Post Panama: Lesson 1

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!