AmeriCorps Advice by Topic
- Tips for Applicants (40)
- AmeriCorps in the News (14)
- Program Fit (7)
- AmeriCorpsNCCC (5)
- Program Overview (5)
- Stories of Service (3)
- Tips for Alum (20)
- Featured Alum (14)
- AmeriCorps State & National (6)
- AmeriCorpsVISTA (5)
- AmeriCorps (5)
- Featured Project (1)
- College Students
- Young Professionals
- Sector Switchers
- Grad Students*
- High School Students*
- Americorps
- Political & Advocacy Jobs
- Green Jobs*
- Government Jobs*
- Social Enterprise Jobs*
- Education Jobs*
- *coming soon
Tips for Alum Articles for AmeriCorps
Why Compete When You Don't Have To?
Published May 22, 2009 @ 11:07AM PT
One of the too-infrequently touted benefits of serving in AmeriCorps*VISTA is Non-Competitive Eligibility for one year after their term of service. What exactly does that mean? Well, it essentially means that you are eligible to apply for federal jobs without having to compete with the general public and that more positions might be available to you.
For example, if you are really passionate about the environment, and you want to work in Obama's administration with the EPA (or one of the many other offices that will be opening to forward social causes), one year of AmeriCorps*VISTA will enable you to apply for positions at the EPA as an internal candidate.
Why does this matter? Because being considered as an internal candidate means that you are competing against a handful of other people, rather than the (literally) thousands of people who apply for federal jobs.
How exactly does it work? If you have completed a full term of AmeriCorps*VISTA service, and you are within a one-year period of your end of service date, complete an application in USAJobs.com and click "I'm a person with non-competitive eligibity."
Very cool.
Picture from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=female+boxer+-dog+-puppy&page=2
How to Market AmeriCorps On Your Resume
Published June 08, 2009 @ 08:26AM PT
So... you are about to finish your time in AmeriCorps... you have a bunch of "marketable" skills, but you aren't sure how to make them stand out on your resume. Sound familiar?
First of all I should start by mentioning that your AmeriCorps experience should (almost) always go under “Experience” or “Work Experience,” rather than “Volunteer Positions.”
Then, you will want to consider a variety of formats, depending on the type of job or school you are applying to.
The key here is to highlight what you want people to notice first... Do you want them to see what organization you worked for? Do you want them to notice that you were an AmeriCorps member? Do you want to highlight your experience with a particular issue? Depending on your answer to these questions, you might want to consider the following formats:
If you are looking for a position that works with a specific issue area (i.e. hunger, children, healthcare), then you would want to highlight the main community partner you worked with…
Leahy Clinic for the Uninsured, University of Scranton
Bi-Lingual Volunteer Coordinator, AmeriCorps*VISTA
(And then relevant bullets)
If you are applying for a position in the federal government, or one that requires National Service experience…
AmeriCorps*VISTA Program
Corps Member, placed at Lehigh Carbon Community College
(And then relevant bullets)
If you are applying for a position with a national non-profit or want to highlight your work with an umbrella organization…
United Way of Quincy, IL
AmeriCorps*VISTA Member, placed at The Food Bank of Quincy
(And then relevant bullets)
Picture from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=paper%20and%20pen&w=all
How To Get The Most Out of Your Education Award
Published June 09, 2009 @ 12:46PM PT
Okay, so we have already talked about colleges and universities that match the AmeriCorps Education Award, but there is another way that you can make sure that you are getting the most out of this benefit.
One individual can only receive two education awards in their lifetime. It doesn’t matter if they are awards for full-time service (i.e. two $4,725 awards) or two part-time (and much smaller) awards.
If you are currently serving as a part-time AmeriCorps member, and think that you might have an interested in one or two years as a full-time member, consider declining your smaller education award (for your part-time service), so that your two lifetime awards are the full amount.
It really stinks for people who served as part-time members and then go on to full-time positions when they can’t get a third education award (even if their part-time one was small).
How To Network Without Happy Hour
Published June 11, 2009 @ 09:52AM PT
Listen up AmeriCorps Alums! Whether you believe it or not, you have more developed professional networks than your counterparts who didn't join AmeriCorps. Well, then why aren't the job offers rolling in? You aren't using your networks!
Whenever I think of networking, I think of the first Lafayette College alumni happy hour that I went to after graduation in DC. It was really fun, but professionally, it got me nowhere. I needed to connect with people in the field that I was interested in... not a bunch of random strangers that went to my college years before I did.
I'm not totally knocking happy hour... I just think that there is a more effective way. The key with my recently-graduated self is that I didn't need to connect with more people, I needed to discover and make use of the network that I already had. You need to do the same. Some examples:
- Sponsoring Organization: During your term of service, your project was most likely oversee by a sponsoring organization like United Way or Habitat for Humanity... your contacts here can be a great asset to you.
- Corporation for National Service Staff: Sometime during your service, you probably connected with folks from CNCS... put those people on your list too.
- Site Placement: This is probably where you have the strongest relationships... your direct supervisor and the staff that you worked with on a day-to-day basis.
- Community Partners: All of the organizations that you worked with during your term of service... staff members, volunteers, and even individual community members.
- Other AmeriCorps Members & AmeriCorps Alums: These are all your peers that you served with, and folks in a network of 500,000 AmeriCorps Alums.
By now, you should have a pretty big list of people--a network, actually. Now, how do you make it work for you?
- Keep in touch: Whether it is to let folks know about a big event in your life or that you are on the job hunt, be sure to keep these relationships fresh with once-in-a-while emails, phone calls, texts, etc.
- Be open: When you are on the job hunt, don't be afraid to let people know that. Write a short email to your contacts about what you are looking for and your resume... before you know it you will have tons of people on the look-out for jobs for you.
- Join AmeriCorps Alums: It is an organization focused on supporting you with job opportunities, connections to other alums in your neighborhood, and resources on careers.
Especially at small non-profits, where a lack of time and money sometimes hinders a national hiring process, knowing someone who knows someone might be your ticket in the door for an interview (the rest is up to you!). Want more on the subject? Check out one of Erin's blog post on the subject.
Picture from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=happy+hour+alumni&page=3
Goodbye jjeeddii@hotmail.com!
Published June 10, 2009 @ 10:01AM PT
This is a true story... at the end of the night that I first met my (now) fiancee in college, we exchanged contact information (this was way before Facebook, etc). I gave him my apartment phone number (no cell yet) and my email address: moakley22@hotmail.com (moakley was taken).
He just gave me his email address: jjeeddii@hotmail.com. You heard me right. Yes, as in Star Wars (apparently jedi@hotmail.com was taken, too).
When he was writing it down, he muttered something about it being a email address from high school.... either way, he was embarrassed. I plan on marrying him anyway, but jjeeddii@hotmail.com had to go!
You know how they say that applying for a job is like dating? There is your proof! Would you date a guy whose email address is player123@yahoo.com? Then why to you think that someone will hire you if your email address is: justwanttohavefun@hotmail.com?
Before you start your search for an AmeriCorps position--or any job for that matter--you need to have a heart-to-heart with your email address, cell phone outgoing message, and any other mode of communication that you use to express yourself.
Go with a professonal-sounding email address; something with your name in it would work fine. Also, change that outgoing message to: "Hello, you have reached the voicemail of...." And yes, the Plain White Tees singing in the background have to go.
Don't think anyone will notice the unprofessionalism of the old email address or message? Trust me, we do.
Need more convincing? Check out Ellen's blog post on the subject.
How AmeriCorps Makes You Happy
Published June 23, 2009 @ 05:00AM PT
This is the first in a series of weekly blog posts on the AmeriCorps Longitudinal Study, which came out in May 2008 and illustrates the impact of AmeriCorps on the lives of those who serve.
I know that this sounds crazy, but there is actually evidence to show that being in AmeriCorps increases your satisfaction with your life, even after you are done serving.
In May 2008, the first study to ever look at how AmeriCorps impacts that lives of alums came out, and one of their biggest findings was that AmeriCorps Alums are more satisfied with their lives and careers than those who did not participate in AmeriCorps.
Eight years after serving, when asked about their satisfaction with their careers, 94% of AmeriCorps*NCCC alumni reported that they were satisfied with their careers, while 86% of AmeriCorps State & National reported the same thing.
The control group? Not as satisfied. So what does this mean for you? Well, in simple terms, joining AmeriCorps is going to increase your chances of being satisfied with your life and your career down the road.
Picture from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=person+laughing&m=text
Tune In: National Conference on Volunteering and Service
Published June 25, 2009 @ 04:56PM PT
If you didn't make it out to this year's National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco, here's your chance to check it out from your own computer. This conference is the world's largest gathering of volunteer and service leaders from the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. AmeriCorps members and alums are abundant at this event.
The Conference has plugged into several web resources, so everyone can find out what's going on. Check it out:
Streaming of some conference proceedings and Blog are at [Business Boomer]
Videos from the opening session and located on YouTube
Recording from the conference session will be posted on the conference webpage
