Afternoon!
The first thing I was interested
to know while researching, is what the heck did volunteers go through to get
invited. Some blogs explain in detail (sorta), some don't. This post is for
everyone who wants to know exactly what you have to go through in my own
personal experience.
August - September 2011
Started application
process online, this includes essays, personal information, references and so
on, took me a around 6 weeks to finish it. I was very close to be disregarded
as a potential candidate after I submitted my application online. The main
office for my recruiting region asked why in my application I preferred to go
to certain regions in my application, in the application it states that you
can't be guaranteed that certain region, but you can choose any of those
regions and if possible they would try to send you there, depending on
availability. So I "naively" put the regions that interested
me to work in: Eastern Europe and Central Asia, The Caribbean, Central America
and Mexico, South America. Basically they thought (I think)...I wanted to go on
vacation. So I had to convince them that the reason I choose most of those
regions was because of my language skills (fluent in Spanish). So after almost
having my dream destroyed of going to the Peace Corps, everything worked out.
So note to everyone out there applying, don't be "naive" and choose all of them.
October 2011 - November 2011
After having my dream almost
destroyed, the regional recruiter contacted me for my academic transcripts and
mentioned I would get a Legal
Packet including:
fingerprint cards, National Agency Check (NAC) and so on. We shooted emails
back and forth, and asked me for an interview. I was going to end up driving
three hours away from home to be interviewed. Luckily after a few days, he
mentioned that he was going to come to my home university for a job fair and he
would be able to interview me in campus. The interview was around 1-2 hours, he
asked me questions he would read in his laptop and recorded my answers by
typing them and via a digital recorder. I went in a black suit and tie
(professional). I did my homework, like any good interviewee and researched for
potential interview questions, expectations, etc. Everything I found out was in
the interview; which made me Ace it, Like a BOSS!
This impressed my recruiter and at the end of the interview he formally
nominated me for the Business and Information & Communication Technology
program. I was like fuck yeah! He said that this is just the beginning of the
process and it will take some months in order to get vacancy on the program he
nominated me for. He mentioned that volunteering in other areas such as:
health, education, youth and community development, etc. This would broaden my
opportunities to get shipped off sooner. In other words even though I was
nominated it didn't mean anything, unless a position opened, which would take
months.
December 2011 - March 2012
In the recurring months I
finished my legal packet. Getting my fingerprints at $15, was the most hassle of
them all, the office working hours were short, they conflicted with my work
schedule and the location was about 30 minutes away from home/work. After
sending my packet, my recruiter and I keep in touch and asked me to email him
every two weeks with updates on my volunteering experience. I honestly tried
looking for volunteering opportunities, but they all conflicted with my work
schedule, in February 2012 I was laid off my job and decided to put my
application on hold. After a month of thinking and struggling, I decided to
pursue my dream and asked my recruiter to keep the process going in my
application. By mid-March my recruiter called to me to officially nominate me
for an Business advising in a French speaking country; unknown at the moment, I
figured out it might be in Africa. I was thrilled and excited that I had to
learn basic French before my departure date; I would be tested to make sure I
know basic French. I started looking for schools and ways to start learning a
new language.
April 2012 - May 2012
After one month and half, I
received an email from my recruiter telling me the program I was nominated for
was cancelled due to program changes. I was sad, but I was patient enough and
in May 2012 I was nominated once again to another program in Business Development
for the Central/South America Region for early departure in March 2013 to an
unknown Spanish speaking country. My recruiter mentioned I would be getting my
medical kit through the mail and that I would need to complete it by July 2012.
From there the most extensive and difficult part of my application started:
"Medical Kit".
