my timeline

One thing that all new Peace Corps applicants have in common is that by the time we depart for our country of service, we will have spent countless hours googling other Peace Corps blogs to get an idea of what to expect. For me, a big thing I looked for was an application to invitation timeline. So, for all of you out there stalking blogs like I did, here ya go:

• Early February - Decided to apply for the Peace Corp, hoping for an early 2016 departure

• February 19th - Reached out to northeast recruitment office, received an email the following day putting me in touch with my recruiter

• March 9th - Initial call with my recruiter

• April 30th - Application submitted (Added transcripts, completed medical history, soft skills questionnaire, and assignment selection form)

• My selections
• Thailand - Youth in Development
• Anywhere - Youth in Development
• Anywhere - Education

• May 1st - Under consideration for Jamaica March 2016!

• May 13th - Received and email from my placement specialist stating the I need to complete a Skills Addendum in order to accurately evaluate my skill set for the education sector. Must be completed within two days.
• Emailed back for details on what she was is looking for. Received an email back immediately and completed the survey that evening. 

• May 14th - HR status on application portal changed to "Application Under Review"

*During this time period, I communicated openly and often with my PO. I let her know that I realized that I need more experience and shared with her my plans to gain that experience. I made sure to keep her posted every step of the way and she said that she really appreciated my efforts to gain more experience and keep her in the loop.

• June 23rd - Invitation to interview (!!!!). My boss was also contacted as a reference. My second reference did not receive an email yet (turns out I misspelled her email address...oops! She received her email as soon as I sent the correct address)

• July 7th - Interview

• July 8th - Thank you email to PO....and now we wait.

• July 29th - Decision - Waitlist. Given 7 days do accept or decline.

• July 31st - After going back and forth for a few days and lots of phone calls with my mom, I officially accepted waitlist invitation

• October 26th - Medical tasks due

• November 23rd - Activated from the wait list and invited to serve in Jamaica!

• December 2nd - Medically cleared

tl;dr - 7 month from application to invitation