As a couple we were each interviewed separately for about and hour and a half each. So, if you’re applying as a couple…. bring something to read. We stopped by Borders on the way in, and that was a big help. After the separate interviews, we were interviewed together. Basically, our Recruiter told us where we were in the application process and how long everything would take.

He told us that we were being Nominated and to expect to leave in early 2011. We were more than likely going to both be Nominated for education programs. However, we wouldn’t be getting our nominations until mid-June. Single folks would get theirs in early-June we just had to wait, because married couples are more difficult to place.

We were-nominated today on our Application Status update. More to follow.

As you can see, however, it’s still not showing my recommendation letters or Health Status information in the Toolkit. I’m not sure why, it’s all in except one rec letter and that will be in tomorrow. More to follow.

Oh yeah… I passed the Foreign Service Written Exam. Keep your fingers crossed on the QEP.

We got our packets on Friday and have been working on them today. In the packets were an introductory letter and instructions from our recruiter, a National Agency Check (NAC) data form, 2 fingerprint cards, a legal questionnaire, a couples’ questionnaire and some information about how to improve one’s application.  The NAC check took literally 1 minute to fill out, really not a big deal. In essence it’s just asking you your name, birth date, SSN, things like that. The 2 fingerprint cards took only slightly longer at about 5 minutes, but were really just a repetition of the NAC data form. *A word of advise about these, in my experience do NOT sign them until you are getting fingerprinted, some jurisdictions may not accept them if you don’t sign them in their presence.*

Next is the legal form, this is really dependent on your legal status, and by that I mean any run-ins with the law. Could be quick (i.e. not having to fill it out) to taking a while. Having been through this process before they’re really looking for patterns and felonies. I really don’t think an Minor in Possesion from 5 years ago is going to keep you out, but if you are on probation from that… it might. Just make sure you’re as honest as possible on this.

Finally, we come to the couples’ questionnaire. This thing is a beast with 5 questions ranging from what do you expect from your Peace Corps experience to how well you do apart or living in cramped quarters. It took us a while to do it, mainly because we’ve experienced many of the situations that the Peace Corps would like answers to, we were afraid that we might sound a bit dismissive. It was a good exercise for us to explore our motivations and explain to each other, at least, how we feel we would handle these situations.

We’ll keep you updated as we get more information. Hopefully we can get fingerprinted on Monday or Tuesday.

BTW, please feel free to share any questions and comments! I would really like to begin a dialogue with my readers and hopefully create an environment of understanding and sharing where we can learn from each other through shared experience. I do ask that you register. This is to keep the SpamBots away and I don’t look at any info you provide.

Cheers!

Edit:

I cheated.

Application Toolkit status as of 3/23/10

Well, at least I know I’m in the system.

We met who the person who will be our recruiter. He seems like a nice person and we look forward to working with him. My wife and I introduced ourselves to him and we were able to talk to him about my “little application problem.” He stated that he’d follow up with the Recruiter Coordinator that we’ve been talking to the last few days. This, of course, is all fine and good, but we had some concerns that we needed clarified and we also learned a few things, too.

First, the recruiter stated that in a typical year that they deploy 4000 PCVs a year, but because of the poor economy they are only sending around 3,600 PCVs out a year. This drop in deployments has also been effected by a corresponding 18% increase in applications in recent months. As he’s telling us this, I can feel my heart sinking. Not only is competition stiffer now, as a couple I know it will take us even longer…. Yet, he says that he has wonderful news! In January, the Peace Corps’ budget was approved for FY2010 and the funding was $400 million (several million over what was requested). So, apparently the Peace Corps is working through the backlog of applications. This is great. Also, if the FY2011 budget is approved it is hoped that they can increase deployments to 5-6,000 PCVs a year!

My wife asked the recruiter if us having similar skills would hinder us from getting an Invitation. I have been tutoring and teaching English as a Foreign Language off and on for a few years, in fact my Fulbright was contingent on TEFL assistance at secondary schools in my host city. My wife has tutoring experience and was a Teaching Assistant in History when she was completing her MA. In other words, we’re pretty sure that we’ll get Education and we’re very excited about that. My wife asks the question and the recruiter replies that we are actually easier to place than any other couples. I take it that we’re kind of rare…. Maybe not, but there’s a chance that we could get nominated for a September departure. We have a lot of bills to pay off and ducks to order in rows before then.

Well, with any luck the wizards at the help desk will resurrect my application from IT Purgatory soon.

I am excited about this!

Read more @ the Peace Corps website!

Recruiter: Hey! How are things? Sorry it took so long to get back with you. Refresh my memory; what was the problem with your application?

Me: You told be you could see it, but you couldn’t access it.

R: Oh yeah! So did you call the Help Desk?

Me: You told me you were doing that.

R: But, I gave you the number, right?

Me: No.

R: Oh…

No worries. I know she’s busy. I’m just glad she called. With any luck I’ll find out something soon. Worst case, I’ll have to redo it. I just don’t want to lose the recommendations. Keep your fingers crossed.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yeah, my fear of the Dentist won out. Well, that and I was in my 1st year of graduate school and really needed to finish the class work. The point is that I have been through this process (for the beginnings anyway) before.

So I started my new application in July of 2009 with a plethora of new experience that I had gained from teaching English in Austria for a year to both children and adults. I have also gained experience from working in Congress and managing restaurants since my application in ‘05. Hopeful for the future, I submitted my application in earnest, and….

Nothing happened.

For some reason my application didn’t go through. So I called the Dallas PC office and was told I had done something incorrectly, so I reviewed my application and tried again to no avail. So after a few weeks of getting the same results from the same advice… I kind of gave up. I spoke to my wife and decided we needed to focus on our debt and I needed to focus on finished my never-ending thesis.

Fast-forward to today, my wife has her application in. The Recruiter and I are trying to figure out what went wrong with my application. Once that is fixed, my wife and I will get access to the “Application Toolkit” and we should get our packets in the mail. Keep your fingers crossed. I may have to re-do my application. Hopefully, I hear something in the next day or so.