As members consider life after service, they face a weighty decision: Where do I want to live? Do I want to go back to school? Should I seek other kinds of training? Do I want to enter the job market? And, that age-old dilemma: what do I want to be when I grow up?

Helping members figure out what types of careers best suit their personality, interests, and skills can assist them in making both short- and long-term plans. The following self-assessment tools, adapted from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in New York City, can serve as a starting point.

Use these tools separately or in combination for training sessions.

• Completing a career development self-assessment
• Creating a five-year career plan
• Translating AmeriCorps or VISTA service
• Crafting a résumé
• Writing a cover letter
• Conducting an informational interview
• Interviewing for a job

Completing a career development self-assessment

This tool asks members to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, accomplishments, likes and dislikes, and goals. It can serve as the starting point for a workshop on career development and help members identify next steps-whether they lead back to school or to the workplace.

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Creating a five-year career plan

Using this form, members create a personal plan, mapping out things to accomplish and action steps on a year-by-year basis.

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Translating AmeriCorps or VISTA service

This form helps the members reflect on their leadership and volunteer accomplishments. The information can be edited for use in a cover letter or a résumé, and can help members organize their thoughts for potential job interviews.

Pam Rechel, a former human resources manager and currently head of Brave Heart Consulting in Portland, Oregon, (www.braveheartconsulting.com) adapted another translation tool from Working with Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and from Behavioral Technology. It asks members to identify and reframe their life and work skill competencies.

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Crafting a résumé

Here are some basic pointers you should pass along to résumé writers.

Résumés MUST include:

• Complete, current contact information
• Work experience
• Volunteer and leadership experience
• Education

Résumés may include a personal objective (for example, "to work with youth in the nonprofit sector"), but be sure the objective matches the job you're applying for! Other optional elements include:

• "Other" experience
• Research/publications
• Interests/hobbies
• Computer skills
• Language skills

Do NOT include references in your résumé. Remember, a résumé should serve to:

• Highlight your skills
• Show off your accomplishments
• Show how you are qualified for the job
• Show where you want your career to go

Try to tailor the résumé to the job or type of job you're seeking: You may find yourself creating a new, slightly different résumé for every position you apply for–depending on what the employer requires. The résumé should be one page in length, unless you have a substantial amount of work experience. Above all, remember HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY. Always tell the truth about your experience and education.

Résumés can be formatted chronologically or functionally:

• The chronological résumé shows what jobs you held, starting with the most recent. This is the preferred method of presenting your information since it's the most straightforward for the employer.
• A functional résumé highlights your skills and accomplishments, rather than presenting a linear description of where you've been and what you've done over the years. You should consider using a functional résumé if you lack real work experience or are attempting to change fields.

You can also create a résumé that mixes both functional and chronological elements.

Be mindful of these important stylistic considerations:

• Use succinct language
• Use a consistent tense (past tense is usually best)
• Always double-check your spelling and have another set of eyes proofread your work
• Make it clean, well-organized, and legible with ample white space
• Use action verbs that quantify your accomplishments

For an example, AmeriCorps objectives or "skill clusters" describe jobs in active ways.

Download a template that members can use to create a résumé. See some examples of résumés here.

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Go on to Everything To Know About Getting a Job, Part 2

Spotting possible discrimination

It is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin or handicap in making personnel decisions. This resource helps members identify potentially discriminating or illegal interview questions.

This document was contributed Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time home buyers.

A resource for job seekers in the education, environment, and social service fields

Use this resource to help exiting members who are job seeking.

Helping members know what to expect

Job interviews are competitive by nature, and the better prepared members are, the better chance they have of converting a job interview into an offer of employment. These sample questions can help members know what kind of questions they might hear during an interview and help them prepare their answers ahead of time.

This document was contributed by Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Open doors for job seekers

How do you find the best sources for informational interviews? How do you set up interviews and, once you're in the door, what do you ask? This resource provides some answers. Use it to assist members who are forming a job-hunting strategy.

This document was contributed by Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Fine-tuning members' introduction to potential employers

How can members get noticed when competing for a job? Help them create cover letters for job applications that pack a punch. This sample letter uses action language to clearly highlight the member's enthusiasm and accomplishments.

This handout was contributed by Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

See examples of incorporating service experience into a résumé

These sample résumés were contributed Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), a AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Use them as examples as members set about the task of creating their résumés

Creating a résumé from a blank sheet of paper is not easy to do. These sample résumés can make the process easier by providing an example that members can draw from in creating résumés of their own.

A form that gathers the information members need to create their résumés

This form was contributed by Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), a AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Use it to guide members through a résumé-creating process.

By using this document, members can write out specifics of their résumé by hand. When they are finished, they are ready to type and format their résumé and send it out.

Word groups that help translate real experiences into résumé language

This handout is used in résumé writing exercises by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Use it for members as they prepare to write a résumé.

Action verbs are often an element of successful résumés and cover letters. Grouped by job type, these action verbs can assist members in matching their past experiences with their desired job type. Tools like this can make résumé writing a less daunting task.

Tips and an activity to get the notice of employers

Members can use this quick resource to put together a list of competencies they have developed while serving and translate them into the type of language that enhances résumés and cover letters. Use this to prepare members for post-service job hunting.

This resource was created by Brave Heart Consulting and contributed by the Northwest Service Academy.

Members benefit when recording accomplishments

This one-page self-explanatory form asks members to describe their leadership qualities, experiences and greatest volunteer accomplishments. It can be used for a wide range of purposes, including reflection, self-assessment, program evaluation, and résumé building.

This document was contributed by Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), a AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Organize thoughts and experiences around job seeking

A thorough self-assessment, this document asks members to reflect upon their values and past work experiences to create a vision of what they would like to do next. In addition to assisting members before they embark on a job search, it is both a reflective and visioning activity.

Use it to assist members early on when they begin to think about finding a job after their AmeriCorps service.

This resource was contributed Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.

Members create an action plan for where they want to be in five years

This self-explanatory form asks members to create a personal mission statement and career goals, as well as the action steps they would need to take over the next five year to get where they would like to go. It can be used as a reflection and visioning tool.

This resource was contributed Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC, New York, NY), an AmeriCorps National Direct program that focuses on increasing affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income families through housing development and counseling first time homebuyers.