Wow…just wow
Three emails and two phone calls later, my knowledge is exactly where it was before I tried to make contact. About those three emails I sent: One went to my recruiter, and one went to my pre-service assistant. I got one reply back; it was automatic. My recruiter is no longer with the Peace Corps. Sounds like she scored an awesome job some place else. Good for her; sucky for me. She was the most reliable source I had. The automatic response told me to email another recruiter, so of course, I did. No reply. This all happened Monday, my friends!
I recently read somewhere that if the Peace Corps doesn’t have your dental records, then your file can’t move on. Even though my teeth are atrocious, I need the PC to at least know that there are some sort of bony structures within my mouth. So, I scheduled an appointment yesterday with that free dentist to get me X-rays and all that.
Next, I called the Pre-service Nurse. No answer. Superb! I called the Atlanta Recruiting office next. Apparently you get this special message if no one decides to answer, so I called the operator. She’s nice, but doesn’t sounds like she knows a lot about what’s going on. I tell her my story about my whole run around, and she tries to help me. I appreciated it because no one else in the PC has felt like it lately. I asked her about the dental records thing and she whole-heartedly believes that you must be dentally cleared before you receive an invitation. It says right there in my toolkit in FAQs that I do not need to be dentally cleared to receive an invitation, but I must be 30 days before departure.
She asked for my name then looked up my application. Told me I hadn’t been legally cleared yet, and there needed to be a check near the legal part. Also, my dental records need to be in. I thanked her and hung-up, then headed over to my toolkit status. There is indeed a check mark near my legal section… Wut?
There is no rush, but I have questions! Can I contact placement just to ask questions about being competitive? Please PC applicants help me. Sometimes I feel like you know more than some of staff do.
First of all, I’m sorry your application process so far has been frustrating and that you haven’t been able to receive the information you want/need. Here’s the best I can do to help (I just received my invite so I’ve been through the whole process):
1) You do NOT need to be dentally cleared to receive an invite – you are correct about the 30 days before departure thing. Dental is the most lenient because they know it takes time to get work done. However, they may not give you an invite until your paperwork is in and reviewed … meaning, you should see a dentist, figure out what all is wrong, turn that in, and yes, they will let you continue in the process even if you do have stuff to be done. If they don’t receive ANYTHING for dental, they won’t move you on. Make sense? So keep going with that process.
2) As for contacting placement, don’t do it. They won’t help you. They will send you back to the medical office. Just keep trying your medical assistant … or, call the general line, and ask the people at the medical desk. They might be able to send you toward someone else who can help. Your medical assistant’s number was given to you because they are the ones who are supposed to help you, and if they aren’t around or doing their job, then you have ever right to contact them again … and again … but keep in mind the more irritated or pesky you sound, the less they might be inclined to help you out. So find the happy medium.
3) The only other piece of advice I can give you is to be patient. I know everyone says that and it’s not always easy. But regardless of what everyone says (me included when I was in the process) they DO know what they are doing. They have their own timeline and they stick to it, even if that sucks for us. If you have a while because your nomination, you just might not be on their radar yet. It sucks, but it’s true. Keep contacting them and trying, but it doesn’t mean they are going to jump on your file immediately.
This process WILL get better, and you WILL make it through, its just a matter of being flexible, patient, and persistent. Good luck!
Thanks so much for replying!
1) Thank you for clearing this up for me. I have an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday.
2) Now that you’ve answered my question in #1, I no longer need to talk to medical. I just have questions concerning being competitive enough. I was hoping my recruiter would answer that question. lol. I think I’ll call again on Monday and ask about the competitive part. I would have asked the nice lady on the phone, but I no longer trusted the information she gave me after the dental statement.
3) I’m definitely okay with being patient. I just had a few questions and I was frustrated no one was there to answer them. I honestly don’t think I’ll hear from placement for a while, and I hope I don’t. I don’t think my resume is impressive enough yet. D:
Anyways. Hopefully once all my questions are answered I won’t have a need to contact them for a while.
Oh, don’t get too worked up about whether contacting PC will have any negative repercussions for you. All of the PC staff work to get applicants screened and do so objectively. Regular/occasional inquiries from applicants are received by the PC staff all of the time. They either have an answer for your question, or they tell you what needs to be done. Personally, I have e-mailed and called. I received help each time.
FYI – - – if it is any help to you, I believe that you are progressing through the process quite well. You are nominated for departure in late May / early June 2011 and have medical clearance already. I was nominated last June for a departure in February / March 2011. My medical packet was received by PC 08/06/2010. I received dental clearance 08/09/2010. I spoke recently to my nurse reviewer who told me my medical packet “looked very good” and I should receive medical clearance “in a few weeks.” See? by comparison, you are doing quite well.
I would suggest that you should relax, but to you need get that dental part completed ASAP. (Hopefully, this is motivating you to do so)
Then, you can truly relax.
Thanks. I was definitely stoked when I was medically cleared so early. In fact, after speaking to some applicants, I think it was a mistake. Anywho, I decided that I’m going to call a recruiter again in regards of having a competitive application. (I had a conditional nomination, but I won’t be able to do anything for it until next year). I’d hate to miss my nomination date because my resume wasn’t impressive enough when placement asks for it. Perhaps I’m worrying about it too much, but I’m really hoping I get to leave between May and June.
Also, good luck with your medical. Hopefully it will be cleared before a “few weeks”! Are you getting butterflies yet? You’re leaving date is so soon.