It can be daunting to watch your graduation date inch closer and still be unsure about where you want to kick-start your career — especially if you haven’t yet nailed down an industry or role that you’re passionate about. But there are some opportunities that will allow you to build new skills and challenge yourself regardless of what you studied in school, and gain a meaningful experience along the way.
Read on for how City Year can start you off on the right foot for the rest of your professional career, and how alumni of the program have taken the skills they gained at City Year to land exciting roles across various industries.
City Year is part of AmeriCorps, a national service program where Americans volunteer to help community organizations for about one year. City Year volunteers spend at least one year working in schools to equip students with “the social, emotional and academic skills and mindsets to succeed in school and life.” These volunteers are referred to as student success coaches.
Key to City Year’s success is its commitment to diversity. Nearly 50% of volunteers are people of color who live and work in the communities that they serve. Many of these communities are systemically underserved and under-resourced, and instilling volunteers who are members of these communities provides students with coaches who are culturally aware and committed to educational equity.
City Year alumni go on to have great careers in a variety of fields. The following are just a few fields that City Year alumni end up working in:
Education
City Year alumnus Luke Hostetter served as a student success coach from 2008 to 2009, and his time with City Year inspired him to continue pursuing work in the education sector. After spending a number of years teaching history and social studies, Hostetter became the principal of Baldi Middle School in Philadelphia, PA. In 2021, he even won the Lindback Award for Distinguished Principal Leadership.
“For someone who’s considering service,” said Luke, “my advice is to just go for it. And to really embrace your year of service as an opportunity to grow. There were so many different areas that I was able to grow in from the experience — such as leadership development and understanding my personal identity as a leader — but beyond that being able to develop a career path.”
Read more about Luke here: https://www.cityyear.org/philadelphia/stories/our-alumni/alumni-spotlight-luke-hostetter-09-principal-of-baldi-middle-school/
Tech
Shaneequa “Shan” Shyrier works in digital marketing at Meta, Facebook’s parent company. Before her journey into tech, Shaneequa began as a volunteer in operations and finance at City Year San Antonio. The chief of staff at City Year San Antonio quickly saw that Shaneequa was a talented communicator, tasking her with writing press releases and running social media accounts. A year later, she applied and got a job with City Year HQ in Boston as part of the marketing team.
“When I was interviewing for Meta, the recruiter told me that my LinkedIn profile stood out because of my City Year experience. They had been searching for someone who had both marketing and education experience — particularly in systemically underserved communities. They appreciated my commitment and dedication to supporting students of color and being able to bridge the gap in access to fundamental learning resources and opportunities.”
Learn more about Shan here: https://www.cityyear.org/national/stories/our-alumni/city-year-can-help-you-launch-a-marketing-career-in-tech/
Government
Amanda Gamble volunteered with City Year from 2011 to 2012 as an outreach coordinator on the Civic Engagement team. After graduating from the program in 2012, she went on to work for the City of Philadelphia, and she now holds the position of Chief Service Officer (CSO). As CSO, Amanda oversees several local and national service programs that reduce barriers to service. Amanda still reflects fondly on her time at City Year.
“I served for one year, and I still stay in touch with people that I served with and staff members at City Year. I owe a lot to City Year for embracing me as a young post-undergrad individual and helping me learn and grow, and I always want to stay connected to that because I think that professional development and mentorship of young folks is so unbelievably important.”
Read more about Amanda here: https://www.cityyear.org/philadelphia/stories/our-impact/alumni-spotlight-amanda-gamble-chief-service-officer-of-the-city-of-philadelphia/
The opportunities for City Year alumni are endless. Whether you hope to continue working in education, or want to pursue a career in an entirely unrelated field such as tech, your time at City Year will stand out and set you up for future success. Learn more about how you can get involved with City Year here.