This is the third post of a series to retroactively document my decision and application process leading up to my invitation to the Peace Corps.
Shortly after sending in my application I was contacted by my recruiter with three possible assignments, Water Resources Engineering, Water and Sanitation Extension, and Construction. The Water Resources Engineering and Water and Sanitation Extension programs both immediately appealed to me. I was most interested in working in the developing world and I knew because of my lack of language skills that Asia and Africa were my most likely qualifiable destinations.
I had a screening call with my recruiter and we proceeded to schedule an interview. I was working out of our California office at the time and would be heading to my job site in Texas in about a week. We setup an interview on Friday July 3 in Atlanta, GA. I planned to fly in the night before, sleep at one of the airport hotels, take the MARTA to the interview, get back to the airport and fly into Columbia to see friends and family over the weekend. The interview went great. We met at a Starbucks, the interview lasting about an hour and a half to two hours. My lack of language skills made me a bit of a long shot as most assignments in my area of expertise required several years of Spanish courses. I put my recruiter on the spot and asked if she would nominate me for a position. She acknowledged that if a position came up without language requirements (meaning not in a Spanish or French speaking country) then she would nominate me. There were no such positions currently available. (the economic meltdown had made the Peace Corps very popular again, leaving minimal vacancies) New assignments would be posted in the last week of July, and nominations could be submitted the first Monday morning in August. My recruiter asked that I call her the last week in July so that we could discuss the new assignments. That was the indication I had been waiting for. I decided now that I was a serious candidate I would fill in my parents and friends.
That weekend I attended fireworks with my friends at Fort Jackson and proceeded to fill them in. Later in the weekend I would tell my parents. My family and friends had various reactions, none negative, but a lot of folks didn't really know what to say. After being in town for about 48 hours I was headed back to Texas. Over the next couple weeks I'd fill in some friends I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to that weekend while I was in town.
In mid July I had software training scheduled in our Greenville office. I took the opportunity to schedule some face time with a mentor in the home office and fill him in on the opportunity. He had taken a lot of interest in my career and if I wanted to make sure my network in Fluor didn't get blindsided by my pursuing a position with the Peace Corps. He wasn't excited by the move and let me know that he thought it was a mistake, but also said he'd support me, try to help me pursue it as a leave of absence, and would recommend the company hire me back afterwards should I have to resign. His key objection was that the timing was just at a critical juncture in my career, and a two year hiatus would be a lot to recover from. I appreciated the advice, and still worry that he is correct, but I didn't feel that my career was at a critical juncture, I felt it was in a traffic jam. We hadn't won a lot of jobs, there weren't a lot of stretch opportunities out there, and the job I was on was overstaffed with people more experienced than myself. I had fewer responsibilities than I had been given on my previous assignment and folks were already talking about rolling our entire team onto the next project. I liked the people on my team, but things were crowded, I was not providing much contribution, and didn't want to get stuck working in the same role, where I couldn't contribute, on another project. I believed the experience I could get working in the Peace Corps would be more valuable to my company then my floating on this team an extra two years while the economy recovered. I, of course, still had not been nominated so we left it with a simple acknowledgement that I was continuing to pursue it, that I may know something in early August, and that I would keep him in the loop.
I stayed in Columbia through the weekend, went to a bar with a few friends, filled in those that weren't in the loop yet of what I was up too, and then headed back to Texas.
