Become a JV

As early as possible! Though we accept applications during 5 different rounds (deadlines listed above), we highly encourage folks to apply by November 18th for priority consideration among our domestic placements. Limited placements are available after this deadline. All application materials must be submitted by May 27th, 2025 (at the latest!) to be considered for the 2025-26 program year. 

Our application may take you a few days to complete. We recommend setting aside ample time for this and notifying references in advance to speed up the process. 

(1) General information about your background and education  

(2) Resume detailing your work-life experience, competencies, and skills  

(3) Personal statement and brief autobiography to showcase your passion for our mission. 

(4) Short answer responses to help us gauge your understanding of our four core values.  

(5) Recommendation forms from three individuals: (1) someone who has supervised you in an academic, professional, or organized extracurricular setting; (2) someone who can speak to your commitment to JVC’s broader mission and values (e.g., a faith leader, campus minister, service project leader); and (3) someone you have lived with as a roommate, excluding family members. Note that your application is not complete until all references have submitted their recommendation forms.

The RJV Hurley Fund provides financial support for incoming Jesuit Volunteers for whom financial realities would prohibit a year or two of postgraduate service. It provides awards of up to $3,000 each to a limited number of incoming JVs to mitigate costs associated with travel, health and accessibility, immigration status, and transitions into graduate school or life post-service.  

To be considered for the RJV Hurley Fund, your application, including uploading supplemental materials, must be completed in full prior to moving to the next stage in the admissions process. Award announcements will be made alongside final placement offers on a first come, first serve basis.  

Click here for more information regarding financial assistance.

Since this depends on which round you apply in, you’ll receive a general timeline upon submitting your application. You can count on the Admissions Team to send you frequent emails throughout the process to remind you of important dates and deadlines as they approach. For information regarding the timeline for placement offers, see Stage 8. 

Applicants who are invited to a First Interview will be notified within the first few weeks of submitting their application. 

We recommend coming into this interview with a strong handle on each of our four values (community, spirituality, simple living, and social justice), particularly how they each show up in your life now, and how you might engage with them during your JV year. Other things you may be asked about include your passions, growth areas, expectations for the program, and commitment to racial justice. The more concrete examples you bring to the table for these, the better. 

Click here for more advice on interview preparation.

Applicants who are waitlisted may hear back from us in the Spring regarding their interest in available positions. We appreciate continued interest in JVC but do not expect anyone to refrain from pursuing other opportunities while on the waitlist. 

The purpose of the Discernment Call is to help you discern if JVC is truly right for you. We’ll guide you through a meditation and offer a series of prompts to reflect on. You’ll also have a chance to dive deeper into the values with others who are in the same stage as you.  

Nope! This stage requires completion, not full commitment - although we do hope that it helps you feel more connected to our mission! Applicants officially become Jesuit Volunteers if they accept a placement offer and sign our Program Agreement. The moment you fully commit to JVC is the moment you sign this Program Agreement. 

With over 200 positions spanning 16 fields of service, odds are high that we have something you’d be a great fit for. Our service fields (also called “Apostolate Groups”) include categories like Healthcare, Education, Legal Services and Shelter & Transitional Housing, and many more. 

We look forward to learning more about your preferences and matching you with an agency that inspires you.  

We understand how important it is for our volunteers to serve in a location and type of service that matches their passions and priorities. If you are interested in a certain city or type of role, there will be plenty of opportunities to communicate your preferences; however, please know that this is not guaranteed. We try our best to take your preferences into account but encourage all applicants to enter the process with an openness to serving wherever there’s a need. We call this opennessapostolic availability and you’ll hear us refer to it often.

With over 200 positions spanning 16 fields of service, odds are high that we have something you’d be a great fit for. Our service fields (also called “Apostolate Groups”) include categories like Healthcare, Education, Legal Services and Shelter & Transitional Housing, and many more. 

We look forward to learning more about your preferences and matching you with an agency that inspires you.  

We understand how important it is for our volunteers to serve in a location and type of service that matches their passions and priorities. If you are interested in a certain city or type of role, there will be plenty of opportunities to communicate your preferences; however, please know that this is not guaranteed. We try our best to take your preferences into account but encourage all applicants to enter the process with an openness to serving wherever there’s a need. We call this opennessapostolic availability and you’ll hear us refer to it often.

Nope! Real people who REALLY care about accompanying you on this journey will be making these decisions. The Admissions team knows our agency partners like the back of their hands and will use this knowledge to pair you with positions that hopefully inspire you. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Admissions team if you have questions!

If you’re applying to our 1-Year Domestic Program, you’ll receive anywhere between 5-8 position options to consider. Those who apply after our first and second deadlines may receive fewer placement options.  

It is highly likely that you will earn an interview with at least one of your top choices for an interview. We cannot guarantee an interview with all of them because agency interviews are granted based on interviewer capacity (Think: they will be interviewing other applicants who were matched with them as well).  

Within 2 weeks of receiving confirmation, your agency interviewer(s) will reach out to you directly to coordinate your interview. We highly encourage responsiveness and flexibility, as if you were communicating with any other job recruiter. Make sure to check your spam/junk folders in this stage, as emails from agencies often land in there.  

All interviews are conducted virtually, either by video or over the phone. The agency interviewer who contacts you will clarify this and may offer additional materials to aid in your preparation.  

Applicants who apply by the first deadline can expect to receive anywhere between 2-4 interviews with different agencies. Those who do not apply by the first deadline may receive fewer placement matches, and thus have fewer interviews. 

As you submit feedback for every agency you interview with, each of those will be doing the same for you! Ultimately, final matches are made based on mutually strong feedback from both the applicant and the agency. This means that both you and the agency must rank each other highly for a placement offer to be possible. 

We use a “Yes, No, Likely” system to understand your willingness to serve at each agency. You’ll be asked to share whether you’d accept a placement offer from each agency if it was on the table, to which you would respond “Yes, No, or Likely.”  There will also be a free-text space for you to elaborate on your responses, and the Admissions Team will rely on this heavily.   

Most applicants who make it to this stage will receive a placement offer, although this is not guaranteed. This is because matches are made based on mutually strong feedback, and agencies are interviewing more than 1 applicant for each of their roles (sometimes anywhere from 5-10). So, while you can have a fantastic interview, you are also competing with other strong applicants. 

Those who are unsatisfied with their offers can choose to either reject it and withdraw or be re-matched with a new batch of agencies in the next round.   

We recognize and respect that you may have been applying to other things throughout our application process. Should you choose to accept a placement offer and sign our Program Agreement, our expectation is that you will no longer pursue other opportunities for the 2024-25 term. Your contractual commitment will be shared with your agency immediately upon your acceptance.  

This depends on which round you participate in. Round 1 placement offers are made in early March, Round 2 offers are made in late May, and Round 3 offers are made in mid-July. Specific dates are communicated via email by the Admissions Team.  

Upon signing our contractual program agreement, we kindly ask that you remove yourself from all other admissions and hiring processes. This is because your agency will be notified of your acceptance and officially removed from our matching process. They will be counting on you from here on out to uphold your commitment to them, so it is important that you do!  

Your new Area Manager will reach out to you towards the end of June to schedule your first Community Call. This is when you’ll first be introduced to your casa-mates and receive more information regarding travel and Orientation.  

At this point, you are welcome to contact your new supervisor directly for all things agency-related. For questions regarding travel and your new JV community, your Area Manager will be there.    

Our JV houses are spread across the county and are well-known for their uniqueness and character. Many of them have been passed down for generations and are filled with memories/personal touches of previous cohorts. Did you know that each house is named after a patron saint or prominent person in the realm of social justice?  

Your Area Manager will share this at the end of June during your Community Call. Since you will be arriving shortly after the last cohort leaves, we cannot share it before this time for privacy and safety reasons. If you’d like to know the general vicinity, we’re happy to provide the address of a landmark nearby so that you can explore your new neighborhood in Google Maps!  

We are still monitoring the status of COVID-19 and determining if an in-person Orientation will be possible. Regardless, we recommend that you avoid scheduling anything between August 1st and 20th to minimize potential conflicts. You can expect these dates and times to be finalized by Spring of 2024.  

We recognize that applicants who are studying for their MCAT/LSAT etc. may need to schedule exams around this time. It is critical that you attend the entirety of Orientation, so if this applies to you, you should plan to schedule your exam before August 1st. 

If Orientation is held in person, Jesuit Volunteers are responsible for the cost of travel to Orientation. JVC will cover all costs of travel from Orientation to each volunteer’s city of service. If orientation is held virtually, Jesuit Volunteers are responsible for the cost of travel directly to their city of service.

Applicants who accept placement offers and become Jesuit Volunteers are encouraged to participate in the Send Me to Serve (SMTS) fundraising campaign before their program year begins. Participation in this fundraiser is a great way to invite family and friends to show their support for JVC, though raising funds for SMTS is not a requirement for volunteers to start their program year.

Application Contents: You will need to submit an AY-specific application. This will include submitting short essays, as well as five new references: agency administrator or supervisor, two community members, a support person/local formation team member, and your JVC or JVC Northwest coordinator..

Creating a new application: Create a new application at https://jvc.smapply.io. From there, you will be directed to an eligibility quiz. Please answer the following questions accordingly:

“Have you completed, or are you in the process of completing, another faith-based service year program?” Please select “Yes,” and select “Jesuit Volunteer Corps” or “Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest”

Based on this answer, you will be directed to the application for Additional Year volunteers. Please continue with the remainder of the application.

As the JVC staff member who has had the most interaction with you, your Area Manager plays an important role.

You are required to have a discernment conversation with your JVC Area Manager before applying for your additional year. This is an opportunity for you to reflect and to share your motivations for an Additional Year, as well as to identify areas of growth. You will also be required to have your JVC Area Manager complete a reference form. Your JVC Area Manager's input is significant, but not the only factor in determining your status as an AY.

It may be possible to remain in your community but switch placement sites. We ask AY applicants to practice apostolic availability and to consider the needs of our agency partners during the selection and placement process.

As a Jesuit Volunteer, you are expected to complete your year of service according to the dates in the program agreement. JVs who commit to an additional year will work with their agency supervisor and JVC manager/coordinator to determine the appropriate transition to the next program year and ensure you are both prepared and present for Orientation.