We won’t sugarcoat it: Serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member is hard. The pay is lousy*, people tend to think you’re an intern, you’re constantly being compared to the VISTA who was in your position before you, and quitting is a really big deal.
So why even consider spending a year as a PSEI VISTA?
Because if you can overcome these challenges, you will gain professional experience, job skills, self-knowledge, and a network of relationships that will position you for success in your next job, graduate school, or whatever comes next.
You will serve in cohort of other VISTAs who are going to be overcoming these same challenges, learning and growing together developing a network of peers that can not only support you through your year of service but potentially grow into lifelong friendships.
And did we mention that you’ll also be changing peoples’ lives for the better? It’s not all about you, after all. “PSEI” is the Phillips Sectoral Employment Initiative, a long-term effort of our foundation to help more low-income adults gain job skills and secure living wage jobs. As a PSEI VISTA, you can advance this vital mission at one of our 20 partner organizations. PSEI VISTAs help these organizations recruit participants, connect with employers, develop training curriculum, evaluate programs, raise money, and much more.
Think you can survive for a year on $12,000? Confident enough to tell co-workers why you are so much more important and skilled than an intern? Driven to do better than the last person who had your job? Want to use the next year to learn as much, do as much and grow as much as possible?
If so, we want to talk to you….SOON! Our application deadline is May 23rd.
Here are a few PSEI VISTA positions that are still seeking applicants:
Project for Pride in Living – Marketing and Employment Resource Developer
Use your marketing, analytical and innovation skills to design marketing tools and recruitment strategies and expand sector-based training programs through employer engagement and program evaluation.
Jewish Family and Children’s Services – IT Career Preparation Specialist
Use your skills in technology and communications to help us launch a new program that helps diverse, low-income participants launch rewarding and exciting careers in information technology.
Aging Services of Minnesota – Workforce Development Coordinator
Do you care about old people? Direct caregivers will represent the largest occupation group in the US by 2020 – but aging services desperately needs a storyteller to help us recruit for these jobs!
East Side Neighborhood Services – Workforce Connections Specialist
Take our healthcare training program to the next level by finding creative ways to recruit low-income job seekers, engage with employers, and secure new funding sources.
So, young or not so young, female or male, college grad or career-changer, we need you to help us impact the lives of so many who have been marginalized and left out of the job market. Our promise is that we will do everything within our power to make this the most beneficial year of your life and the launching pad to even greater things ahead. Give us a year, and we’ll give you an experience that will shape the rest of your life.
*(The AmeriCorps*VISTA stipend is $11,796 per year.)
