peace corps

forfamily and friends

After the Peace Corps
Returned Volunteers (RPCVs) use the skills and experiences they gained
overseas to enhance virtually every sector of our society—Congress, the
Executive Branch, the Foreign Service, business, finance, trade, health care,
and social services.

Today more than 165,000 returned Volunteers can be found in every walk of life,
and many say their Peace Corps service had a profound impact on their careers.
Returned Volunteers possess a high level of confidence, independent judgment,
and cross-cultural resourcefulness that are recognized by employers in all
professions. RPCVs are also valuable members of their communities and are often
asked to speak about their experience living overseas.

Returned Volunteer Services

Through Returned Volunteer Services (RVS), the Peace Corps provides career, educational,
and transitional assistance to more than 3,500 Volunteers returning to the United States
each year. RVS provides free (for two years) to all RPCVs the Hotline newsletter, an
employment and educational bulletin that is published twice a month. RVS also makes
available various career publications, nationwide services, and informative career
workshops. The Peace Corps headquarters and each regional office also house career
centers that RPCVs may use for job searching purposes.

Returned Volunteer Alumni Groups

RPCVs stay involved through a nationwide network of approximately 140 organizations
and Country of Service groups. These organizations can assist newly returned Volunteers
with readjustment and job search issues. They provide a ready-made job network of
people in different fields. Although RPCV groups are as diverse as the returned Volunteers
who organize them, membership gives a sense of shared service and common experience.

Community Involvement
Throughout the country, RPCVs stay active in their communities. They are helping build
homes for the homeless, delivering food to the needy, and cleaning up parks and
highways, for example. Many are serving as mentors and tutors for children, while others
are using their language and cross-cultural skills to assist refugees and immigrants.

Part of the Peace Corps’ mission is to educate Americans back home about the people with
whom Volunteers have lived and worked. RPCVs provide first-hand experience to help
other Americans understand the nation where they have served. Returned Volunteers are
frequently asked to speak at churches, conferences, community group meetings, and other
forums about their experiences overseas.

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