Interview Questions

• Why the Peace Corps?
• Give an example of a leadership position you have had.
• What do you do to relax or deal with a stressful situation?
• Is there anything that might stop you from completing your 27-month service?
• When was a time that you disagreed with a person? How did you deal with it? Did you speak to him or her about it directly?
• Have you ever had to take leadership in an unstructured setting? How did you deal with that?
• How do you feel about any of the following:
  • Living somewhere with no running water or no electricity?
  • Living away from other Peace Corps volunteers?
  • Being away from home and family?
  • Having to eat different foods?
  • Being in a "fishbowl" where you're constantly watched by everyone?
  • Being in a country that has alcohol as a key drink?
  • Being in a country with no alcohol?
• How long have you been away from home before? What do you miss most about being away from your family?
• How do you feel about being in a country with strict gender roles? How do you think you could deal with that?
• Are you a vegetarian?
• What do you think will be your greatest challenge acquiring a new language?
• Have you ever had Spanish? How able do you think you would be to use the Spanish you currently know?
• Do you have a religious preference of the country you go to? Would you want particular church services?
• Tell about an experience when you were able to transfer some knowledge or skill to someone who was different from yourself. What did you learn about your interpersonal skills from that experience?

Read more...

Two Years in One Bag?

While a longer post about my interview will come later, I also want to use the blog as a way to write down links or other information so I can remember them for later. Today I came across One Bag which is a website dedicated to getting all of your belongings into one carryon-sized bag no matter what the trip or how long. It's a website dedicated to organization and efficiency--I'm there!

Read more...

Done for a while.

I interviewed with the Peace Corps recruiter on campus today and as far as I can tell, things went really well. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. He asked me a series of questions about my cultural experiences, most of which I had heard before (thanks Holly :)), so I was sort of prepared. It really sounds like he likes us and it's just up to the couple's placement office (and the thirteen other levels of bureaucracy that we'll have to endure). Holly's interview is right now, so I think I'll skip class to see how it went.

Read more...

Seriously? More Paperwork?

It is still really early in the process, but I can already see where things are headed. We filled out our addenda tonight along with a couple's questionnaire. These seem like pretty simple things, but the addenda were especially time consuming, plus some of it was included on our original applications, so there's the pressure of finding new ways to say the same things again. Aside from these minor complaints, it is nice to be sort of finished with all of the preliminary stuff and ready for the interview tomorrow.

Read more...