Career resources toolkit

Exclusive scholarship opportunities

University partnerships

More than 100 colleges, universities and graduate schools offer exclusive scholarships to qualified City Year AmeriCorps members, alums and staff. These schools – referred to as University Partners – value the City Year experience and commit to offering tuition scholarships, up to 100%, along with application fee waivers and other benefits. Learn more.

Schools of National Service

Schools of National Service are a collection of more than 300 colleges and universities that offer scholarships, application fee waivers and other benefits for AmeriCorps alums. In addition, in Arizona, Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia – these schools offer in-state tuition rates to all AmeriCorps alums. Learn more.

Preferential hiring opportunities

Career partnerships

More than 30 organizations offer preferential recruitment and hiring or career development resources for City Year AmeriCorps members and alums. These organizations – called Career Partners – value the City Year experience and seek to recruit AmeriCorps members and alums. Learn more.

Employers of National Service

In recognition of the unique and transferable skills that participants develop during national service, Employers of National Service builds a talent pipeline to connect AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alums with employers from every sector to create recruitment, hiring and advancement opportunities. Through this initiative, more than 500 employers have access to a pool of dedicated, highly qualified and mission‐oriented talent, and national service alums have opportunities to translate their skills into the workplace. Learn more.

Continue your service with City Year

Serving one year as an AmeriCorps member can lead to accelerating your career in the nonprofit sector with City Year. More than 35% of City Year staff are alums. Learn more about Returning AmeriCorps member opportunities and staff opportunities.

Résumé, cover letter and interviewing resources

• Visit the résumé page to access résumé templates and alumni examples to help you write a stand-out résumé that highlights your City Year skills and experiences.
• Visit the cover letter page to access resources and alumni examples to help you write a strong cover letter that integrates your City Year skills and experiences.
• Visit the interviewing page to access resources to support interview prep and mock interviewing guides for Interviewees and Interviewers.

LinkedIn and networking resources

The prepare for an informational interview guide covers topics such as different ways to find alums who have followed a path of interest, email structure to request an informational interview, how to plan an informational interview and conversation flow and sending a follow-up/thank-you email.

LinkedIn Career Development Online Training Courses: Learn how to manage your career—from your first job to advancing your career to switching careers. Get the skills you need to grow your network, write a résumé, interview, get a job and get promoted.

Connect with alums on LinkedIn

Request access to the City Year Alumni Association group on LinkedIn and start building connections with more than 6,000 alums. Visit the LinkedIn page to access the LinkedIn Guide for City Year AmeriCorps members and alums, which covers topics such as:

• tips for building your profile
• networking and joining groups
• the difference between your résumé and LinkedIn profile
• setting up a targeted search to identify City Year alums in your career path

Connect to the AmeriCorps alumni network – 1 million strong

In addition to the network of more than 40,000 City Year alums, there is a broader service network of one million AmeriCorps alums. AmeriCorps Alums offers a free career center, job board, networking, professional development webinars and more. Learn more about the Service Year (AmeriCorps) Alums network here.

Sites for the job search

• City Year Alumni Job Board: a job explorer exclusively for City Year alums
• Jopwell: represents and advances careers for Black, Latinx and Native American students and professionals
• Apprenticeships: Making an Impact After Your Term of Service
• Glassdoor job explorer: an interactive job search mapping tool
• Idealist.org: connecting idealists with opportunities for action
• USAJobs: federal jobs search engine
• AmeriCorps: view a list of hundreds of companies recruiting AmeriCorps alums

Other resources

Indeed career guide: includes a variety of resources (résumé, interviewing, etc.) and a variety of career-focused articles and blogs (ex: “The Impact of Workplace Wellbeing and How to Foster It” and “How to Negotiate Salary After a Job Offer”).

O*NET career exploration tools: These tools will help individuals identify their work-related interests and what they consider to be important on the job to explore occupations that relate most closely to those attributes.