Application Process

If you feel that you are a match with the basic criteria for volunteering with CUSO-VSO and would like to begin a placement within the next twelve months, please complete the online application form.

Within four weeks of receiving your application we will contact you with a response.

CUSO-VSO welcomes new applications from serving or former volunteers who wish to re-volunteer. CUSO-VSO follows a modified application process for returned volunteers which is determined on a case-by-case basis but typically involves:

• reviewing the CUSO-VSO reference and any additional documentation from the country of the first placement

• filling out a CUSO-VSO re-volunteering questionnaire

• having a re-volunteering discussion with a volunteer advisor over the phone or in person

• meeting the CUSO-VSO terms and conditions.

To re-volunteer, you must be residing in North America to facilitate the re-volunteering process.

In most cases, CUSO-VSO does not recruit volunteers for specific placements in the same way that an employer would recruit applicants for a specific job. Volunteers are recruited into a pool and are then matched to placements that fit with their skills and work experience.

We do occasionally recruit for specific placements and programs in particular areas. While you may be able to apply for these placements, we do encourage flexibility and openness to being placed in the area where you are needed most.

CUSO-VSO conducts ongoing recruitment for long-term and some short-term overseas placements throughout the year. You can apply for a volunteer placement at any time. Please note that in most cases it will take at least four months from your initial application to departure.

It is best to apply six to nine months ahead of when you would like to begin an overseas placement. This will allow us adequate time to match you to a suitable placement and provide training. If you are part of a couple or family, the process can take much longer.

Special programs such as youth or diaspora volunteering may open and close recruitment at different times throughout the year.

As a member of a federation, CUSO-VSO recruits skilled volunteers from around the globe to work and live in one of the more than 40 developing countries [#link to map] we work in. Our needs are dynamic, and we recognize that the right skill set can come from any of the offices where we recruit volunteers. In order to facilitate the international matching process and find the best fit with a partner’s needs, CUSO-VSO generally recruits volunteers into a pool of candidates who are ready to be matched to placements.