What the application process entails, and a timeline of how it went for us.
Applying to be a Peace Corps Volunteer
The application process is the same for everyone - nearly. It's slightly different for people applying as couples, and I'll get into that below.
Choosing a job to apply to
In 2015, the Peace Corps got nearly 20,000 applications for less than 4,000 positions. It's more than just volunteer work - it's a highly coveted position, with many qualified people applying. With this in mind, choosing a job that you're well-suited for is essential to your success in the application process. The Peace Corps has 6 sections - Youth Development, Education, Health, Agriculture, Environment and Community Economic Development - and chances are, you're only well-qualified for one or two of the sectors. That means waiting for a job to open up in the sector you're qualified for is necessary if you want a chance at being placed. Getting your choice of country comes second to finding the right job to apply for. Chances are, your dream PC country might not have openings in the sector you're best suited for. Aaron and I applied to be Youth Development Specialists in Morocco. This position required both of us to have Bachelor's degrees, and lots of experience working with youth in various settings. As teachers and tutors, we qualified well for this area.
The application process
Once you've chosen the perfect job for you, you get to start on your application! The application itself is fairly straight-forward. Lots of it is filling out personal information, but there as essay question in the application, regarding why want to be a Peace Corps volunteer, and why you'd be a good candidate. After filling this out, you're required to fill out a Health History form. This details all your mental and physical health, and allows Peace Corps to know you can safely be placed in a third world country that may not have the same access to medical care as we do in America. You also need at least two references - one from a supervisor, and one from a mentor. You may also have a teacher or professor reference. Once you've finished all the online paperwork, you must wait to be selected for an interview.
The Interview Process
The interview process was by far the most nerve-racking and difficult part of the Peace Corps application process. You get contacted to sign up for an interview by email, and choose a date and time. On that date and time, you video conference with your interviewer. The interview is scheduled to take 60-90 minutes. There are four parts to the interview:
1) Motivations to be a Volunteer: in this section, your interviewer will ask you specific questions about why you wish to become a volunteer, your knowledge of the Peace Corps, and your knowledge of the country you've applied to serve in. Be sure to do thorough research, and be able to tell them where you've been researching (my interview asked). Also, make sure you pronounce it correctly - "Peace Core", not "Peace Corpse".
2) Behavioral interview questions: Your interview invitation email will ask you to think about times you were in certain situations, and how you coped with those situations. Be sure to have rehearsed your answers ahead of time, and have something to say for each topic. The topics I was asked to speak to were:
o living or working with people from another culture; o working in an unstructured environment; o fulfilling an important but difficult commitment; o working in a challenging team dynamic; o an example of transferring knowledge or skills, such as teaching, tutoring, or mentoring others; and o failing to achieve a significant goal that was within your control.
3) Legal Clearance: during this portion of the interview, you will be asked to verbally confirm legal statements. These include agreeing with the drug/alcohol policy, and the criminal charges policy.
4) Questions: by far the best part of the interview is when you get to ask your interviewer questions. I was lucky enough to be interviewed by a returned PCV, so I asked her a lot about her experience. Other questions I asked her included:
o What would you recommend for best acclimating to a new culture?
o How would you prepare for the Peace Corps differently if you could do it again?
o Do you have any suggestions for learning a new language?
o How did the Peace Corps affect your career path once returning to America?
The Couples Interview Process
This extra bit of fun is only for those applying in a partnership (domestic or marital). The process is very similar to the interview process I explained above, but with both of you on the teleconference call at once. This whole process got delayed a bunch, because we were trying to schedule it during the holiday season, and then the government got shutdown (thanks Trump!), and our interviewer got furloughed. With all this in mind, it took us nearly a month to schedule our second interview after we got the invitation. This actual interview was a bit shorter, and was only scheduled for 30-45 minutes. Your interviewer will ask you a lot of questions pertaining to how you have handled stress, differences and changes within your relationship, and why you will be successful together in the Peace Corps.
Some of the questions we were asked included:
1. How long have you been living together? Have you ever moved to a new location together? Please describe some of the challenges you faced and how you overcame them.
2. How long have you talked about serving in Peace Corps together? Who first suggested it? Did your desire to serve together influence your decision to get married?
3. What do you see as some of the advantages and disadvantages of serving in Peace Corps as a couple?
4. Identify a crisis situation or event that you have experienced together. How specifically did you handle that crisis? What did you learn, as a couple, from that experience?
6. It is likely that while learning the language, initiating projects, or assimilating in your community, one of you is going to be more successful than the other. Have you dealt with varying levels of success in the past? How can you support each other when one of you is doing well and the other is progressing more slowly?
Timeline:
August 31st: Turned in the application (it was due by November 1st).
September 2nd: Turned in Health forms
September 5th: Notification of application being under review
November 26th: Interview invitation
December 12th: Interview
December 12th: Couple's Interview Invitation
December 22nd: Government shutdown begins, putting the Peace Corps workers in furlough, and postponing our Couple Interview that was supposed to be 12/24.
January 25th: Government shutdown ends and we're able to speak with our PC interviewer and schedule our couple interview! Finally... We scheduled it for February 5th, at 6:00am..Did I mention that all our interviews run on Eastern time, so they end up being at weird times for us here in California?
February 5th: We had our couples interview. It was much shorter than our individual ones were.
Now we wait to hear back! Our interviewer said that though the government shutdown technically meant we might not hear back until May 1st (our original hear-by-date was March 1st), she'd try her hardest to let us know by March.
February 21st: We are officially invited to join Peace Corps Morocco as Youth Development Specialists!!!! Now we just have to go through loads of medical clearance, and we'll be 100% certified Peace Corps volunteers!
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