Dealing with unemployment - anyone else?

[tulip]

Peace Corps: I'm fairly certain that PC folks require at least a Bachelor degree, often a Master's. Great idea if you meet those requirements, but it's also a rather long process

Farm work is a possibility, especially with the spring season. As someone else mentioned, lots of people are getting their clothes repaired instead of buying new, so you could start taking in that kind of work (I assume you sew well given your field). That would keep you in your field and keep your skills sharp.

As a dual US-EU citizen, I would advise you to get your Polish citizenship question answered definitively before you leave (if you leave). You'll need to gather up some paperwork, and that can take some time. Passports take a long time to get, and if you know anything about the EU system, there can be lots of bureaucratic hurdles to jump over. There might even be a language competency component (there was for me), so you might need to bone up on your Polish if it's rusty.

Best of luck, Ivona.

[sfa]

Peace Corps: I'm fairly certain that PC folks require at least a Bachelor degree, often a Master's. Great idea if you meet those requirements, but it's also a rather long process

A bachelors degree or masters degree will help, but isn't necessarily required. A lot depends on what your skills are and what the Peace Corps needs. These days they are looking for a lot of people with experience or skills in engineering, agriculture, construction, health care and other similar fields.

But there are a lot of other "corps" out there looking for volunteers--Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, etc. They all have different requirements, but most are significantly less difficult to get into than the Peace Corps, and all will give volunteers some good skills for almost any career.

[Trek420]

But there are a lot of other "corps" out there looking for volunteers--Americorps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Lutheran Volunteer Corps, etc. They all have different requirements, but most are significantly less difficult to get into than the Peace Corps, and all will give volunteers some good skills for almost any career.

Looking for work? New on the job market? Need work experience but also need a break from school? Take a volunteer vacation, just a few examples:

http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/service.asp

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacations.htm

http://www.wta.org/volunteer/vacations