{"id":30891,"date":"2021-07-05T11:55:29","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T09:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/ministero\/lavora-con-noi\/concorsi-pubblici\/carriera_diplom\/percorso_professionale\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T09:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T07:31:20","slug":"percorso_professionale","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/servizi-opportunita\/opportunita\/al-maeci\/carriera_diplom\/percorso_professionale\/","title":{"rendered":"The Career Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

Which are the Ranks in the Diplomatic Career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The diplomatic career is divided into the following ranks (*):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Ambassador<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minister Plenipotentiary<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Counsellor of Embassy<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Counsellor of Legation<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Secretary of Legation<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

What does a career in the diplomatic service look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around two-thirds of a career is normally spent abroad. To be eligible for your first career advancement, you need to have served abroad for at least four years in a post outside the Euro-Atlantic area. A \u201ctypical\u201d career follows this pattern:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Secretary of Legation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Training course, to be undertaken at the Ministry\u2019s Offices, and at a Mission abroad (9 months \u2013 probationary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 period)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At the Foreign Ministry (2 \u2013 3 years)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First posting abroad (3 \u2013 4 years)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Second posting abroad (3 \u2013 4 yearsi)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Refresher course (at least 6 months)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
After 10 years and 6 months of service in that rank, promotion to the rank of<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Counsellor of Legation<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At the Foreign Ministry
\n(2 \u2013 3 years)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New posting abroad
\n(3-4 years)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
After at least 4 years of service in that rank, promotion to the rank of<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Counsellor of Embassy<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Posting abroad or to the Ministry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
After at least 4 years of service in that rank, promotion to the rank of a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minister Plenipotentiary<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Posting abroad or to the Ministry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
After at least 6 years of service in that rank, promotion to the rank of<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ambassador<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Posting abroad or to the Ministry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Appointment as Minister Plenipotentiary and Ambassador is made by Decree of the President of the Republic, following a decision by the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

In addition to the salary paid in Italy, an overseas service allowance (ISE) is paid abroad, calculated on the basis of the tasks and duties performed, the cost of living, the hardship of the posting, family responsibilities and representational requirements.<\/p>\n

What positions are held abroad at different stages of a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is always important to distinguish between rank and function. You can serve as an Ambassador abroad without holding the rank of Ambassador (in most Missions), and you can hold the rank of Ambassador whilst occupying a position in Italy within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as that of Director-General. Below is an overview of the various functions that can be performed abroad at different career ranks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
RANK<\/strong><\/td>\nFUNCTION<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ambassador<\/strong><\/td>\nHead of Diplomatic Mission<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minister Plenipotentiary<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Head of Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Minister-Counsellor at a Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Head of a First-Class Consulate General.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Counsellor of Embassy<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • First Counsellor at a Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Head of a Consulate General;<\/li>\n
  • Deputy Consul General at a First-Class Consulate General.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Counsellor of Legation<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Counsellor at a Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Consul at a First-Class Consulate General;<\/li>\n
  • Head of a First-Class Consulate General.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Secretary of Legation with 4 years of seniority in that rank<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • First Secretary at a Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Head of a Consulate;<\/li>\n
  • Deputy Consul at a First-Class Consulate General or Consul at a Consulate General.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Secretary of Legation<\/strong><\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Second\u00a0 Secretary at a Diplomatic Mission;<\/li>\n
  • Head of a Vice Consulate;<\/li>\n
  • Deputy Consul at a First-Class Consulate General, Consulate General or Consulate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Further positions may be held whilst being seconded to serve in other Administrations, both public and sometimes private, international organisations and within the European External Action Service (EEAS).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Which are the Ranks in the Diplomatic Career? The diplomatic career is divided into the following ranks (*): Ambassador Minister Plenipotentiary Counsellor of Embassy Counsellor of Legation Secretary of Legation   What does a career in the diplomatic service look like? Around two-thirds of a career is normally spent abroad. To be eligible for your […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":30886,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30891","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30891"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186271,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30891\/revisions\/186271"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/30886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}