I’m in the process of applying to AmeriCorps, for next year - the NCCC program. I’m interested in that program specifically because, unlike other AmeriCorps options, you work on a team that does a variety of projects over the course of a year, rather than just one full-time job for the entire time. I have a very…well, useless degree, and I know I want to work in public service, but I’m pretty adrift at this point. I’m hoping that it’ll let me get a better grip on what I want to commit myself to career-wise, and/or help me eventually get something other than a rejection from a graduate school.
Or, it’ll make me look like a total slacker who went to college, flunked out, went back, squandered it on a totally useless degree, and still couldn’t quite get her life together and had to resort to AmeriCorps, rather than, you know, getting a real job and becoming a productive member of society. Which I will grant could indeed be considered true, but I’m trying to minimize how obvious it is.
It depends on what kind of job you’re hoping to get. If you apply for something that requires the sort of experience you got from Americorp, then it looks fine. If you apply for something that requires practical, hands on experience in a field completely unrelated to whatever you did with Americorp, then it’s just filler text.
A lot depends on presentation. If you can describe it in terms of furthering future career or educational goals (even after the fact) then it can sound very positive. If you frame it in terms of killing time until you figured out what you wanted to do then it wouldn’t sound as good. What kind of public service are you considering?
I work for a state agency now, used to work for local government. I have a pretty positive impression of the program and members, and I think it would look fine on a resume. I think the key will be to seek out projects that stretch you, add to your skills and knowledge. Also, it will allow you to network - and those good contacts will be important in either hooking you up with job opportunities or writing recommendations for grad school.
When I have participated in the screening and hiring process, I have always been more interested in what people learned from their experiences than whether they needed to take some time to get through college (or whatever “problem” they might have). So, like Karyn said, frame it as an educational opportunity.
If you want to work for government and are not looking at a technical type of job as your future - engineering, geology, wildlife biology - my experience has been that project management skills are most essential. My philosophy is that I can help you learn the subject matter, but you need to bring the organizational and communication skills with you. I imagine nonprofit work is similar at the entry level.
It is. I’ve worked in local government as a project manager, primarily in IT but I got loaned out for all sorts of odd things, and I was the executive director of a nonprofit and the same skills applied to both for the most part. Any experience where you have to work as part of a team or lead any part of it is valuable, and anything that requires you to see a project from beginning to end is going to be a big plus. Those were always the qualities that I looked for in program and project managers. Learning to get things done in government and at times in nonprofits is an art in itself and anything that requires tact, diplomacy, political common sense or walking on eggshells to get what you need is going to be a great asset to your career.
I think you’ve already nixed the idea, but since you asked for advice, I’m gonna nag you about Peace Corps again.
The work people do in Peace Corps is professional level, and there is a lot of freedom and resources to take on whatever scale project you are interested in. You can have a level of responsibility that you would never have in a regular entry-level job. The networking opportunities are also very important- most volunteers are very ambitious people looking to work in public service. So the public and non-profit sectors are full of PCVs who would love to hire another PCV. And you will no doubt make many high-level connections with both government and NGO agencies in your countries. It’s a shortcut- especially for people who did not go to top colleges and do not have pre-existing family connections- to join higher circle of professionals. In short, you can easily get to know some powerful people.
After your service, if you’ve done at least a little bit of networking (easy among expats) you will most likely be able to walk into a public service job. Quite a few people I knew in Cameroon walked out to find jobs with NGOs. Some joined the foreign service. Many went on to grad school- grad schools love Peace Corps. But all my PCV friends are many, many, many steps higher on the professional ladder than my friends who stayed at home working regular jobs.
Ultimately, it comes down to what you do and how you do it as an AmeriCorps participant. There are people who go into it looking for just something to do until “the real world” starts for them. Others want the opportunity to really get their hands dirty and make an impact. I’ve worked with organizations that have had both, and let me tell you how quickly the names of the All Stars get around.
I would suggest finding a placement that is going to give you one project, not a series of them. Something that sounds a bit over your head, but manageable if you dedicate yourself to it. We had a volunteer organize, coordinate and plan a statewide fundraising campaign that involved months of planning, 6 different cities, dozens of organizations and countless hours of “overtime”. By the end of it, no one could believe that one person, let alone a volunteer, had spearheaded it. You can bet that her name shot to the top of the pile if she were to apply at any one of those dozens of organizations (she instead went to law school).
Former Americorps National Direct member here. My service lead directly to my last 2 positions, for the last 5 years of my career. Being a rockstar Americorps lead me to be hired by my host agency for 2 years, followed by 3 years at another affiliate after a move.
National Direct is different in that you stay with same program for your whole year, but the networking opportunities of NCCC are pretty awesome. During my AC year, I worked with a guy who had done a year with NCCC first. His experiences ran from dreadful to amazing depending on the project he was working on. It certainly gave him a taste for service; he went back to school for a non-profit admin degree after his second year.
I had a blast and if I had it to do over again I’d do NCCC while I was still young enough. If Americorps is still around when I retire, I’d like to do another year as a Senior Corps member.
Awesome. You’re one of a number of people who’ve had pretty much all good things to say about it, so that’s good. The networking is part of why I’m interested in NCCC - I know there’s one or two places in the country I don’t want to end up, but I’m not just at a loss for what to do, but also where to do it after I graduate, so making connections in various places would be useful.
I actually am planning on applying to Peace Corps - just not now. For one, it would apparently be probably at least six months before I left for training, so I’d have to find some crap job in the meantime. Secondly, I’m not sure I want to commit to 27 months of service now, and a shorter commitment just feels more comfortable. And also in a year or two I’ll be making a second round of (hopefully successful) grad school applications, so I’ll apply to the Peace Corps then, because there’s a number of schools that offer programs where you can finish your master’s while you’re overseas with them.
Thanks for the feedback - what I’m getting here and from other places is that, basically, as long as I don’t put on my resume that I joined AmeriCorps for lack of anything else to do, it won’t hurt.
well, gee, as a former and current member of NCCC I would hate to think that it looks bad on a resume. If people are inclined to think I’m a slacker because I’m in Americorps, well – then they’re welcome to work on an organic farm beside me, build a Habitat house beside me, mentor children beside me, work 12-hour shifts on Disaster Relief beside me, and *then *make up their minds.
Americorps *NCCC is also big on providing Life After Americorps opportunities for their members. You will get tons of information about educational, work, and volunteer programs that LOVE former NCCCers.
FWIW, I’m working on my masters in public policy at one of the top programs in the country and a lot of my classmates have been in AmeriCorps. If you are planning to do a masters afterward, I’d have to think it will look excellent on your application.
Unlike even sven, I would not recommend Peace Corps for you, based on reading many of your posts. Frankly, I don’t think you’re mature enough. (BTW, I applied to Peace Corps right out of college and ended up not going; in retrospect, it was a good thing because I wasn’t mature enough at the time. I’m glad I ended up doing it at 27 instead of 22. I think I was a much better volunteer than I would have been when I was younger.) AmeriCorps might be better because while the work is hard, it doesn’t have the same level of culture shock involved. A friend of mine did two tours in AmeriCorps and she did some really fantastic stuff in it. I say go for it.