ensure you have access to GoBrowser (allows web-based access to Office365 online applications, including Outlook);
give you a card reader so you can access GoBrowser and other Department applications at home on your personal device.
Two items that are done separately from the initial tech set-up:
Access to HR Applications will likely take a few weeks. You will be granted access once State processes your onboarding paperwork during the first few weeks of orientation.
You will be e-mailed or mailed an access code for Employee Express in the first couple weeks, which gives you access to view Earn and Leave Statements.
Note: If for some reason you need to do this later, you can contact DTO (202-647-2000) to schedule an appointment for your badge to be provisioned at HST (one block from SA-09) or SA-15 (a five-minute walk from the Rosslyn metro station).