AmeriCorps Application Process

Applications for the 2024-2025 service term will be accepted through the spring and summer. Several service terms are available: August 12, 2024 – August 12, 2025; and September 3, 2024 – July 31, 2025. November start dates are also available on a conditional basis. You can learn more about the application process for these positions below.

Current Full-Year openings

Applications for College AmeriCorps positions are posted as need arises, and new positions may appear at any time. College Students who currently volunteer or serve as interns at Montana schools or nonprofits can also contact our office about proposing their own AmeriCorps position.

Current Summer openings

Applications for 2024 Summer AmeriCorps positions will be available March 5, 2024. The application deadline is May 6, 2024. Positions begin on June 5th and are a 10-week commitment.

FULL-YEAR AMERICORPS | COLLEGE COACH & VISTA

1. Learn and Prepare

Learn About MCNCE AmeriCorps: 

Prepare for Your Application:

Consider which individuals you will ask to provide your references. You will be required to provide two professional references. Here are a couple of suggestions:

  1. Supervisor Reference – Someone who has supervised you in a work or volunteer setting. They should be able to speak to your work ethic, professional skills, and dependability.
  2. Service Reference – A professional mentor who can attest to how you live out service values. They should be someone who knows about your commitment to helping others and supporting communities, such as a professor, an athletic coach, a volunteer manager, a member of the clergy, etc.

Important: No more than one professional reference may be from a co-worker. No references may be accepted from a member of the candidate’s immediate family, including their parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or cousin.

2. Complete Your Application

There are two components to a complete application for the MCNCE AmeriCorps program. For an application to be complete, MCNCE must receive both an application via the My AmeriCorps platform and an application supplement completed via Submittable.

The application and supplement you complete are essential to your candidacy for an AmeriCorps position with MCNCE. Our staff attentively reviews all of your responses when determining whether to invite you to serve with our organization. Candidates who are selected for service will be those who show the most genuine engagement with the mission of MCNCE and the philosophy of AmeriCorps. Evidence of thoughtful responses reflects well on you as an applicant.

Once MCNCE has received and processed your application and references, you will receive an email from our office describing your next steps, including instructions to complete your application supplement. You will receive this message within one week of submitting all materials.

Part One: AmeriCorps Application

Your application for AmeriCorps service will be completed and submitted via the My AmeriCorps website, located at my.americorps.gov

Step 1: Create an account by visiting My AmeriCorps, and selecting “Register to create a new Member/Alum account”.

Step 2: Follow the steps to create your AmeriCorps profile.

Step 3: Create an application for your AmeriCorps profile.

Step 4: Once your application is complete, use it to apply to any Montana Campus Network for Civic Engagement AmeriCorps position listed in My AmeriCorps. Check out all of our open positions.

Step 5: Complete your Application Supplement (described below).

Part Two: Application Supplement

Your application supplement will be completed via Submittable and includes important information about your motivations for service with MCNCE, along with an opportunity to share your service site preferences. If you are accepted into the MCNCE AmeriCorps program, these preferences will be used when determining your service site placement. You will receive instructions to complete your Application Supplement after we have reviewed your My AmeriCorps application and references.

You will be asked to include up to three top choices for your service site in your application supplement. During an interview, your interest in those sites will be discussed in greater depth. Candidates receiving an invitation to join the MCNCE program will usually be offered a placement with one of these preferred service sites. On occasion, MCNCE may offer a different placement if our team feels that it will be the best fit for your skills.

3. Interview

After submitting your application supplement, you will receive instructions to schedule an interview. Interviews occur over the phone or via video conferencing software, lasting approximately 60 minutes. Interviews give us a chance to get to know you better and answer your questions about service. They are also your opportunity to share more about your interest in your service site preferences. Within one week of your interview, you will learn whether you have been invited to serve with MCNCE AmeriCorps.

4. Invitation to Serve

Within one week of your interview, you will be contacted by the MCNCE office. Candidates whom we would like to bring into our program will receive an invitation to serve, and be informed of the service site placement we believe is suitable for them. You will have three days to decide if you would like to accept this invitation and move forward in the process.

5. Supervisor Conversation & Final Acceptance

Service Site Conversation

Upon accepting their invitation to serve, candidates will be put in contact with the site supervisor specific to their AmeriCorps placement. The candidate and the supervisor will be asked to schedule a call. This conversation will be a chance for you to ask remaining questions about the service site organization, daily duties as an AmeriCorps member, the service community, etc. Most importantly, it is a chance to confirm that the placement will be a good fit, both for the candidate and the service site.

Final Acceptance

Following the service site conversation, you will confirm to MCNCE that you would like to accept the position. Once you let us know, we will begin your AmeriCorps enrollment and onboarding. In the event that either you or the service site feel that the placement will not be an ideal fit, MCNCE will work with you to determine if another of our service sites will be a suitable placement.

6. Onboarding

Once you and your service site supervisor have confirmed that you will be a good fit for the position, the placement will be finalized, and you will receive information to complete the AmeriCorps onboarding process.

7. Begin Service!

Service begins with a multi-day orientation and training provided by MCNCE. You will get to know your AmeriCorps cohort, learn about Montana, and come to understand your duties as an AmeriCorps member. Once completed, you will begin serving full-time at your service site!


COLLEGE & SUMMER AMERICORPS

1. Complete Your Application

Your application for AmeriCorps service will be completed and submitted via the My AmeriCorps website, located at my.americorps.gov

Step 1: Create an account by visiting My AmeriCorps, and selecting “Register to create a new Member/Alum account”.

Step 2: Follow the steps to create your AmeriCorps profile.

Step 3: Create an application for your AmeriCorps profile.

Step 4: Once your application is complete, you can check our available positions page for links to My AmeriCorps listings that interest you.

Once your application has been received, MCNCE will review it and share your information with position you have applied to. You can expect to hear from the position supervisor about next steps to be considered for the role.

2. Interview

If you have applied for a Summer AmeriCorps position, you can expect to hear from the position supervisor about scheduling an interview. These interviews are conducted by the hosting organization and may vary in content and length by service site.

If you have applied for a College AmeriCorps position, you can expect to hear from the position supervisor with any next steps. Formal interviews are not required for these positions, but some hosting organizations have the option to conduct them if they would like. Other organizations will discuss the position with you during an informal conversation.

3. Invitation to Serve

You will hear from the hosting organization if they would like to offer you an AmeriCorps position. You will confirm your acceptance to the hosting organization.

4. Onboarding

You will hear from the hosting organization if they would like to offer you an AmeriCorps position. You will confirm your acceptance to the hosting organization.

5. Begin Service

Summer AmeriCorps service begins with a day-long orientation on June 5th, 2023 conducted by MTCC. Options are available to attend either virtually or in-person at the University of Montana in Missoula. Once completed, you will begin serving full-time at your service site for the 10-week summer period.

College AmeriCorps members will receive an orientation when they begin service. This orientation is often conducted virtually with staff members from our office, but can also be delivered in-person for members serving in Missoula. Once completed, you will begin serving on the schedule identified by you and your service site supervisor.


ADA/EOE/AA/Veteran’s Preference: MCNCE is an administrative unit of the University of Montana. Reasonable accommodations are provided in the hiring process for persons with disabilities.