How to Become a Jesuit Volunteer
Jesuit Volunteers are invited to engage in one or more years of full-time volunteer service with local organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. JVs serve alongside and accompany communities, while reflecting on social structures and cultures that contribute to inequity, in order to co-create a more just and equitable world. Jesuit Volunteers live together in community, serving in both urban and rural locales across Alaska, Idaho, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
Thank you for you application to become a Jesuit Volunteer for the ’25-26 program year.
We are excited to get to know you and see the admissions process as discernment. It will feel different than a job application. We invite you to create space to wrestle with questions of purpose — What will you do next? What does the world need? Is JVC Northwest the right fit for me?
The Process
This phone interview with a former JV is for mutual discernment, meaning we learn more about each other’s values to help determine if JVC Northwest is a good fit. Please review the discernment materials below in advance of your interview.
- Pre-Interview Webinars (required viewing – 50 mins)
- Discernment Guide
- Interview Questions
Those who move forward in the process after the first interview are offered “Conditional Acceptance” into JVC Northwest. This means that you have been accepted into the program under the conditions that we find a mutually agreeable service placement. If there are any lingering questions that need clarification after the first interview, this is also the stage where we would invite you to a Follow-up Conversation (30 mins) with a staff member prior to offering Conditional Acceptance.
- This step takes place over email.
This is where you share your skills, interests, and experiences that will help us identify the best potential service placement(s) for you. You will also be able to rank your Top 5 preferred positions. Complete the Service Interest Form (SIF) that will appear within your application and then schedule a 30-minute conversation with a member of our team to discuss your service interests (you will receive instructions by email).
- Service Interest Form (SIF) located in application (30 mins)
- SIF Conversation (30 mins)
Based on what we learn through your SIF, our team will match you with one service placement that we think is a strong fit. We’ll share the partner agency and position description with you, and invite you to interview directly with staff at that specific agency. You have the choice of proceeding with that match and agency interview, or discerning that you’d prefer to relinquish that match and re-enter the matching process again the following week.
- This step takes place over email and phone.
You have one full week to schedule and conduct an interview (likely over the phone or through Zoom) with the staff at the partner agency you’ve been matched with. During this time, you are the only applicant matched with that position, meaning it is reserved for you until a decision is reached and you are not competing with anyone else for it. After the interview, both you and the partner agency discern separately if it is a good fit. If both of you say “yes,” then we move forward with the placement. If either one of you decides it isn’t a good fit, you are able to re-enter the matching process.
- This step takes place over email and phone.
We have a “mutual yes” from both you and the partner agency! You are officially placed in that position for the year ahead, and we begin the onboarding process. This includes required criminal history and background checks and additional paperwork that must be completed before your arrival at Orientation in August.
- Onboarding forms and instructions will be available online once you are placed in a position.
Understanding Your Timeline
If you…
- Applied on or before January 6
- Completed your initial steps, Service Interest Form (SIF) and SIF conversation by February 4
… then you will be eligible for matching on February 6.
If you applied after January 6 or completed those steps after February 4, your matching process will be on a rolling basis. You will enter into the matching process when those steps are complete.
