Questions to Ask in an AmeriCorps Interview
For applicants to an AmeriCorps position, whether State and National, VISTA or NCCC, who have reached the point where the site or program interviewer asks what you would like to know. The questions follow the order the decision usually takes: what a member does all day, who supervises and trains you, the hours and the rules of the term, whether you can live on the allowance, what the education award and the year lead to, and a few to close on before you say yes. Programs differ on nearly every detail here, so treat each answer as true for that position only and ask again at the next interview.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The work
What does a member in this position actually do from Monday to Friday?
Why ask it
Position descriptions for a service term are often written for a grant application long before anyone serves in them. Ask the interviewer to walk you through last week for the current member, and if nobody holds the position now, ask who has been covering the work.
How much of the time is spent directly with the people the program serves, and how much at a desk?
Why ask it
This is where program types differ most. VISTA positions are built around strengthening an organization behind the scenes, while many State and National positions put you in a classroom, a clinic or a work crew, so ask for a rough split and compare it with what you pictured.
What should be different at this site by the end of my term because a member was here?
Why ask it
The answer is the project's goal in the interviewer's own words, and it tells you what you would be judged on. Something you could check, such as a volunteer schedule that runs without you or a full tutoring roster, is a good sign. 'Just having the extra help' means you would be setting your own targets.
What are the hardest parts of this service, and when in the term do members tend to hit them?
Why ask it
Someone who has hosted members can usually name a month: the stretch after the first excitement wears off, a testing season, the winter on an outdoor crew. Ask what helped the last member get through it. No hard part at all is not a believable answer.
Has a member served in this position before, and what did they leave behind?
Why ask it
A site on its third member usually has a desk, a routine and a supervisor who knows the paperwork. A first-year site may still be deciding what a member is for, which can mean freedom or a slow first two months. In that case ask who wrote the position description and whether they will still be there when you start.
Who does this program serve, and what should I understand about the community before I arrive?
Why ask it
Many members serve in a town or neighborhood they did not grow up in, and the interviewer has usually watched a new arrival get something wrong. Listen for specifics, such as which languages families speak at home or why an earlier project lost people's trust. An answer that is all need and no strengths shows you how the organization talks about the people it works with.
Where would I be placed, and how much say would I have in the site or the team?
Why ask it
Some programs interview centrally and match you to a school, an office or a crew weeks later, so the person across the table may not know yet. Find out when the match is made and whether you could turn one down. In a traveling program such as NCCC the work and the town can change several times in a term, and the useful detail is what last year's teams did in each round.
Where is the line between what a member does here and what paid staff do?
Why ask it
AmeriCorps programs carry a list of prohibited activities, and a member's position is not meant to stand in for a paid job. A supervisor who knows where those lines are answers this quickly. A long pause suggests you may be the one explaining why you cannot cover the front desk.
How do members fit in with the staff here: do they come to staff meetings and work as part of the team?
Why ask it
A member serves at the site without being on its payroll, and sites handle that in-between status in different ways. Beyond meetings, listen for the small things: an email address, a desk, being introduced to partners by name. They tend to predict whether your work is taken seriously.
What does the program have to report to its funder about this position, and how much of that tracking would I do?
Why ask it
Programs answer to their funder with figures such as students tutored, homes repaired or volunteers recruited, and members often log their own. Ask which system the entries go into and how long it takes each week. The list of figures also shows what the program thinks the position is for.
Support
Who would supervise me day to day, and how often would we meet one on one?
Why ask it
Many placements have two people: a supervisor at the host site and a staff member at the organization that holds the grant. Get both names, and ask which of them signs your timesheet and which one you call about a problem with the other.
Has the person who would supervise me worked with AmeriCorps members before?
Why ask it
Supervising a member takes time that a busy staff member may not have been given. An experienced supervisor knows the rules about hours and duties without looking them up. With a first-timer, ask what training the program gave them and who they turn to with questions.
What training happens before I start serving, and what comes later in the term?
Why ask it
Listen for two kinds: orientation to AmeriCorps and its rules, and training for the work itself. The second matters more if you have never tutored, run a chainsaw or written a grant report. Ask how many days pass before you are doing the work unsupervised.
What preparation would I get for the hardest situations in this work, such as a child in crisis or an upset client?
Why ask it
Name the situation that worries you most for this particular position. You want to hear about a specific session, a written procedure and a person to call, and not that members pick it up as they go. A story about the first time it happened to a past member tells you more than the training calendar does.
Would I serve on my own at this site, or alongside other members?
Why ask it
Being the only member at a small nonprofit and being one of a dozen at a school are very different years. If you would be alone, find out where the nearest members are and whether there is any way to reach them between program events. In a team program such as NCCC, ask how teams are formed and whether they change during the term.
How often does the whole cohort get together, and does that time count toward my hours?
Why ask it
Cohort days are where members compare sites and find out what is normal. A regular schedule of them is worth a lot when you are the only member at your site. If they are held in another city, ask who pays for the travel.
How would I find out partway through whether I am doing well?
Why ask it
Many programs do a written evaluation in the middle and at the end of the term. Ask to see the form, since it lists what the program cares about. Then ask whether the final evaluation affects anything later, such as eligibility to serve again.
If the placement is not working out, who do I go to outside the site?
Why ask it
Good programs have an answer ready, usually a program director who has mediated for members or moved one before. Ask whether a member has ever changed sites mid-term and how it went. Say that you are asking about the safety net, and it will not sound like you expect trouble.
Can members earn a certification or attend outside training during the term, and who pays for it?
Why ask it
Some positions come with something you can carry out the door: a wilderness first aid card, a step toward a teaching credential, a tax preparer certification. What past members actually finished with is a better guide than what is on offer, and check whether the time spent counted toward their hours.
The term
What are the start and end dates, and how many hours do I have to complete by the end?
Why ask it
A term is measured in hours as well as months, and the total depends on whether the position is full time, part time or a shorter summer term. Write the number down. The education award generally depends on reaching it, so every later question about schedule and time off comes back to this figure.
What does the weekly schedule look like, and how often does it include evenings or weekends?
Why ask it
Divide the required hours by the weeks in the term and see whether the schedule they describe gets you there. If it does not, the difference is made up somewhere, often at weekend events or community days. A real week from the past month settles it better than a description of a typical one.
What counts toward my hours, and what does not?
Why ask it
Lunch breaks, travel between sites, training days and fundraising are the usual gray areas, and programs often cap how much of the total some of them can make up. How timesheets are submitted and how quickly someone approves them matters too, because an error found in month nine is hard to fix.
What do members do when the site is closed, such as over school breaks or in bad weather?
Why ask it
A school-based member can lose weeks of hours to winter and spring breaks unless the program plans for them. Good answers include planned projects, service at a partner site or a schedule loaded toward the front of the year to allow for it. 'It works itself out' is worth a second question about how the last member closed the gap.
How much time off do members get, and how are sick days and holidays handled?
Why ask it
Leave policies are set by the program: some give a fixed number of days and others only require that you finish your hours. Under the second kind, a day off is a day of hours to make up later. If you have a wedding or a graduation during the term, mention the dates now.
Am I allowed to hold a part-time job or take classes during the term?
Why ask it
Rules on outside work differ by program and have changed over the years, so take the current rule from your interviewer and not from an old forum thread. Then ask the practical version: whether the schedule is steady enough to plan a job around, and whether members here actually manage it.
Are there rules about what I do in my own time, such as political activity or what I post online?
Why ask it
Restrictions on things like campaigning or lobbying generally apply while you are on service time or identifiable as a member, for example in program gear. Ask where this program draws that line. A clear answer now saves an awkward conversation during an election season.
Is the funding for this position confirmed for the whole term, and what happens to members if it is cut?
Why ask it
Positions depend on federal grants and often on matching money the site has to raise. 'Awarded' and 'pending' are different answers, and it is fair to ask which one describes the grant covering your term. If the interviewer has lived through a cut, ask what the program did for the members serving at the time.
What happens if I have to leave before the term ends?
Why ask it
Programs usually treat leaving for a serious personal reason differently from simply quitting, and the difference can decide whether you receive any part of the education award or can serve again. Ask how each is defined and who makes the call. You can say you intend to finish and want to understand the terms.
Which background checks are required, and do they have to clear before I can start?
Why ask it
Members go through criminal history checks, often including fingerprints, and a slow result can push back a start date. The useful details are how long they took for recent members and whether any of the cost falls on you. If something on your record might come up, raise it with the program early and ask how it is reviewed.
Living on it
What is the living allowance for this position, and what does a paycheck come to after taxes?
Why ask it
The allowance is a set amount for the term, paid in installments, and not an hourly wage, so extra hours do not raise it. What a recent member took home each pay period, and how often it arrived, is the figure to hold against rent.
How do current members actually cover rent and food on the allowance?
Why ask it
You are asking for the honest version: roommates, family help, savings, a weekend job. Whether members qualify for food assistance or other public benefits depends on the state and the type of program, so ask what members here have found and confirm it with the local office yourself.
Is housing provided, or is there help finding it?
Why ask it
Residential programs such as NCCC house their members, a few sites offer a room or a housing stipend, and most leave it to you. Ask what members typically pay nearby and whether the program connects incoming members who want to share. If housing is provided, ask what it is like and who you would share with.
If I move for this position, is there any help with the cost of getting there and settling in?
Why ask it
Some programs offer a relocation or settling-in payment and many offer nothing. Where there is one, ask whether it arrives before your first rent is due or as a reimbursement weeks later. Also ask when the first allowance payment lands, since that gap is what you need savings for.
What health coverage comes with the position, and when does it start?
Why ask it
Coverage varies by program and by whether the position is full time. Ask what a doctor's visit and a prescription cost under it, whether dental, vision and counseling are included, and whether there is a gap between your start date and the first day you are covered.
Is there child care help for members who are parents, and how long does approval take?
Why ask it
Some full-time members can apply for a child care benefit, with conditions on income and the child's age. It is usually run by a separate administrator, so ask for the contact and the application timeline before you accept. A benefit that starts two months into the term leaves two months to cover.
What happens to my student loans while I serve, and who signs the paperwork?
Why ask it
Members often request forbearance on qualifying federal loans during a term, and there may be help with the interest that builds up once the term is completed. The program can tell you which form goes where. Your loan servicer has the final word on your own loans, and private lenders set their own terms.
Do I need a car for this position, and are mileage, parking or a transit pass covered?
Why ask it
A position spread across several sites can cost a lot in gas on a small allowance. Ask how the last member got around and what was reimbursed. If the honest answer is that you need a car, add insurance and repairs to your budget before deciding.
Award and after
How much is the education award for this term, and what exactly do I have to do to earn it?
Why ask it
The Segal AmeriCorps Education Award is set by the length of the term and the amount is revised from year to year, so ask for the figure tied to your start date. The conditions matter as much as the amount: usually the full hours, the full term and a satisfactory final evaluation.
What can the award be spent on, and how long do I have to use it?
Why ask it
It is meant for costs at eligible schools and for repaying qualifying student loans, and it comes with a deadline. Ask how members claim it, whether it can be split across several payments, and how it is treated at tax time in the year you use it. If you already know where you want to spend it, check with that school or lender too.
Is there a cash option in place of the education award, and when would I have to choose?
Why ask it
VISTA has offered members a choice between the education award and a smaller cash payment at the end of service. Other positions may have no such choice. If yours does, ask for both amounts and the date the decision locks in, and think about which debts or plans each would serve.
What did the last few members from this site do after their term ended?
Why ask it
Ask for actual people and not a general impression: one went to graduate school, one was hired by a partner agency, one served a second term. If the interviewer cannot think of any, the program may not keep in touch with its alumni, and you would be building that network yourself.
Has the site hired former members onto its staff, and how did that come about?
Why ask it
For some members the term turns out to be a long interview for a job at the host site. Find out whether that has happened here and whether a position was open at the right time or was created. Nobody can promise it, so ask about the past and leave the future alone.
Can members serve a second term here, and what would be different the second time?
Why ask it
There are limits on how many terms a person can serve and how many awards they can earn, so ask where one more term would leave you. Some programs give returning members a team leader position with more responsibility. If it interests you, find out when in the term that conversation usually starts.
Does finishing this term carry any hiring advantage, such as with federal jobs or employers that recruit alumni?
Why ask it
Certain types of AmeriCorps service have come with a special hiring status for federal jobs for a limited time, and some employers and schools make a point of recruiting alumni. Which of these applies depends on the program, so ask about this exact position and how past members made use of it.
Deciding
Thinking of the members who finished the term strong, what did they have in common?
Why ask it
The traits an interviewer lists are usually those of one particular member, so you are hearing who you would be compared with. Follow with the other half: what the members who left early had in common. If that turns out to be no savings, no car or no family nearby, the difficulty lies in the position and not in the people.
Could I talk with a current or recent member before I decide?
Why ask it
A member will tell you what the allowance feels like in the third month and what the supervisor is like on a bad day. Programs that are proud of their members' experience usually arrange this within a day or two. Bring the questions from this page that the interviewer answered most vaguely.
Could I read the member agreement before I accept?
Why ask it
The agreement, which some programs call a contract, puts the hours, the allowance, the leave policy and the grounds for ending a term early in writing. Read it beside your notes from the interview and raise any difference before you sign. A program that sends it without fuss is one that expects its members to know the terms.
Is there anything in my application that gives you pause about me in this position?
Why ask it
A member who leaves mid-term can be hard to replace, so an interviewer's doubt is often about staying power more than skill. Hearing it now lets you answer with facts: your savings, your housing plan, a hard year you have already finished. Leave it out if the interviewer has plainly run out of time.
When will you decide, and how long would I have to accept an offer?
Why ask it
Programs recruit against a fixed start date and may be filling several positions at once. If you are in the running elsewhere, say so and give your own timeline. Find out as well what has to happen between an offer and the first day, such as forms, checks and orientation, so the dates you are given are realistic.
How to use your questions in an AmeriCorps interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the AmeriCorps interview
Find out who is interviewing you
An AmeriCorps position usually involves two organizations: the program that holds the grant and recruits members, and the host site where you would serve. Sometimes they are one and the same. A program recruiter knows the allowance, the benefits and the rules of the term. A site supervisor knows the work, the schedule and the people. Ask at the start which one you are speaking with, then put The work and Support to the site, and The term, Living on it and Award and after to the program. In a team program such as NCCC there may be no site to ask about yet, because projects are assigned later.
Read the listing line by line
The position listing and the program's website often state the allowance, the term dates and the benefits. Asking for a figure that is printed there wastes one of your turns. Build on it: 'The listing gives the allowance for the year. What does that come to each pay period after taxes?' gets you something you could not have looked up.
Know your own number
Before the interview, add up what a month would cost you in that town: rent, food, transportation, phone, loan payments, anything you send home. When the interviewer names the allowance you will know at once how large the gap is, and your follow-ups about housing, outside work and benefits can be specific.
Take one question from each group
Your side of the interview may get ten minutes or less. Pick the question in each group whose answer could change your mind, and ask those first. The rest can go in an email afterwards or wait for a conversation with a current member.
When it is your turn to ask
Open with the service, then get to the money
Starting with what members do shows you applied for the work. Do not let the time run out before the allowance, the hours and the award come up, though. Everyone in the room knows the allowance is modest, and an applicant who asks how members live on it sounds like someone planning to finish the term.
Ask about last year's member
'What is the training like?' gets the brochure. 'What training did last year's member have before the first day with students?' gets what happened. Nearly every question on this page can be pointed at a real person and a real month, and those answers are harder to polish.
Check what you heard against the paper
After the interview, set your notes beside the listing and, once it arrives, the member agreement. Where they disagree, the written version is the one the program will go by. Send a short email asking which is right before you accept, and keep the reply.
Keep the same notes for every position
If you interview with several sites or programs, the details blur within a week: which one had cohort days, which one needed a car. Write the answers under the same headings for each position. The comparison stays fair, and you have exact words to check against the agreement.
What to stress for each kind of program
State and National
These positions are run by nonprofits, schools, public agencies and other grantees, so nearly everything varies from one program to the next: the allowance, the leave policy, the health plan, whether the position is full time. Lean on The term and Living on it, and assume nothing from a friend's experience in another program, even one in the same city.
VISTA
VISTA service is aimed at building up an organization that works on poverty, which usually means planning, recruiting volunteers, writing and data work in an office. The questions about the split between desk and direct service, about what should exist at the end of the year, and about who supervises a member working largely alone matter most here. Ask about the cash option and the current rule on outside work as well.
NCCC and other team programs
When the program houses, feeds and moves its members, the questions about rent and a car fall away and others take their place: who is on the team, where it is based between projects, how projects are chosen, what days off look like and how conflict inside a team is handled. Ask what members do with the allowance when room and board are covered, and what they wish they had packed.
Slips to avoid
Bargaining over the allowance
The allowance is normally fixed for the position, and trying to negotiate it like a salary suggests you have misread what is on offer. What may have some give is the start date, the site you are matched with, the weekly schedule or permission for a part-time job. Ask about those.
Staying quiet about money to seem committed
A member who runs out of money cannot finish the term, and programs know it. Asking how people get by shows you are taking the commitment seriously. If an interviewer treats the question as a lack of dedication, weigh that.
Hearing 'usually' as a promise
'Members usually finish their hours by July' and 'we have usually been able to hire someone' describe past years. For anything you are counting on, ask what it depends on and whether it is written in the agreement.
Forgetting that the site is being interviewed too
A site wants a member who will stay the whole term, which means it also needs you to choose well. You are allowed to compare positions, to ask for a day to think, and to turn one down. A term is a long time to spend somewhere you had doubts about and never voiced.