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National Peace Corps Association > News > Advocacy > Peace Corps Director Williams on Non-Competitive Eligibility
Peace Corps Director Williams on Non-Competitive Eligibility
By Jonathan Pearson on Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams has responded to a joint letter from the National Peace Corps Association and the Peace Corps Employees Union concerning possible ways to strengthen the noncompetitive eligibility provisions for returning Peace Corps Volunteers seeking federal employment. (Click here to see earlier post on strengthening NCE)
Read the original letter from NPCA and the Employees Union here.
Read the Director’s response, which includes a list of recent steps taken to further promote non-competitive eligibility.
Offer your thoughts on how Noncompetitive Eligibility is working for you!
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On Thursday, May 24, from 1-2 p.m. EST, the Peace Corps Office of Third Goal and Returned Volunteer Services will host an Online Career Webinar on Noncompetitive Eligibility. Peace Corps staff member Kat Edwards will answer questions about NCE such as: what it is, how it works, and how to use it to land a federal job. To register for this event, please visit http://tinyurl.com/NCEWebinar.
On June 6, Peace Corps will host a a special NCE Roundtable for Federal employers at Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC (Remote access is also available). HR representatives and hiring managers are especially encouraged to attend. Feel free to forward this invitation to other Federal employers who might be interested in attending. Advanced registration for this free event is required. Please click here to register for this event.
Having the noncompetitive eligibility only for one year is wrong. The problem is that we are third in line, after RIF federal employees looking for a new position, and military personnel. When there are hiring freezes, such as when I came back from the Peace Corps in 1996, there is nothing to be eligible for. The length of noncompetitive eligibility should be extended for at least 5 years. And this is highly unfair when combined with the fact that Peace Corps Volunteers cannot receive unemployment benefits, and leads to a very difficult re-entry back into the work force.
Military service is a very different situation at so many levels. As a PCV, you are a volunteer, not an employee. So employee benefits don’t make sense, do they? Let’s differentiate ourselves and avoid becoming yet another Federal entitlement faction.
It is a privilege to serve in the Peace Corps.