Peace Corps seeks business, liberal arts majors

By BETH YOUNG
Collegian Staff Writer

Skilled trade professionals, natural resources workers, fishery specialists --those have been some of the most sought-after professions the Peace Corps has been striving to recruit, but new opportunities have currently opened up to students with business or liberal arts degrees.

In 1991, the Peace Corps began sending volunteers into Central Europe, where the focus is on business and economics rather than on resource development. As a result, the Peace Corps is actively recruiting large numbers of people with strong business and liberal arts backgrounds.

"We not only need graduates with MBAs but also business professionals that have MBAs and experience," said Deidre Healy, a recruiting specialist in the New York Peace Corps office. "We never before had a need for so many volunteers with advanced degrees," Healy said.

According to the University's Peace Corps Coordinator, Jennifer McPeck, there are 99 openings for volunteers in business management and 101 in advanced business development in Central Europe alone.

"People don't realize that I'm not interviewing for just one or two spots. I've got hundreds here," said McPeck (graduate-wildlife and fisheries science).

The increased need for business education in Central Europe directly affects the widening opportunities for volunteers with liberal arts degrees.

"We need to teach the average person in Central Europe how the free market works, how to succeed in it, and how best to cope with the change. Since English is the international language of business, we also need people who can teach English," McPeck said.

Currently, the Peace Corps needs 296 volunteers to teach English as a second language in Central Europe. "We need people who are certified in teaching English with a master's degree but graduating students with liberal arts degrees can also qualify by getting tutoring experience now," Healy said.

The large number of openings available to those with liberal arts degrees is definitely a change from recent years.

Although liberal arts majors are now more in demand, requests for volunteers with technical backgrounds are not declining. Countries other than those in Central Europe still possess great needs for technical specialists.

Jack Rayman, director of Career Development and Placement Services and a former Peace Corps volunteer from 1967-70, agreed that there has been a subtle shift from the emphasis on skills to taking people with liberal arts degrees.

But Rayman is quick to emphasize the need for those people "with real technical skills. The Peace Corps is willing to take more generalists but we're not beating the bushes for English majors," Rayman said.

Whether a student is a liberal arts generalist or an engineer, the Peace Corps can be a valuable asset to job searching after returning to the United States. "It certainly made me more marketable," said McPeck, also a former Peace Corps volunteer. "It wasn't tough for me to get a job when I got back. In fact, I got the first job I interviewed for."

For many volunteers, the Peace Corps also provides personal challenges and invaluable learning experiences. The gains can range from a feeling of new independence and self-reliance to an in-depth knowledge of other cultures.

"It's a very individual experience and everyone takes something different away from it," Rayman said. "There is no one set of benefits."

Regardless of their majors, interested students are encouraged to consider the Peace Corps as a viable option after graduation.

"If you're motivated enough and you really want to do it, then we'll find a way to get you involved," McPeck said.