This morning, upon logging into my e-mail account, I saw that I had a message from the Peace Corps. When I opened it, I saw that it was not from the general e-mail account at the Placement Office, from which I had received previous messages from Placement. No, this was the actual Placement Officer. This is the final person with whom I will be in contact during the application process.
Now, the Placement Officer can say very different things to different people in this initial message, depending on the timeline for which they're considering someone. Some people, initially being contacted by the Placement Officer, receive an e-mail asking them something like, "We're considering you for a position in X country, leaving in six weeks. What do you think?"
In her e-mail message this morning, the Placement Officer asked me a half dozen general questions to help her evaluate me for a placement. That makes me think they're evaluating me in a less rushed fashion. So, it seems unlikely that she's going to contact me tomorrow, saying something like, "We know it's short notice, but would you be interested in departing for Benin (or Madagascar) in the middle of July?"
FYI, I've been regularly (but I honestly don't think obsessively) visiting the site www.peacecorpswiki.org and reviewing departure dates for various countries. That site contains information contributed by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as current applicants. It also has some information obtained from formal FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to the Peace Corps. So, it's a helpful source in terms of trying to look at where and when a potential invitation could invite me to go. That's where I came up with the theoretical invitations to Benin and Madagascar in July. But I digress.
So, the Placement Officer sent me some questions this morning. I felt that some of them were following up on questions I had been previously asked. For example, in my interview last September, I told the recruiter some steps I was going to take to prepare to enter the Peace Corps. In my response to the Placement Officer this morning, I told her the various things I have been doing to continue preparing to enter the Peace Corps: studying French; volunteering; attending Peace Corps information sessions, which, BTW, I have found to be probably my best source of information, since at them, I hear from former Returned Peace Corps Volunteers; reading about the Peace Corps; and figuring out what I'm going to do with my stuff, which will mostly be getting rid of it.
I have to say that it felt good to get that e-mail message this morning. When I posted a cryptic status update on Facebook today about being contacted by the "P.O.," my friends were jokingly writing that perhaps it meant "parole officer." I feel like I am about to embark on a grand, joyous, wonderful, beautiful adventure. By contrast, I also feel like I'm about to leave behind a line of work which I don't think I'm going to miss. Hence, I was happily amused at those jovial comments expressing symbolism of an escape out of something which I want to leave behind, and into an experience which I strongly suspect I am going to find incredibly liberating, empowering and enlightening.
Now, the Placement Officer can say very different things to different people in this initial message, depending on the timeline for which they're considering someone. Some people, initially being contacted by the Placement Officer, receive an e-mail asking them something like, "We're considering you for a position in X country, leaving in six weeks. What do you think?"
In her e-mail message this morning, the Placement Officer asked me a half dozen general questions to help her evaluate me for a placement. That makes me think they're evaluating me in a less rushed fashion. So, it seems unlikely that she's going to contact me tomorrow, saying something like, "We know it's short notice, but would you be interested in departing for Benin (or Madagascar) in the middle of July?"
FYI, I've been regularly (but I honestly don't think obsessively) visiting the site www.peacecorpswiki.org and reviewing departure dates for various countries. That site contains information contributed by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as current applicants. It also has some information obtained from formal FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to the Peace Corps. So, it's a helpful source in terms of trying to look at where and when a potential invitation could invite me to go. That's where I came up with the theoretical invitations to Benin and Madagascar in July. But I digress.
So, the Placement Officer sent me some questions this morning. I felt that some of them were following up on questions I had been previously asked. For example, in my interview last September, I told the recruiter some steps I was going to take to prepare to enter the Peace Corps. In my response to the Placement Officer this morning, I told her the various things I have been doing to continue preparing to enter the Peace Corps: studying French; volunteering; attending Peace Corps information sessions, which, BTW, I have found to be probably my best source of information, since at them, I hear from former Returned Peace Corps Volunteers; reading about the Peace Corps; and figuring out what I'm going to do with my stuff, which will mostly be getting rid of it.
I have to say that it felt good to get that e-mail message this morning. When I posted a cryptic status update on Facebook today about being contacted by the "P.O.," my friends were jokingly writing that perhaps it meant "parole officer." I feel like I am about to embark on a grand, joyous, wonderful, beautiful adventure. By contrast, I also feel like I'm about to leave behind a line of work which I don't think I'm going to miss. Hence, I was happily amused at those jovial comments expressing symbolism of an escape out of something which I want to leave behind, and into an experience which I strongly suspect I am going to find incredibly liberating, empowering and enlightening.
I have some questions for you. It sounds to me like you are older, mid career person. I am a mid-career person sort of (graduated college in 2004). I just wanted to exchange ideas about how you are handling the not knowing and what you are doing with all your stuff. I am actually nominated with my wife for North Africa for Oct. 2010 and we haven't heard a peep out of any placement officer yet. We are going through trying to lease our house out not knowing whether we will actually be leaving in October or not. Just wanted to get your take on how you are preparing and your throughts on nomination date and when we will actually receive invites.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, I am imminently about to change careers. Although I am about to know (see my new post which I just posted moments ago), I had been handling the not knowing by taking care of things I have wanted to get done regardless of the Peace Corps. I've been spending a lot of time shredding documents I haven't needed to keep for a long time now. I've been selling things which I definitely don't want. I've also been making preliminary plans about what to do with my belongings.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like I'm in somewhat of a different situation than you in a few ways. One, I am just moving out of the apartment which I've been renting. My landlords have new occupants who will move in as soon as I move out, whenever that is. Also, I am trying to keep as few of my things as possible. I'm going to keep whatever I'm going to store with some of my family members. However, you might want to check out the book "The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away From Home," as it does cover some logistical matters for people who want to move abroad. Also, you could just try to identify potential sublessees at this point; perhaps meet them; see if you feel comfortable with them, etc.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about not having heard from a placement officer yet. Typically the Peace Corps gives applicants at least six weeks notice before the proposed departure date, and sometimes it's longer than that.
However, if you want to try to satisfy your curiosity, you could check out this link for somewhat more of an idea regarding timelines:
http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Peace_Corps_Wiki
and then scroll down and look on the right, and under the heading "Statistics," click on the link which says "Out of 100." That will open an Excel file which provides the average length of time between various stages of the application process, I believe from years past.
Doug unfortunately you may not hear anything until Aug or September. They work in quarters and right now are sending invitations for Aug. As they get those placements finalized they will move into the new quarter Sep-Nov. I was dealing with this myself. Last I heard was a potential match for me in mid Aug but it wasn't until this week I received an invite. I can say be persistent and don't hesitate to contact your PO. I did several times to get a general idea of the timeframe he was working with and when I could expect to hear from him next. I had grad school and everything else on hold waiting to see if I would leave by Sept. Definitely contact your PO if nothing else so you are fresh in their mind again.
ReplyDeletesorry I meant that to askinafrica not Doug.
ReplyDelete