Posted by Civilian Revna Freya McKenzie (Resident) in Federation Embassy- Hiring the Staff

Posted by Civilian Jeannette Mathis (Federation Ambassador) in Federation Embassy- Hiring the Staff

Posted by Civilian Revna Freya McKenzie (Resident) in Federation Embassy- Hiring the Staff
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The night before had been late and busy and wonderful. Revna was reply proud and impressed with all the work Seamus, Ragna, Capall, and Runa had done to get everything and everyone ready. It was going to be hard, but the results magnificent. That morning she had risen early, dressed, helped for a few hours before the sun was truly up, then changed to meet with Mathis. She rode in one of the shuttles with several people who had ro goninto the city proper. She walked the rest of the way.

She was right on time, if a but early, when she was let in to the embassy and led to Mathis’ office where the door stood open. She knocked softly so she wouldn’t disturb any work going on.

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Jeannette was at her desk and lifted her head at the knock. She gave Revna a smile and waved her in. “Good morning. Please, have a seat.” She was a bit more rested than when Revna saw her yesterday, but there were deep shadows under her eyes. “How are you today?” she asked with sincere interest.

She slid a PADD over to Revna. “So, this is the long list that the Lieutenant Governor and I came up with. I’m still working on getting access to Dash’s external files, and he had a list himself that we were going to combine with mine. So we just had to re-do it and this is what we have. The positions we need to fill are two Administrative Clerks, Consular Officer, Consular Assistant, Staffing Manager, Public Affairs Officer, Management Officer, Grounds Manager, and a Resource Coordination Assistant. Those were our first priorities to make this place functional enough to be open to the public. Right now we’re just cobbling along with people employed elsewhere who are helping about until positions are filled. And of course, every person who works here must be security vetted and be able to obtain special security clearance. Criminal records won’t be automatic disqualifiers, but it very much is a case by case basis depending on the nature of the record.” She blew out a breath and gave a weary smirk. “I was going to have Dash do a lot of the preliminary interviews so I could focus on the Vren, but I don’t want to assume what your comfortable with and we really need to be doing these interviews asap.”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

Revna took the list but waited to look at it. “I am happy to do preliminaries. I also had a couple of thoughts. Many of these people will be interfering in your day to day life and the business of your family. Would your spouse or son be interested in helping? They would know faster than I would if their personality will mesh or not. I can interview for skills and experience but compatibility is a huge part.”

That was an interesting question. “Technically, they don’t have the clearance to work within the embassy, but as you say, especially given that our residence will be within these walls, it important that they are comfortable. What about some sort of mixer, say after preliminary interviews. We can all talk and get to know each other and that will give them a chance to suss out those that they feel more at ease with. But I’m open to other ideas.”

“That seems like an excellent idea. It is also a good way to see how the applicants fare in a more social but formal situation with people they do not know.” Revna grimaced, “And as much as I hate to say it. They will realize there are competitors for the jobs and you will see how they handle that. It is telling.”

For a moment Mathis was amused. “For sure. Diplomacy is full of egos, but the reality is that the situation we have right here and now on Oed requires everyone to set aside their egos for the sake of the work. Everything is too precarious and I don’t have time for people who aren’t willing to truly work as part of a team.” Her lips curled a little more upwards. “And as a bonus, my biology gives me a general insight into people. It can be very useful at times.”

“Then it will be a way to weed out the potential problems early. You might even invite a few high profile guests to make it more realistic.”

She held up a finger and nodded. “I like that,” Mathis said. “I have some ideas on who would be be ideal for that as well.”

“I’ll draft up an invitation for your approval, and then we can send it out. By Wed for a Sunday event. Is that doable?”

Mathis nodded. “Works for me. This job often demands unexpected schedule changes and last minute events, so trial by fire, as we’ve said.

“Also, for the assistants, what about students from the university. They would vet and run the qualifiers. It would connect the embassy with the community at large and provide a necessary apprenticeship credit for the students.”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Mathis nodded slowly. “That could work as well. So long as they can obtain security clearance, I don’t see a problem with that. I think especially for the Staffing Manager and the Public Affairs Officer, they would be key roles we would want to fill and then they can help with the onboarding of the assistants.” She actually smiled. “Yeah, I like that idea. It helps create a work culture here that is uniquely Oed.”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

“I can reach out to the university to start the process. Alright, who is your head of Security right now? We can get them started on clearance checks and I can start calling to arrange interviews. A lot can be determined by just a comm call.”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Jeanette nodded. “Commander Ritno. He can handle the baseline background checks. Once we have a short list for each role, then we can have the Diplomatic Corps do the final vetting since Federation Security will have jurisdiction over embassy info.”

“Anything else you can think of? I know there are many details we’ll have to sort out, and while I’ve worked embassies for years, this is the first I’ve actually established a new one. It’s a very different experience.”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

“A chef. Even if they hire out for large events, you want someone in house in charge. A PR person that deals with just the media for the embassy. With the investigation there are going to be calls. I would also suggest a Cultural Attaché to arrange things like food choices, decor, living arrangements for guests. You may not have immediate need, but it would be good to start looking.”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Jeanette pulled over a PADD and grabbed a stylus, quickly jotting down some notes. “See? I even showed you the kitchen on the tour and it didn’t even occur to me.” She looked up and flashed a grateful smile. “I’m glad one of us has our wits about them.” Did it make her nervous for this afternoon? A little, but she also had time to prep what she could and centre herself. “I like the idea of a Cultural Attaché. I can see how the Resource Coordination Assistant would work with them quite regularly.”

Mathis pulled over her copy of the applicants. “There are some potential local people who have applied but I have some sent through the Corps as well. While some might advocate for a Oed-centric staffing process, I actually believe having a diverse staff with a variety of experience will be a better representation. This is a Federation Embassy, after all.”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

“You’ll be fine. Let me deal with this,” she lifted the applications. “I will look for a mix of backgrounds as well as skills. Then those that make the cut I will ask Cmdr Ritno to run backgrounds. You prep for your meeting. Would you like coffee or tea?”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

For a moment, Jeanette was unguarded enough to allow her surprise to show. Enough that her hand hovered above the PADD and she looked up at Revna with a frown. A part of her wanted to say that she could manage setting up beverages herself, the Ambassador would bring his own beverages with him, but practically speaking, she had to get the conference room ready on top of actually preparing for the content of the meeting. “Coffee, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said softly. “It felt strange to have someone of a fellow ambassador rank asking about beverages, even though she understood within minutes of meeting McKenzie that she was a practical woman like herself.

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

Revna smiles and shook her head. “Not at all. Today think of me as your substitute Attaché. You are the one prepping for negotiations, not me. So whatever I can do to help just let me know.” Revna left the office and headed into the kitchen. She rummaged until she found everything and got the coffee started. While it brewed she stood at the counter and started reading over the applications and sorting them into who she thought would fit what role. It wasn’t always the one that had been applied for.

20 minutes later she carried a tray into Jeannette’s office with coffee, cream, and sugar on it and set it down. She left as quietly as she arrived.

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Staring at her screen, Jeanette was focused on her computer terminal. She had looked up and offered a smile of thanks to Revna, but appreciated the understanding that she needed to give this her undivided attention. If nothing else, preparing for the meeting with Kek distracted her from Dash, and expected autopsy reports, and the need to arrange some sort of memorial.

After awhile, she got up and moved down to the next office that had been Dash’s and hunted for a PADD she thought he had written some notes on. But it wasn’t there. He was had been meticulous, and he never left things idly about, nor did he misplace stuff. But a part of her had hoped he had lapsed just this one time even as she knew that a part of her work had just gotten far more complicated.

Frustrated, she sent off the message she had meant to send earlier and sought out Revna. “You know, there are small moments when I wish I was back on Coridan, because at least there I knew what the hell was going on,” she said with a huff and then a lopsided smirk. “How’s it going for you?”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

Revna was sitting in the kitchen, with a cup of black tea, stylus in hand, and making notes on the PaDDs she was working on. She looked up and smiled. “It’s going well. I’ve given the first set of applicants to the commander to run background checks on. I’m going to through previous employment and references for the next set. The college is going to put out apprenticeship notices. I also took the liberty of listing the positions for Chef, Cultural Attache, and Public Relations Chief. We’ve already gotten some applicants.”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Her brows lifted as she stood very still. “Really? Huh,” Jean said as she looked off to the side for a moment before she returned her gaze to Revna. “Are they local candidates?”

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador

“Yep. The ones so far are. I have feelers out on the diplomatic network too. But it’s no secret that the embassy is being set up , so people are looking, hopeful, to find a job for which they might be able to apply. I haven’t looked at those yet. I’m working on the most essential roles right now.” The PaDD beeped as the background checks came in that she had asked for. She started going through them. She started to take a drink of her tea and set it down. “Well that’s a hard no. Why would you apply for a job like this? This one got into a physical altercation that involved speciestic hate speech on their part and they instigated the situation.” She flicked that application to the ‘no’ pile. “There might be extenuating circumstances, but with a time crunch and an already tense diplomatic situation, I don’t think it’s worth it.” She glanced through the others, not seeing anything that flagged the rest in that group. “I’ll set up preliminary interviews with these.”

Revna, Lady McKenzie

Jeanette nodded, appreciating revna’s prescience that time mattered a great deal. Unfortunately, they had little time for second-impressions unless there was a truly compelling reason. For a moment she just gazed at the woman, considering her. “Sounds like you have things well in hand. I’m grateful for the help.”

“And I have to say, it does surprise me that people are so eager to work here. We’ve had a rather mixed welcome. On the other hand, this embassy is a great foot in the door for anyone wanting to go into civil service, so I can see how that might appeal to people. I’m not expecting people wanting to spend their whole life working here, but it important that whomever we bring onto the team truly understands the delicate nature of this work. Even for a chef role, they can make or break even the smallest event.” There was no ‘small’ role in her eyes. Each person was pivotal.

Jeannette Mathis, Federation Ambassador