Dear Neahga, I absolutely agree with James. I am a woman in my late 40's who, while pursuing my bachelor's degree (which I was attempting for the first time in my life) had experience in my chosen field of environment restoration and conservation, but was not competitive in my market. We all need a competitive edge, which is what my four terms in Americorp gave me. Besides all the fabulous networking opportunities, Americorp pays the education award to help you pay down your loans, and does not prohibit you from earning a wage while working in one of the accepted activities at the same time. More importantly it imparts a hard-work ethic and service-learning geared mentality which will give you a competitive edge. I wish I could do more Americorp terms, but can't--I'm maxed out. What I would love is a full-time permanent job too, but my field is more competitive than when I first entered it, and the government looks favorably on ALL the time I spent in my field while earning little or nothing in my field. Non-profits also look favorably on these hours although they may or may not credit them. It is the for-profit industry who may look down their nose at it, but that is a misguided attitude. I am now in graduate school, and it is a struggle to remain competitive, but the Americorp experience coupled with my Bachelor's Degree/scholarship search/part-time work experience has honed my ability to rise to such a challenge. In no way when I was involved with it, did it ever take on an odious factor, because I could make choices, adjustments, and volunteer with who I wanted (within certain work-type parameters).
If an activity/volunteer opportunity lacked luster for me, then I adjusted again to find the "right" group of appreciative co-workers. One receives the same protections while involved in the volunteer work of Americorp from workman's compensation when injured to protection from sexual harassment from contractors/vendors and coworkers. I was involved in the Americorp Minimun-time ed award, so someone's experience with traveling around the country in one of the other commitments may be different. But one thing I was amazed when I encountered a group of traveling Americorp conservationists was that frequently counselors came all the way out to the field to talk individually with the participants about any and all concerns they had about their experience while they were traveling as a group around the US. I agree with one of the negatives that Neahga brought up about the unpaid internship that colleges offer for credit hours. This type of internship only benefits the student who is in a position to draw on the wealth of their parents or their own trust-fund to pay for their home/food/transportation and course costs in order to count the time towards course credit which usually costs $800-1600. Poorer students cannot afford that, but competitive savvy "hungry" students need to not turn up their noses at the Americorp world, when it works very well! If your university offers Americorp, then it behooves you to find out more about it from the professional who administers it instead of going on what you've heard. If you are not eligible, then please don't knock it. In the end, isn't the desire to be highly-competitive in an economy that doesn't have that many full-time jobs to begin with, what we need to be retrained for? Cordially yours, Tacy Fletcher (uses pseudonym "Cayt Fletch" on facebook) also [email protected] Fletch >________________________________ > From: James Katz <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Monday, March 4, 2013 8:30 AM >Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Jobs, Internships, AmeriCorps, and the like - a >discussion > >Hi Neahga, > >I completely agree that the whole internship route does limit full pay jobs >for the majority of us looking for work. Many employers seem to prefer to >hire interns who will work for less, sacrificing time training new people >due to the temporary nature of the positions. However it seems that with >the way the economy is right now, for individuals coming straight out of >school, these internships are among the best options. > >Granted I would love to be working full time right now and not as Seasonal; >however, it seems to me (And I have only been out of school for a short >time so I could be wrong) that the funding is just not there to hire as >many permanent employees as there are people looking for jobs or even to >hire a small fraction of us. Those jobs that are available require at >least a few years of experience working, I believe that the internships >provide by SCA, AmeriCorps, and other programs provide that required >experience and without them many of us would be unemployed or searching for >work in another field...not by choice, but more so because we must to >'survive,' financially that is. > >I would also like to hear other opinions on this subject. > >Best, >Jim > >On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 8:02 AM, Neahga Leonard ><[email protected]>wrote: > >> Hello Fellow Ecologgers, >> >> There are many posts on Ecolog by people looking for work, and much good >> advice given to these people (I speak from personal experience as I have >> received good advice from some of you). >> >> One bit of advice that often comes up is to spend some time in an >> internship or working for AmeriCorps. Personally, as a graduate of a very >> competitive MS program and as one who has spent much time searching for >> work within my field and has recently found myself unexpectedly back in the >> job hunting fray, I have some issues with both the Internship and >> AmeriCorps models. I realize that both are here to stay, but a discussion >> concerning them and their influence on both the job market and on the >> incomes of those of us looking for work that will pay an actual living >> wages would be of benefit. >> >> In general, neither the internship nor the AmeriCorps model is of much >> benefit to someone who has expenses and is looking for paid work right >> now. Both of these types of "employment" are fantastic for future jobs, >> but they are really geared towards recent graduates who have the economic >> luxury of not having to make a full living wage. >> >> In my experience, that is the minority of graduates, and it imposes an >> artificial limit of who is able to participate in these activities. >> >> Second, I and many of my colleagues feel that both internships and >> AmeriCorps in particular, actually limit the available jobs. Both systems >> exchange "experience" for pay and tend to have a high turn-over rate. This >> is a tremendous frustration for people looking for real work who do not >> have the economic security necessary to accept lower or non-pay in exchange >> for the experience that these positions offer. >> >> Recently there have been a number of interesting articles in the news and >> some moderately high profile law-suits over the non-payment aspect of >> internships in other fields, particularity within journalism. The concerns >> raised by these news items and suits is more far-reaching than most >> realize. >> >> I am in no way disagreeing with the idea that internships and AmeriCorps >> offer excellent experience, often do good work, and are personally >> rewarding. >> >> I would like to hear your opinions concerning their impact on the real job >> market and whether programs like this that offer non-competitive wages do >> more harm than good for graduates needing paying jobs. >> >> Thanks from someone who thinks there needs to be more paying jobs out >> there. >> >> Also, for those of you searching for work (or internships) I have a page >> dedicated to job-hunting resources: >> >> http://writingfornature.wordpress.com/links-to-interesting-blogs/finding-work/ >> >> >> Neahga Leonard >> >> *There is not just a whole world to explore, there is a whole universe to >> explore, perhaps more than one.* >> http://writingfornature.wordpress.com/ >> > > >
