Literacy*AmeriCorps

How to Join

For Full and Part-time Applicants

Forty (40) full-time members are recruited each program year. Our seventeenth program year will begin in September of 2010. The recruiting and placement process will begin in the spring of 2010, and the online application will be open as of March 15, 2010.  If you would like to apply to be a member, follow the steps listed below. The program coordinator is available at any step along the way to answer any questions.

First: Read the entire “How We Serve” section of this website to find if Literacy*AmeriCorps Pittsburgh is the right program for you.

Apply: Go to the "My AmeriCorps" site (https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do) and click on "Apply to Serve."  After entering basic personal information, click on the option to "Search Listings."  For the "Quick Search" option, select the program type as "AmeriCorps State/National" and state as "Pennsylvania."  The program is listed under "Literacy*AmeriCorps-Pittsburgh" (around the end of page 3.)  Click on our program name to read program information.  To apply, scroll to the bottom of our program page, and click "Apply Now!"

The application requires two references.  Please submit professional (employer, professor) references only.  Friends, family members, fellow church members, etc. will not be accepted as references.  Also, please submit your references' email addresses.  This will enable your references to easily complete the reference form on-line.  Your complete application will automatically be sent to the program coordinator.

Interview: The program coordinator will use the application to judge if the applicant is a good fit for the program. If this is the case, the program coordinator will contact the applicant by phone or email. The applicant will be invited for an interview. The interview takes place at the program coordinator’s office and lasts around 45 minutes. Prior to the interview, applicants are asked to review the “How We Serve” section of this website. A face-to-face interview is preferred, but a phone interview is acceptable for out-of-state applicants if necessary.

After the interview, the program coordinator will notify you if you are welcome to join. Applicants are encouraged to sleep on their decision to join AmeriCorps, as it is a serious commitment. A member’s acceptance into the program is contingent on his/her placement at one of our service sites.

Site Interviews: If the applicant chooses to join the program, the placement process begins. Every applicant must be placed at a service site before member pre-service orientation begins. Guided by the program coordinator, the applicant will choose up to four service sites of interest. The program coordinator will send the member’s application and references to the site supervisors at the indicated sites, and the site supervisors will contact the member directly for an interview.

The program coordinator is available for assistance at any step along the way. Most service sites interview three AmeriCorps applicants.

Placement: A placement is made when, after the site interview, the service site invites the applicant to serve there and the applicant wishes to serve at that site. At that point, the applicant is invited to pre-service orientation and to begin a year of AmeriCorps service!