i don't know whether there is an official policy that my recruiter is following (i doubt it), or whether he is just taking the easy way, or whether there really just isn't anything for non-civil/-environmental engineers to do. but i had to keep investigating. i wasn't ready to give up and just leave it all to fate and the motivation of my recruiter.
so i had a few brilliant ideas, if i do say so myself.
- talk to the former head recruiter with whom my father had made contact for an article he wrote. (i've already got a list of questions to discuss with him.)
- write to the regional recruiter for boston, figuring that they must get their share of MIT engineers applying -- and if anyone could get assigned engineering jobs in the pc, it'd be them.
- contact the head guy for a program i read about at michigan tech. they have a joint program between the pc and their mechanical eng'g department for a master's degree.
- make contact directly with the current head recruiter in washington to ask about it myself. (last resort, since it could be seen as inappropriate and/or stepping on my recruiter's toes.)
i wrote to the boston recruiter and the michigan tech guy first, and heard back so far only from michigan tech. i asked what kind of peace corps assignments his students were getting, telling him what i had heard, and asking whether there really weren't jobs for MEs.
this is what he said:
Congratulations on your decision to enter the PC. While our program is fairly new, I can give you a little insight. The summary is that the PC still does not know how best to use engineers of any kind, and especially MEs. They are slowly learning however. The ME program is only 2 years old and there is still no code for MEs. Worse yet is that engineering experience does not seem to change how you are placed or how you are dealt with. All that being said, regardless of your initial assignment with the PC, what you actually do within the town/village you are placed is normally quite different and is a matter of defining and meeting the local needs with your skill set. In that respect, I would not sweat it. The process of having impact can be slow, very slow.
poop.
My husband is also an engineer (chemical) and was originally nominated for Environmental Education. We just talked to our PO today and it looks like he is being invited to serve as a math teacher as well. She explained, just as our recruiter did, that there is a very small percent (about 1%) of engineering jobs in the PC so they are hard to come by. Particularly for him because he has a french background and almost all engineering positions require a spanish background. We also struggled with the same issue you are. We were thinking "How could they not need to use his engineering skills ?". But, the bottom line is that the PC should not solely be about career advancement. There are so many other positive aspects to joining. If you are wanting to go only for your career, the PC is probably not the best option. However, I do want to say that I think no matter what field you are in, engineering included, your experience will only help regardless of if it is a directly related position in PC....Best of luck to you!!
ReplyDeletethank you for your comment, i appreciate it.
ReplyDeletemy desire to do engineering is not really about career advancement (i've already had a 21-year-career) as it is the feeling that i could contribute more than "just" teaching math. now i know that there isn't really any "just" to it when you are talking about the ability to make a difference in kids' lives -- everything counts. and i understand that there is huge leeway in the secondary projects you can create for yourself. so there's no question in my mind that it will still be a great experience.
sounds like you are serving together? congratulations on that! i know it's not easy. where do you expect to end up?
best of luck to both of you as well!