| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Media Issues > Topic: Should I join the Peace Corp? asks college junior |
Topic: Should I join the Peace Corp? asks college junior
| Author | Message |
| WritingIntern | Posted – 8/31/2008 4:47:53 AM | show profile Hi everyone. I graduate in 2010, and I've already completed 2 internships and am currently on my 3rd. I want to be a journalist, but I'm lost as to where I'm actually going to end up once I graduate. I'm seriously considering joining the Peace Corp upon graduation in order to broaden my horizons and get some outside of the box life experience (outside of my internships at different media outlets). Can anyone offer some advice? |
| Grateful Deadline | Posted – 8/31/2008 10:05:06 PM | show profile Contact a recruiter to explore whether it's what you think it will be. Your area also may have an organization of returned Peace Corps volunteers, or RPCVs, who could talk with you about their experiences. |
| WritingIntern | Posted – 9/1/2008 4:45:12 PM | show profile I meant would it be a good career move? |
| mkelly | Posted – 9/2/2008 10:36:37 AM | show profile Unless you're going into economic development for Third World nations, this is not at all a good career move-- but if that's how you're considering it, you're thinking of it entirely wrongly. This is an excellent life move. Get out of the United States and see the other side of the world; get out of a rich nation and see how poor nations are faring. Learn how to navigate stupid bureaucracies, learn another language, learn how to be resourceful in a land without much resources. The two biggest problems new reporters have these days are: a) they lack a practical sense of the bigger picture; b) they don't know how to get things done. The Peace Corps will help you on both counts. By the time you're back, you'll probably still be 24 or so. That's plenty of time to pick up your career again. The industry will still be here, the entry-jobs will still be lousy, and you'll still get one. Don't worry about that. Just go and do something interesting. |
| caitlinkelly | Posted – 9/2/2008 12:51:40 PM | show profile I can't see any downside to getting out the U.S. and its narrow perspectives on politics, economics, social issues -- and trying (emphasis on that word) to be helpful abroad. Street smarts and self-reliance are essential life skills for journalists (and others) and this experience would likely help you gain more of those. Learning to write is easy; learning to see and really understand other parts of the world in a profoundly different way is not. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 9/2/2008 3:02:57 PM | show profile Forget about it being a good career move, you have the rest of your life for that. Think of it as an adventure, and yes do it while you can. |
| Grateful Deadline | Posted – 9/2/2008 6:39:03 PM | show profile Actually, you can do it even after retirement! It's not only a young person's adventure. If you imagine that serving in the Peace Corps will peg you as a foreign correspondent, that is not likely to happen. You will probably pick up your career where you left off. There are some RPCVs in journalism, though no more than in other fields. It really, truly is a mind-expanding experience and a chance to serve your country. If you don't know where you want to head after graduation, the Peace Corps can give you a valuable life experience while you think it over. |
| AprilW | Posted – 9/3/2008 7:59:18 AM | show profile I wish I would have done it. |
| womaninbooks | Posted – 9/5/2008 9:12:28 AM | show profile Why not get in touch with the Peace Corps and ask about others who've used it as a springboard for lucrative writing careers. They may not be "journalists" per se but both Tony D'Souza and Peter Chilson got their starts in the PC and now contribute to mags, etc... try and get in touch with others like them. |
| readallover | Posted – 10/31/2008 5:40:06 AM | show profile As a proud Peace Corps drop-out (or "early termination" as they call it) I would approach it carefully. It can be an incredibly frustrating, overly bureaucratic, and ineffectual waste of time. Or it could be the adventure of a lifetime. All depends on your temperament, your dedication to altruism, your placement and how paranoid the PC staff is to stay in Washington's good graces. Also, you're kind of taking about "using" what is in theory an agency for international development, even if it is for neophytes who have little to no experience in internat'l development. This is fine since it is volunteering after all and it's the Peace Corps' fault if they get vol's who sit on the beach and smoke pot for two year. (I'm saying this is you, but they certainly make it in.) Still I would suggest doing an extended trip alone once you graduate to see if you really do like being in abroad in not-so-pleasant places. Hitchhike through Chihuahua, go hiking in the Himalayas, find a short term gig helping in a favela. Any experience abroad will help your craft. It doesn't have to be the Peace Corps. Honestly, you'd probably get in since it is far less difficult to get into that reputed and they are expanding programs across the board. |
| readallover | Posted – 10/31/2008 5:40:55 AM | show profile caution with the PC As a proud Peace Corps drop-out (or "early termination" as they call it) I would approach it carefully. It can be an incredibly frustrating, overly bureaucratic, and ineffectual waste of time. Or it could be the adventure of a lifetime. All depends on your temperament, your dedication to altruism, your placement and how paranoid the PC staff is to stay in Washington's good graces. Also, you're kind of taking about "using" what is in theory an agency for international development, even if it is for neophytes who have little to no experience in internat'l development. This is fine since it is volunteering after all and it's the Peace Corps' fault if they get vol's who sit on the beach and smoke pot for two year. (I'm saying this is you, but they certainly make it in.) Still I would suggest doing an extended trip alone once you graduate to see if you really do like being in abroad in not-so-pleasant places. Hitchhike through Chihuahua, go hiking in the Himalayas, find a short term gig helping in a favela. Any experience abroad will help your craft. It doesn't have to be the Peace Corps. Honestly, you'd probably get in since it is far less difficult to get into that reputed and they are expanding programs across the board. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 10/31/2008 6:11:52 AM | show profile not a bad career move at all...I know google for instance goes nuts over things like that and would give you a definite edge over someone who doesn't have that kind of experience. Like someone else said, either way, you have your whole life to work on your career |
| smithy781 | Posted – 10/31/2008 11:49:50 AM | show profile I studied abroad in Africa in college and became friends with PCV's (peace corps volunteers) that were there, and I also did a week long stay with a volunteer in their village. I'm also not a huge fan of the Peace Corps. While I'm a huge advocate for global experience, this program seems mis-managed. I had considered doing that program after graduating, but getting a glimpse of it changed my mind. You're on your own in a remote village (albeit, with locals, but no one else from the first world), and I honestly think the PCV's all go a little crazy from the isolation. Think Tom Hanks talking to the volleyball. I'd research some other NGO's that you could volunteer with. I actually interned at a local newspaper there, which was an amazing hands-on experience. You might consider doing something like that. |
| catlondon | Posted – 10/31/2008 3:59:35 PM | show profile I know a number of former Peace Corps volunteers and they do run the gambit for those who go to do drugs and sleep with other volunteers (my former roommate), to those who genuinely connected with their communities and did a lot of good work. In that way, it's like anywhere else you'll work--good mixed with bad. That said, one of my best friends is returned Peace Corps and landed her very good communications job with a government contractor thru another PCV. It can be a very tight community. I also knew a farming couple who, after their last child graduated college, rented the farm to the neighbors for two years, join the PC, and taught agricultural practices in a small Central American community and loved every minute of it. So it's not just for kids. |
| i8chicago | Posted – 11/1/2008 11:53:38 AM | show profile | email poster been there I'm a working journalist and a former PCV. Lots of what's been said already is right on re: PC mismanagement in some (not all) countries, volunteers who choose to spend their assignments drinking/smoking/sleeping around, etc. I had a love/hate relationship with my 1+ year in the PC and I eventually ET'd. That said, I'd do it -- or something like it -- again. It took me out of my comfort zone, forced me to take risks, and changed the way I see the world and solve problems. This ultimately made me a better reporter and writer. It didn't lead directly to career opportunities afterward, but it's a good talking point during any interview (employers always seem to be curious about/impressed by the Peace Corps, which is really nothing more than an afterthought on my resume at this point) and once I was in a job, I do think I got certain foreign assignments and travel opportunities at a young age in part because they knew I was fairly unflappable after my PC experience. Another thought: If you are placed in a country that will allow you to polish up existing language skills or learn an in-demand language (Arabic, Chinese), this could actually help you land a job. The Peace Corps isn't your only option if you want an international volunteer experience, however, and it may not be your best. Bottom line: If you're itching to do it, go for it -- or something like it. |
| FeaturesGal | Posted – 11/1/2008 1:10:56 PM | show profile Here is my thought as someone who hasn't joined but has had two friends go through: One ETed (and ended up having some mental issues due to her time there) and the other absolutely loves it. (The locations were Mongolia and Africa.) It seems to me that the people with the best chances are those who came from the really good private schools (both people I know went to them). I'm not sure why this is the case, but it was pointed out to me and it does agree with what people I know. It seems to be what you make it. If you're a real self starter and can handle changes and not having things work out the way they were promised, there's a good chance for you. Will it help you with your future jobs? I don't know. Maybe the economy will be even crappier when you come back. Maybe your editors will worry about the 2 years with lack of experience while you were gone. But again, it is a chance of a lifetime, if you so choose. As someone who went straight from college to work and now, six years out has a mortgage, spouse and two kids...well, I encourage young people to explore all your options. You've just got to be realistic about what might happen. Good luck, either way. You're in an exciting place in life! |
