Peace Corps Resume: Sample & Writing Guide [20+ Tips]

You’ve got the skills—and the desire—to make the world a better place. But you don’t just walk into the Peace Corps headquarters and get assigned to a life-changing community project. You need to complete an application process first.

We’ll show you how to write a Peace Corps resume that feels authentic and clearly highlights your unique strengths.

This guide will show you: 

• A Peace Corps resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a Peace Corps resume that will land you that coveted interview.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a Peace Corps resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a Peace Corps volunteer to get the service assignment you want

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Targeting specific nonprofit or charity jobs? See these guides:

• Volunteer Coordinator Resume
• Hospital Volunteer Resume
• Program Coordinator Resume
• Nonprofit Resume Example
• ESL Teacher Resume Sample

You may also check our 500+ resume examples for various job types.

Peace Corps Resume Sample

Here’s how to write a Peace Corps resume that gets jobs:

1. Select the Best Peace Corps Resume Format

Peace Corps volunteers work to promote world peace as well as friendship. They help people in willing countries by meeting the need for trained women and men. A Peace Corps resume must show passion, but it’s equally critical to prove needed skills.

Caring is not enough.

Your resume must prove professionalism.

The best way to format a resume for Peace Corps jobs is in the chronological resume style:

• Good resume headers are key. Write your name and contact info like phone, email, and city.
• Write your address on a resume for Peace Corps jobs, though most other resumes don’t need it.
• List your last position first.
• Make your resume font size somewhere in the 10–12 point range. Pick a clean, non-serif font like Cambria.
• The ideal resume length is no more than a page. Think of it as a career backpack. Fill it with the best things that fit.

Pro Tip: Save a resume file format PDF. Why? PDFs stay nicely-formatted after you submit them. Of course it’s a different story if the job offer bans them.

2. Write a Peace Corps Resume Objective or Resume Summary

What are your chances?

Zero, if they don’t read your Peace Corps resume.

But you can change that with a business elevator pitch.

The summary for your resume should give them a snapshot of your skills and history.

Need to know how to write a resume with no experience?

Write an objective for your resume for Peace Corps roles instead.

It’s the same as a summary, but you prove soft skills like leadership or teamwork.

Example: You were in charge of three other landscapers in a lawn care job, so you list that to show leadership.

3. Prep Your Resume for the Peace Corps Job Description

Heads up:

You won’t get interviews if you don’t mesh with a specific Peace Corps job.

One of the best Peace Corps resume tips is to find your job before you write.

Here’s how to describe work experience on a resume:

• Target your resume to the job you’re trying for.
• Pick the right business job titles. Example: they need an “ESL tutor.” Don’t say you were a “tutor to foreign language students.”
• List resume accomplishments that prove the needed Peace Corps skills, with numbers.
• Example: they want higher test scores. You say, “Increased test scores 25% with Montessori teaching techniques.”

Pro Tip: The right words to use in a resume are always action words like increased, added, maintained, or contributed.

4. Help Your Peace Corps Resume Education Section

Believe it.

Education makes a difference in a Peace Corps resume.

Here’s how to describe education on your resume:

Tell them your school, degree name, and dates.

But—

Add skills-proving achievements. Example: they need leadership skills and you were the president of a student group.

5. Show Peace Corps Skills in Your Resume

Use this list of Peace Corps resume skills and abilities.

Peace Corps Resume Skills

Technical Skills:

Agriculture Skills

• Planting
• Weeding
• Watering
• Farm equipment operation
• Animal and crop management
• Value chain knowledge

Education Skills

• Teaching
• Curriculum development
• ESL
• Safety
• Sanitation
• Age appropriate activities
• Classroom management

Healthcare Skills

• Patient education
• Wound dressing
• Phlebotomy
• Medicine administration
• Creating plan of care
• Recording patient vitals

Economic Development Skills

• Local regulation knowledge
• Training
• Working with community groups
• Program planning
• Facility development
• Finance

Environmental Skills

• Data collection
• Field surveying
• Soil, water, and air testing
• Identifying contaminant sources
• Remediation planning
• Generating scientific reports

Youth Development Skills

• Working with children and families
• Training
• Youth supervision
• Child welfare planning
• Case planning
• Role modeling

Soft Skills:

• Leadership
• Interpersonal skills
• Teamwork
• Time management
• Languages
• Decision making
• Project management
• Organization
• Creative thinking
• Efficiency
• Active listening
• Critical thinking
• Computer skills
• Dependability
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Oral & written communication skills
• Coordination
• Physically fit

Warning—

Before you write your list, see the online posting for the small list of skills they’re after.

Pro Tip: What are hard skills? They’re the technical abilities you need to perform specific tasks like nursing or bookkeeping. Your Peace Corps resume needs both hard and soft skills.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, our free resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Peace Corps Resume

There are five basic sections of a resume:

• Header
• Summary
• Experience
• Education
• Skills

But—

Adding advanced sections can help a Peace Corps resume a lot.

Choose from:

• Activities
• Clubs
• Side projects
• School projects
• Volunteer tasks
• Supervisor kudos
• Hobbies for a resume
• Sports
• Freelancing
• Volunteer experience

Not sure how to write language skills in a resume? Only list them if they’ll help the exact Peace Corps opening you’re applying to.

Pro Tip: Here’s how to add certifications in a resume: if it’s vital to the job, proudly show it in its own “Certifications” section. Place it beneath “Education.”

7. Send a Cover Letter With Your Peace Corps Resume

To cover letter or not to cover letter?

That’s not the question.

The question is, how can you write an attention getting cover letter for a resume for Peace Corps jobs?

• Begin with the best format for a cover letter. (That’s the 3-paragraph layout.)
• What’s the best way to start a cover letter? With a winning hook. Example: “When I raised test scores by an average of 35%...”
• In the next paragraph, tout your passion for this kind of work. Do it by showing off great things you’ve done that fit the role.
• In your Peace Corps cover letter last paragraph, offer a bonus. Example: “I’d be glad to talk about how I raised $10,000 for disadvantaged children.”
• Make your cover letter word count 300 to 350 words.

Send a follow up email for a job application each week after you apply. Make it short, but remind them about a key fact in your resume.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s it!

That’s how to write a resume for Peace Corps jobs.

Do you think braggy Peace Corps resumes are a mistake? Would humility work better in a Peace Corps resume? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

Sources

• https://www.peacecorps.gov/apply/