The USAID recruits more foreign service officers to serve in countries like Iraq, where support is needed to rebuild infrastructure and deliver medical supplies, as seen in this 2003 photograph. Photo: Thomas Hartwell/USAID

The U.S. Agency for International Development is in the midst of a hiring surge to reduce a long-standing shortage in foreign service staff, especially in regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.

Through the Bush administration's Development Leadership Initiative, USAID plans to hire 300 foreign service officers above attrition in fiscal year 2009 and is working to altogether double the foreign service work force within three years.

The Bush administration first proposed the staffing increase several years ago, but funding only became available recently. The planned recruitment of 140 foreign service officers this year, and 300 more over each of the following two years, has resulted in considerably more job postings on usaid.gov.

"There are more positions now on the Web site than ever," said Thomas Davis, USAID's chief of outreach and marketing.

There are currently five foreign service positions for which USAID is hiring in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. For each of those positions, however, there are several vacancies, which means that a number of people are needed to do each job. For example, USAID is looking to hire 16 people right now for the role of general development officer in Iraq; applications are due on March 13, 2009.

USAID job candidates are first rated on their submitted application. High scorers will be invited for interviews in Washington, D.C. USAID will generally invite three candidates for every opening, Davis indicated.

For the first time, USAID is now reimbursing job candidates for their travel to Washington. The screening process in the nation's capital involves

• a writing test to be completed in the presence of USAID staff.

• a group exercise in which a USAID panel evaluates candidates as they discuss the subject of the writing test in a group setting.

• a face-to-face interview with USAID staff.

For its foreign service positions, USAID seeks candidates with:

• a graduate degree in a variety of disciplines, but preferably related to development disciplines. Applicants for the education program officer position, for instance, need not have a master's in education, but could have a business or law degree, according to Davis.

• the proven ability to adjust and adapt to business settings in a foreign environment, for instance through study or work abroad, preferably in development or humanitarian projects.

• work experience in disadvantaged U.S. communities through programs like Habitat for Humanity.

• internship experience in a federal agency, preferably at USAID or the departments of State, Commerce or Agriculture, which Davis said are most relevant to development work.

• internship experience at a non-governmental organization, such as Society for International Development or Food for Peace.

• foreign language skills. French and Spanish are most common, but Arabic "sticks out to a panel," David said.

• U.S. citizenship.

Current hiring initiatives at USAID are not limited to foreign service positions. To support the increase in foreign service employees, USAID is ramping up recruitment for civil service positions, as well. For instance, the more foreign service officers USAID hires, the more financial managers the agency needs to handle payment, Davis noted.

Still, USAID does not plan to hire as many civil service employees as it does field staff, which includes foreign service officers. For civil service positions, candidates do not need a graduate degree and there is no minimum education requirement. Candidates are selected for phone interviews based on their work history.