My business degree and the Peace Corps?

Question

I want to join the Peace Corps pretty badly. I will have Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and Information Systems and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. I don't have really any job experience, but I plan on the next two years of college to volunteer to make my application more appealing. What would I do with my degree, or is it not even a reality for my degree to be worked into a program with the Peace Corps? Would my no work experience hurt my application? Would the volunteer work cancel out myself not having any work experience? What should I volunteer in?

I also want to know about the physical requirements. I am in perfect health, but am kinda fat, I could lose 30 pounds or so. Is being fat a disqualifying factor?

Answer 1

Hey! Business is actually perfect for the Peace Corps. Most people don't know it, but business is a huge sector the Peace Corps works in. ( http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shel... ) It seems like business is big in most regions, but I would tend to say Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe would be the most common areas to send PC Business Volunteers. I know I have a friend leaving for Guatemala in 2 months to do Municipal Business.  I believe they also have it in Morocco & Jordan (those 2 are the 2 countries in "North Africa & Middle East")...so if you are interested in pursuing your MIddle Eastern Studies minor you could stress to them that that is important to you since you minored in it, and have future business aspirations in that region. You don't get to pick what region or country you go to, but if you have a very legit reason like that, it makes it more likely they will try to place you there.

Also, no work experience is just fine--I don't have any either, and I should be leaving for Latin America in 2-3 months.  Because so many of PC's volunteers (PCVs) join straight out of college, many do not have work experience, and that's okay. Some don't even have volunteer or work experience, and that is okay too.  But you say you have some volunteer experience? I don't know what it is in, but volunteer experience is always great for them to see.  Don't worry about work and volunteer experience, while its great to have both, they won't cancel it out just for that reason, after all, some people spend all their time studying to make good grades and make sure they are strong in their area of study. The PC realizes that. If you do want to spend some more time volunteering....well, you could get an internship at a company, you could volunteer with youth, tutoring, enviroment, health.....any thing like that. Even if it is something like planting flowers at a nursing home, they will see that as a willingness to do something for someone else by taking time out of your day.

The application process seems more daunting than it really is. application/essays/recommendations--->le... kit --->interview/nomination--->medical kit---->wait wait wait wait ----->invitation! I was really freaking out when I first applied. I thought everything I did would have a major impact, every word I choose, everything I mentioned and didn't mention. I was convinced they'd know if I did something wrong! But now I'm at the end, waiting for my invitation, and really, you can stress and stress and stress, but it just hurts. As long as you apply, and don't drop out, you are nearly gaurenteed an invitation. Some other PC people don't like when I say that, but its the truth--if you stick with it and get medically cleared, you get the invitation.

About your physical. 30 lbs is different for everyone, I know my sister's fiance recently gained 30 lb's and could definitly loose it, but he's not what I'd call over weight. So 30 lbs' could be anything. However, if you are in perfect health other than your worry about weight, you would be fine. Although they probably wouldn't send an obese person abroad, there are people ranging from stick thin to "curvy" and plump. Every now and then the PC "suggests" the person try to loose a few lbs before departure, but its a suggestion and not a requirement, they just suggest it because sometimes the environment will be different--ie. walking, heath, yada yada. But 30 lbs, I would guess is fine. h**l, I'm epileptic and got medically cleared!

I wish you the best of luck.

Check out PC's webpage at http://www.peacecorps.gov and go over the information til you are blue in the face :)

Check out http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com to read PCVs blogs by different country--really the best info there! Start from the beginning of blogs so you can get a sense of the application process, I can't tell you how helpful that was to me.

Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peacecorps... (Yahoo Group "peacecorps2" --there is a GREAT message board where you can ask all sorts of questions and they will* be answered by Returned Volunteers (RPCVs), PCVs, and applicants. If you join* the group, you'll have access to an amazing files section.

Finally, check out the book "So You Wanna Join The Peace Corps" by Dillon something or another. A handful of things are outdated in it, but for the most part, its a great resource of information.

Again, goodluck!!!

Jenna

Youth Development, Latin America, Aug '08 Nominee

http://www.jcorps.blogspot.com