Posted by Randy LeGrant on Tue, Apr 28, 2009
The entry below appeared on April 28, 2009 in a GeoVisions E-News:
When you volunteer abroad with GeoVisions, you receive a 2-month subscription to Pongo Resume. FREE! Add your volunteer experience to your resume in a way that attracts attention. Then, Prepare To Get Hired.
You may be the best candidate, but you won't get the job unless your resume, cover letter, and interview skills stand out and impress employers. With Pongo's Resume Builder, Cover Letter Builder, Interview Tips, and expert guidance, you have what it takes to sell yourself and negotiate your best job offer.
Print professional resumes right from the web. Then use Pongo's email service to email your resume out to prospective employers. Need to fax your resume? No problem with Pongo. The 2-months of FREE service allows you to fax your resume from the Internet in a fax-friendly design. The subscription even comes with a "tracker" to see who received your resume and who opened it.
You volunteered your time and talents...now use all of that experience and prepare to get hired!
When your application is accepted, we will send you a special link to receive your 2-month FREE subscription. The two months begin when you activate your account. Some volunteers use it during the application process and others while they are on the project...it's all done over the Internet so you have global access to your account. Still others wait until they return and begin to use Pongo. Whatever you decide, you have two-full months of service once you activate your account.
GeoVisions is an Official Certifying Organization for The President's Volunteer Service Award. That means we will record your GeoVisions service on the volunteer project. For your service you will receive a lapel pin, a personalized certificate, a congratulatory letter from President Barack Obama and a letter from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
Upon your return, GeoVisions hopes you will continue to volunteer abroad or in your local community. When you do, just email us to turn in your hours. When you move to the next level (from 100 to 250 hours or more) you will move from Bronze, to Silver, to Gold and then Lifetime/The President's Call To Service Award. The more hours you volunteer and report to GeoVisions, the higher you move up. This is an ongoing service to you, our volunteer. No matter how many years it takes, you will move on up to a higher level and receive the new awards. All by being a volunteer with GeoVisions right now.
Are you a member of The Conversation Corps? Are you a Conversation Partner? Then you have already received our book, A Tutor's Guide: Teaching English To Families and Children. To augment the book, you now have access to the ESL-Lounge's Premium Area. With your special username and password you can download PDF lesson plans with full teacher notes; download hundreds of flash cards; use Business English lesson plans, download and use audio mp3 files.
The ESL-Lounge has been around since 2001. All materials have been prepared by teachers with at least eight years of experience. This shows in the lesson plans themselves: these have been produced by teachers for teachers and those teachers who have contributed understand the requirements of teachers in the classroom. All Conversation Corps members and Conversation Partners received this $29 membership FREE.
There are still a few spots available for this summer. Many have already started to secure their place for the fall. We encourage you to contact GeoVisions for more information on these new benefits and spaces that may still yet be available during the summer...or make your decision for the fall today. September placements are almost full, believe it or not!
Remember, you can apply for FREE! It never costs to make your application and start the process.
The Global Work and Service Programs Team
GeoVisions
Posted by Randy LeGrant on Tue, Apr 21, 2009
Check out Shannon's Blog Post "Host Family Info Delivered Today" and get excited for Shannon. She's actually going to Peru as a tutor and a member of the Conversation Corps. She has her work cut out for her. Her host family is large...4 boys and a girl. With all that, Shannon will have her own bedroom and a private bathroom...in Lima!
Be sure to subscribe to Shannon's Blog and see what happens along this exciting road in Peru.
Randy
Posted by Randy LeGrant on Tue, Apr 14, 2009
We are in unpresidented times. The U.S. Government reported last week that the U.S. lost over 600,000 jobs in March alone. Global currencies change with the weather.
GeoVisions hears from people everyday who have lost their job and now want to take some time, take a breath, go abroad to volunteer and come back ready to jump back into the job market. We applaude them as our heroes...it would be easy for them to languish in their pain. Instead, they want to take a month or two to help others and gain some perspective.
To help our volunteers prepare to get hired, GeoVisions has partnered with Pongo Resume. It has been proven time and time again that if your resume, cover letter, and interview skills stand out and impress employers, you stand a much better chance to win the job you really want.
Many of our volunteers call and ask for advice about how they might use their experiences on their resume to attract some extra attention with potential employers. We partnered with Pongo because their state of the art Resume Builder, Cover Letter Builder, and Interview Tips (with included expert guidance) provides our volunteers with tools to prove they have what it takes to sell themselves and negotiate their best job offer.
Pongo Resume normally charges $9.95 a month for a subscription. As a volunteer with GeoVisions, you get two months free, a $20.00 benefit. The two months begin when you sign up for the account. Start it up before you leave. Because Pongo is web-based, it can be used while volunteers are on the project. Or, feel free to begin your free subscription when you return home.
GeoVisions is happy to provide this benefit to our heroes, our volunteers who spend their money, their time and their talents to make this a better world. Prepared to get hired!
Posted by Randy LeGrant on Wed, Apr 01, 2009
GeoVisions has a long proud history of providing volunteer opportunities abroad. Our volunteers are working to meet global needs such as working in orphanages, schools, hospitals, clinics and as conversationalists in 15 countries.
In recognition of these outstanding achievements, GeoVisions is proud to announce the availability of the
PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD, a prestigious national honor offered in recognition of volunteer commitment. Established in 2003, this new AWARD is given by the President of the United States and honors individuals, families and groups who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to volunteer service over the course of 12 months.
GeoVisions has teamed with hundreds of organizations and businesses across the country to deliver this Award to our most outstanding volunteers. As a
Certifying Organization of the
PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD, we can nominate potential recipients and distribute the Award to those who meet or exceed the AWARD criteria.
“GeoVisions is extremely proud to join the President of the United States in recognizing the volunteers who consistently take the time to make a difference in the lives of others,” said Randy LeGrant, Executive Director of GeoVisions. “Volunteers strengthen America and inspire others to get involved. We are proud to honor our volunteers who are answering the call with this AWARD.”
Children, adults, families and groups can receive the AWARD and, given their ongoing service activity, many of our volunteers may already meet the requirements (see below). To qualify for the PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD, volunteers simply submit a record of their service hours to GeoVisions, and we will verify the service and deliver the AWARD.
Volunteer service hours are not limited to those performed on behalf of GeoVisions. In fact, service hours can be accumulated through work on a variety of projects throughout the year. The only requirement is that the necessary hours be completed within12 months; recipients can qualify for a new AWARD each year.
“Our volunteers should strive to earn the PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD every year,” said LeGrant. “Even if you’ve never volunteered before, the AWARD is within your reach. In fact, the strength and success of our nation depends on every one of us taking an active role in our community as well as globally.”
The PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD is issued by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation – created by President George W. Bush to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers make to our nation. To learn more and find out how to qualify for the AWARD, contact us at 203-453-5838 or visit http://www.PresidentialServiceAwards.gov.
REQUIREMENTSTo be eligible to receive the PRESIDENT’S VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD, applicants' service hours must be confirmed by GeoVisions, a registered Certifying Organization. There are three levels of the AWARD varying by hours of service completed within a 12-month period:
Kids - 14 and younger Bronze Award 50 - 74 hours
Silver Award 75 - 99 hours
Gold Award 100 or more hours
Young Adults - Ages 15 - 25Bronze Award 100 - 174 hours
Silver Award 175 - 249 hours
Gold Award 250 or more hours
Adults - Ages 26 and up Bronze Award 100 - 249 hours
Silver Award 250 - 499 hours
Gold Award 500 or more hours
Families and Groups (two or more people)*Bronze Award 200 - 499 hours
Silver Award 500 - 999 hours
Gold Award 1,000 or more hours
*Each member contributing at least 25 hours towards the total
PRESIDENT’S CALL TO SERVICE AWARDIndividuals who have completed 4,000 or more volunteer service hours over the course of their lifetime are eligible to receive the PRESIDENT’S CALL TO SERVICE AWARD.