Why an experience in the European Solidarity Corps is good for you and your CV
Copyrights: @Erasmus+
By Eleonora Pizzini, 8 minutes
The European Solidarity Corps is one of the several opportunities that the European Union offers to young people. It is an international volunteering programme thanks to which young Europeans can work and volunteer in non-profit causes. Taking part in one of the projects gives you additional skills and assets rarely acquirable in normal traineeships. In this article we interviewed a peer who participated in a project in Ukraine before the start of the war. He will talk about his experience and provide first hand insight on the programme and some few reasons why you should consider doing this experience.
The European Union has several core aims and values as it aspires to promote peace and stability, and to contribute to solidarity and mutual respect among people. The values on which the EU is founded include Democracy, Human Dignity and Equality. In this context, the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) play a fundamental role as active promoter of said aims and values.
The programme, formerly called “European Voluntary Service”, features projects both in Member States of the EU and in neighbouring countries since 1998. Young people aged 18 to 30 can participate in one of the projects for a period of 2 to 12 months. Participants receive a training course and mentoring throughout it. In some cases, traineeships and jobs are also available with the ESC.
Matteo Redaelli is a 24 years old Italian student who participated in one of the projects from ESC from December 2020 to July 2021, in Ukraine. In the following interview he shares useful insights from his experiences and the application process.
Can you tell us about yourself and why you choose to take part in the European Solidarity corps?
I hold a trilingual bachelor’s in Culture and Communication and I am now pursuing an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in European Studies. I have always been interested in European Cultures and anthropology and this is the first ever Erasmus Mundus created and recognized by the European Commission. It basically focuses on Society, Politics, and Culture in a Global Context and you get to spend 4 semesters in different universities. I am now almost finished with the third semester, which I spent in Brussels doing an internship for an event management company for the European Commission.
Before starting with the Master, I wanted to take a gap year to have time to travel and acquire additional work skills. This was also profoundly motivated by the fact that, like everyone else, I spent the previous months in lockdown and could not do a lot. I also took this time as an opportunity to gain the missing requirements and documentation for the application to the Joint Master.
Did you make your choice based on the country or on the type of project? Were there other countries/projects you were interested in?
I was actually directly contacted by the NGO itself, but my initial idea was to go to a Southern American country or Morocco. However, once again, due to Covid all the Southern American projects were not available anymore and the ones in Morocco were very few. Sometimes projects were also too focused on the disability area or historical and environmental protection. I was looking for something different and the NGO that contacted me offered a position in the non-formal education sphere. This type of education is also an innovative pillar in European education, and I was intrigued by this.
What were your tasks? Can you briefly describe how a usual week looked like?
As non-formal education is actually an umbrella term, I had different tasks. One of the biggest jobs was basic-level Italian language courses in the town - Vinnycja - I was stationed in, but I was also in charge of the production of an intercultural magazine in the near main town. What I enjoyed the most was the fluidity of work: locals immediately included me also in other small side-projects such as presenting the Erasmus+ Programme of the Commission in local schools.
I did not really have a standard week, I’d rather say some fixed appointments: a weekly meeting with the NGO, 2 hours of teaching except for the weekend, one hour of learning the local language – yes, part of the training includes that you learn the local language throughout the whole period of your experience. Work and appointments also depend a lot on the role you have, people closely involved in administration aspects had more fixed hours of working. During my free time, I spent almost every weekend travelling to different places as the NGO also organised trips to let us discover the country.
Do you think you acquired skills you wouldn’t otherwise gain through a normal traineeship?
Definitely, yes. First of all the language experience is outstanding: despite the fact that for us English is now the common shared language, in these countries and especially in smaller towns and villages it is completely useless. I had to learn a new language fast, which is a very useful skill, especially if you plan to work in the EU Bubble. Moreover, it was an incredible way to meet new people, with whom I am still in close contact. For me, it was also an occasion to constantly train my public speaking skills and improve them, as I was almost always presenting something to an audience.
Why would you suggest that everyone does an experience like this?
From a more human perspective: you really understand and get the value that solidarity has, especially now with what is happening in Ukraine. You never know how much what for you may be a simple conversation is actually changing and impacting the person you are talking with. You also get the chance to travel and discover a new country while being financed. It is really an occasion to re-invent yourself, without losing who you already are, it is truly an opportunity to discover something new about yourself.
If I have to consider a more pragmatic perspective: it looks very good on your CV, especially if you plan to work in the EU Bubble and the Commission. The ESC is concretely a very strong name inside the EU and such an experience gives strong credibility to soft skills such as resilience, fast learning, and autonomy. Especially if you do not have many internship experiences, it is a good way to integrate your academic degree and it definitely distinguishes you from other candidates.
Still, nothing is perfect: one negative aspect of the experience?
It really depends on the single experience; in my case, I believe the training could have been better. As non-formal education is a whole sector inside the EU, the training could have been a bit more detailed and specific for the area I was stationed in. Also, the type of project I was part of had a strong social impact, but a limited economic one, which is in reality very important for the development of the area.
Which are the basic and first steps to follow in order to submit an application?
The first thing to do is to complete an online profile and upload a CV. After this process, you are asked to tick a box to confirm your availability. From this point on there are two possibilities: you can either look up specific organisations and/or specific countries; or, based on your CV and specific experiences you wrote in it, you can get contacted by NGOs themselves. It is similar to an application for a job: after submitting your application to the NGO you are interested in, or them contacting you, there is an interview. Notice that there may be two interviews if you are applying for, or are contacted by an organisation outside of your national country. In my case, I was contacted by a Ukrainian NGO - so called “receiving organisation” -, and had a first interview with them and a second one with the so-called “sending organisation” in Italy, those are the point of reference for people going outside of their country.
And once you receive a positive feedback?
You can decide if you want that position or not, you are not obliged to accept it and can apply for another. But if you receive positive feedback and want to go, once again there is a difference between going to a Member State or to a country outside of the EU.
In the first case, you have to sign some papers – a contract, learning agreement, and training –, while in the second one, you also have to apply for a Visa and a residence permit, which usually takes a bit of time and may require a moderator. I was lucky and due to Covid my request was processed faster, not so many people were applying for those documents, but I would say it takes up to two months on average, so you should carefully consider the time it requires you when applying.
You also have a second interview with the sending organisation, the one based in your country, in which you are asked if you understand what you are going to face during your experience. This aspect should not be underestimated: often people do not fully consider the reality they are going to encounter.
Lastly, you have a training to do at the beginning of your experience: after Covid it has been almost always done online, but it is still interesting, as it is organised by European regions: for example, I had the opportunity to do it with eastern Europeans as I was stationed in Eastern Europe. The training is not so difficult, it mainly focuses on digital tools to use, but there are some insightful lectures on psychological support for example.
Lastly, after eight months in a country you inevitably develop a close relationship with it and its population. Which was your very first thought when hearing about the Russian attack on Ukraine?
It is difficult to say, as it was already a particular day for me: I woke up at 4 am that day and had to go to the main office of the Ukrainian NGO’s partner in Italy to present one of the projects I was part of during my time there. We installed the first red bench to raise awareness about violence against women in collaboration with the national strategy developed by the government. As I was about to take the train I opened Twitter and read the first news about the attack. I do not deny to you that I cried that day, it was really difficult to realise what was going on. I can tell you that half of the things that were posted in the first hours were almost all fake, but still, once more reliable sources were available, it remained difficult to process all that. Almost all my local colleagues managed to escape with just one backpack to Moldova. However, in general, the more I think about it, the more I realise that in the country basically happened the opposite of what should have happened. The country was on its way to development and this war simply worsened an already difficult situation. Ukraine basically has been in a war for the last 9 years and I really can not find the rationale for why Europe, not the USA, or China, which proclaims itself as a better alternative to these governments, did not do anything.
Why you should seriously consider an experience in the ESC
Soft skills, distinctiveness, and networking on your CV on one side, the social and human impact on the other one. Despite an old view and some prejudices on volunteering, this kind of experience could help you to boost your application when applying, as many CVs nowadays almost look all the same. Additionally, the ESC is almost more a job than a simple volunteering activity. It covers basic costs, such as your travel to and from the project, accommodation and food, and will pay you a small allowance for the hours you work with them.
