COS Conference

8 June 2010

After going around and introducing each other with a fact about us previously unknown to our fellow volunteers (mine was I play harpsichord), we were told to write down an accomplishment that especially pleased us during our service in Mali. A lot of folks told stories of successful projects they’d completed, perhaps the majority, but I suppose my interpretation of the activity was a bit different, because I preferred to remember the close relationships I built within my host family, culminating in the one child that was born during my stay to be named after me.

Over the course of this first day, we practiced beefing up our successes with numbers, like how many people or villages we’re talking about in our projects, and using strong verbs at the beginning of these descriptions about what we did, as these could be later transferred to our resume drafts. The emphasis on results over duties on our resume was the reason we were told to think about numbers in this manner. Looking over a list of transferable skills, we could then apply certain aptitudes to our description of successful projects, making for strong resume bullet points.

The last topic was a brief introduction to our description of service, the only kept official record of our time spent as a PCV and what we accomplished. This document allows each of us 1-year non-competitive eligibility for federal government jobs.


9 June 2010

Today we talked about how to make a “hot” resume, something our coordinator kept saying that kept my friend Peter and me amused throughout the conference, along with her other favorite phrase, “that’s so cool.” Nothing we learnt today was topped by a career resource manual cd-rom, stock full of tips and advice, as well as examples of resumes and cover letters. I did catch a couple good pointers during this session, like including a qualifications summary at the top of the resume, and substituting titles such as “assistant, consultant, liaison, or manager” instead of “volunteer.” Another good strategy I liked was calling or emailing anyone you give your resume to make sure they “received it” (looked at it), a smart way to at the very least stay on top the stack.

For those of us (myself included) who always walk away from job interviews wondering how that couldn’t have gone worse, even if it went really well, I paid special attention during this part of today’s meeting. We were told to prepare pre-written scripts to memorize and say about ourselves to our interviewer, almost a vocal version of our qualifications summary at the top of our resume. It’s always important to show your interest in the potential employer, so coming with a couple questions about the company can never hurt. Leaving a thank-you note is another good way to distance you from the crowd, like when you called or emailed to ask if they’d received your resume. If you come to the end of the interview and feel like something didn’t come up that you think might be pertinent, that’s when you would put that forward.

Before lunch we had a panel of four RPCV’s who now work in various fields in Bamako, either for NGOs or teaching. Hearing about their experiences and the paths that took each of them to where they are now was especially valuable, helpful, and interesting.

Something I definitely took from today was a serious consideration to apply to grad school. PC is a good first stepping stone, but in the end that’s all it’s good for in a competitive job market, where so many positions require a master’s degree, especially when looking for a specialized position or working abroad.

During the admin session today, everyone wrote down their preferred close of service date, one of the main purposes of this conference. Even as that form made its way about the room, I still hadn’t picked what day I was going to leave Mali. Everyone seemed to have come with a specific date in mind, and early dates too, but I wasn’t in any rush to go home just yet, perhaps because I’m still formulating my next life phase. I scrambled through my cell phone’s calendar to look for a Friday near the end of September, since the bureau people said that was a day that made flight scheduling easier, eventually settling on 1 October.


10 June 2010

Another of the perks for RPCVs are the 50 or so universities that have PC Fellows programs. Unfortunately, there aren’t a whole lot with journalism, which just happens to be what I want to study. I noticed in the various brochures just one school of communications, at the University of Denver. I’ll have to check out that website though before I give up and just look for a school that specializes in my chosen field, whether they’re a PC Fellow program or not.

My Malian namesake on Mali Peace Corps’ training staff, Mamadou Samaké, gave an especially informative, and final, cross-culture session on how to say good-bye. Ironically, he would be doing so himself here soon, as he informed us he would be retiring later this year.
Sam, as he’s called by colleagues, began with several cultural overtones to consider, first being the setting we make our farewells to various parties in our village. For our counterpart, village chief, imam, and village associations, a formal meeting is appropriate. Courtesy visits are reserved for local services, administration, and any other friends or acquaintances. Sam told us it was best to start making these courtesy visits during these final months, especially if they mean traveling to another village. So that list of folks I made last month, and have started tentatively planning, was right on the mark.
During these farewell meetings, we inform those we’re meeting with of the date we’re leaving Mali, and then begin a long cultural exchange full of proverbs and expressions. Mamadou helped me draft a version of my own that I can practice.
Other cultural connotations during our last moments in country were to thank gift donors, accepting whatever they offer graciously. If offered a chicken or goat, cook it with friends, or give it away. It’s recommended to take time to sit with folks who come by to say goodbye, no matter how busy you are with last minute arrangements. If a party is thrown for your departure, go and enjoy it with your friends. Be prepared for left-handshakes, the only occasion you will ever see such in Mali. Offering your left hand is an insult in any other instance, but doing so in this context gives an added layer to the faux pas. Since you’re offering it to someone who’s leaving on a long journey, it means you hope they return another time, so then you can make up for the mistake by greeting them with your right hand once more.

We had a short question and answer session on returning to America with one of our RPCV panel members from yesterday. While he didn’t share the experience with everyone else on the panel of bursting into tears upon walking down the cereal aisle of a grocery store the size of the village they’d been working in, he did explain some of the challenges we will experience during our re-entering phase of service. We shouldn’t be surprised if friends have moved on, or get a glazed over look after just five minutes of stories we tell about our time abroad. His best advice he could offer was to just take things as they come, and to adapt like we’ve been doing the past two years.

An intense tropical storm came this morning, with fierce howling winds that made the building we were in sound like it was about to take off, but some of us went outside to the covered balcony to look at the foreboding skies darkening over Bamako, in an apocalyptic fashion. I was kicking myself for forgetting my camera back in the hotel room, but no more than I was later when a couple wedding parties were on the grounds getting their professional shots taken. What an amazing photo that would’ve been!