It’s been 2 months and 13 days since I closed my Peace Corps
service. The experts call this the “reintegration” phase and remind us that it
is easier if you stay busy. I’ve wandered through the streets of Medellin and
gazed on Colombian statues in the Plaza Botero. I eaten cheeses I can’t
pronounce the names of. I rediscovered the joys of cold brew coffee and frozen
yogurt in Boston. I’ve eaten my
weight in brunch in New York City. I saw the most beautiful glass walled classroom
at UPenn Medicine and walked to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. I’ve eaten
crab cakes in Baltimore and now understand why it’s nicknamed Charm City. I
danced in DC and bought my first professional suede dress. I saw the state
capital in Austin and ate through the cities finest taco joints. I made it to
San Francisco and sang my heart out to Cyndi Lauper at a bluegrass festival. Though
most of all, I have reconnected and touched base with my favorite people.
That is my first piece of advice for reintegration – go back
to your people, visit them and prioritize the ones who fill you up, the friends
you haven’t seen in more than two years, and the family you were unable to
celebrate holidays with over the past 27 months. You will fill right back up
and reintegration won’t feel so hard. But that’s only the first step. Then
what? You have to find a job. Or you don’t, but that readjustment allowance
runs out quickly! Some RPCVs are lucky enough to have jobs lined up for the
week after they get back home. But I didn’t (and still don’t). But that’s okay!
It’s what you do with the time from when you touch down to the time when you
start a new endeavor that’s hardest. I’m no expert, but I have spoken to my
fair share of professionals who echo the same advice, so I’m going to synthesize
it here.
Advice for job searching:
1) Start networking
before you get home. Try to find people that are in the same fields you
might want to go into before you leave your host country. Stalk them on
LinkedIn, Google them, network with them at COS conference. Because the reality
is that a conversation with someone doesn’t lead to a job right away. It leads
to another conversation and then another until eventually you forget who Person
A even was. And then maybe around Person F, you’ll find an open position they
know you can apply to and you’ll start the drawn out hiring process. But
getting from Person A to Person F takes a while, start early!
2) Have conversations
with people in the field you think you want to go into and people who’s job descriptions sound interesting too. It’s
the common mistake people make when signing up for classes, they choose the
ones that sound cool but not the ones with the best professors. Sometimes, a
job in the “perfect field” isn’t actually your perfect job. Think about the
skills you are good at and be creative about seeing what fields that could lead
you to.
3) Invest time in the
job search process and don’t settle for the first job you’re offered.
People say they aren’t ready to start a job right after returning home, but the
reality is that job searching takes time and energy and the sooner you start,
the more likely you are to fall into something you truly love. On the flipside, many people find
themselves in desperate situations where they truly need a job, or they’re
desperate to leave their childhood bedroom, friend’s basement or family friend’s
couch. An article I stumbled across said this, “My rule of thumb is spend time
before you spend money. Dig through your personal network and connect with at
least five people who work in that field. Set up phone calls or face-to-face
meetings, and get their thoughts on what their professional lives are like. Don’t
limit yourself to just one or two conversations – with your future on the line,
you want to benefit from as many perspectives as possible. If what you learn is
exciting and a little terrifying, you have some good early signs to keep
investigating that direction. If you discover that the real-life version of the
intriguing career is nothing like the brochure and you have a difficult time
getting excited about it – switch your focus.”
4) Keep a “Learn Journal” of things that you
discover, conversations you have, facts you find out and things you do during
your time searching. It will make the time feel useful and productive if you
can point to and write down one thing every day that you learned and/or did.
5) Adopt a growth mindset. Ask others for feedback
and trust your friends to help you edit your materials. People are busy but
they will most always take five minutes to read your resume or cover letter.
Let them help you!
6) Stay in touch with the people who’ve helped you
along the way. Reach out to them periodically with an update or an article. And
if you like them and their company, make sure they know you’re looking for a
job and they’ll hopefully have you at the top of your mind when the perfect
position comes available.
REMEMBER: You are planting valuable seeds every day you work at
finding work. No one told you if they are watermelons or dandelions or
tomato seeds, but keep watering your garden and tending to the weeds because something fruitful
will come to you! Trust yourself and be confident!
