Some Graduates Turn To Volunteering Abroad in Tough Economic Times

Evan Davies, a 2009 graduate of Appalachian State University, spent six months as a tour guide in Costa Rica and another year teaching in rural Rwanda. For some, Davies' choices might sound like a break or a way to tour the world, but Davies says he’s just paying his dues.

With a degree in economics and international politics as well as internship experience with the Enough Project, a human rights organization affiliated with the Center for American Progress based in Washington, D.C., Davies was itching to get into international development work. Unfortunately, Davies graduated from college at a time when unemployment, at 9.3 percent in 2009, was at its highest point in 25 years.

“I applied to lots of things at the same time, but things weren’t [coming through],” Davies says. Instead of waiting for the economy to improve, Davies accepted a volunteer position with an international education organization, WorldTeach. [Disclosure: The author is also currently volunteering with WorldTeach.] He left for Rwanda in December 2009 and began teaching secondary school in a dusty town three hours from the capital.

“No one wants a gap in the resume,” says Davies about his decision to volunteer. “Education goes into development, and I wanted to keep moving in the direction of human rights and international development.”

Davies is one of the millions of recent college graduates entering one of the toughest job markets in recent memory. While half of the class of 2007 had secured a job immediately after graduation, only one in five had one in 2009. The situation has not improved much since. According to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute [PDF], “The class of 2010 will be entering a labor market with the highest rates of unemployment in at least a generation.”

The dip in employment prospects for young people has been a boon to at least one area of the economy: volunteer organizations like WorldTeach, where Davies spent time following his graduation.

Peace Corps, the largest organization of this kind, recently reported its largest applicant pool since it began electronically recording applications in 1998. The amount of applications it received in 2009 was an 18 percent increase from the year before. In spite of what the numbers may suggest on the surface, Peace Corps disagrees that the economy alone is the sole contributing factor.

“We find that those who are willing to make the 27-month commitment to Peace Corps are strongly motivated by a desire to serve others,” says Josh Field, press director of Peace Corps.

While there has been a substantial increase in people who are considering volunteering, not everyone who applies ends up abroad. For Peace Corps, only 1 in 3 applicants actually makes the commitment to volunteer.

“The economy may be motivating some people to submit applications,” says Ashlee McLaughlin, the Peace Corps campus recruiter at the University of Illinois–Urbana/Champaign. “But Peace Corps is a bigger commitment, and most people seriously considering Peace Corps would probably not base this decision solely on the economy.”

In addition, she attributes the rise in the number of applications to the twin effects of the increased emphasis on public service in the country over the past year, especially with the presidential election, and the increased importance college campuses are now placing on international awareness.

This view is held by other organizations as well. Maki Park, director of outreach at WorldTeach, notes, “It’s difficult to determine whether applicants are more interested due to the fact that they are having trouble finding jobs.” On the other hand, there are “a number of applicants who have turned to volunteer options due to the difficulty of finding a meaningful job, specifically in the field of international development.”

One of those who volunteered during the recession was Benjamin Bocian. He graduated with a master’s degree from American University in December 2007, just as the recession officially began, but his reasons for joining Peace Corps were not because he could not find employment.

“I wanted to get on-the-ground development experience,” said Bocian.

He spent two years in Senegal as an environmental education volunteer, designing lesson plans to promote environmental awareness in schools. He recently returned to the United States, but the job market is still tough. Nevertheless, Bocian immediately secured a temporary position with Peace Corps in Washington, D.C., and is currently searching for a permanent job.

“The experience helped make me aware of the challenges of working in the field,” he says. “Employers do not look at it like a two-year break.”

Mary McCabe, another returning Peace Corps volunteer, agrees.

For three years, she served as a municipal development advisor in an indigenous highlands village in Guatemala. Working with community groups on development programs, she also helped create an HIV prevention education project, which was funded and administered nationwide.

“It wasn’t a break,” McCabe says.

Within a month of returning to the United States, she was able to find a job with a government contractor supporting offices in USAID, the federal agency responsible for administering foreign aid. She recently switched jobs, and is now working for an international development organization with their Latin America programs.

“Gaining overseas field experience is very valuable,” she says. “The experience has enhanced my ability to work in international development. Peace Corps is seen as more than volunteer work in many ways.”

This opinion is echoed not only by volunteers and employers but also by graduate schools.

“Almost always, we view positively the time candidates may have taken to volunteer, domestically or internationally,” says Ellen Cohen, dean of students at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

However, volunteering for no good reason is still not a good enough reason. “Key for us,” continues Cohen, “is how an applicant integrates this experience into the statement of purpose for pursuing advanced training in public policy studies.”

Most volunteers, having actually spent time abroad, generally advise applicants to volunteer only if they are committed to the cause.

Three years living in Guatemala has convinced McCabe, even more now than ever, that volunteering is a big commitment because of what it requires from the volunteer.

“Like anything in life, I would not advise people to go into the Peace Corps just because they cannot find a job,” she says, “unless they were having a hard time finding work in their field and knew they needed an experience overseas that could help propel their career forward. Living in other countries changes how you look at the world.”

For Davies, who has now spent six months in Rwanda, both living and working in a developing country has been an enjoyable and rewarding challenge.

“It’s not just a throw-it-to-the-wind and go abroad just to go,” he said. “If you’re not wanting to perform when you signed up to perform, then it’s going to be tough to live and you’re not going to do a good job for the people you’re serving.”

Related Stories

• Campus Progress Reporter: I Was Caught in Police Violence at Occupy DC
• Conservative Commentator Sure Loves Police Violence
• ‘This is a Hostage Situation’: Police Trap, Arrest Occupy Oakland Protesters and Journalists
• Chris Dodd Threatens Legislators Over Anti-Piracy Legislation
• Youth Activists Mic Check Oil Lobby, Promise ‘This Will Not Be The Last Big Oil Hears From Us’