<p>Hi, </p>
<p>I'm graduating in 2014 with a BS in environmental engineering. I've had two internships already, both with separate global consulting firms (got them through really hard work, not by knowing somebody). Though graduation is two years away, I've really started thinking about what I'd like to do after I graduate. </p>
<p>I'm considering a masters international program where I would basically take graduate courses for a year, do the peace corps for two years, then come back to the graduate school, present my research, and graduate with a masters in environmental engineering (or civil if I so choose).</p>
<p>My question to you working engineers out there: would you suggest taking this route? My dad (who is not an engineer, just a really concerned and smart father) says if I take this route, I'll lose/forget most of my technical knowledge and companies will be less willing to hire me. However, the peace corps is something I've been considering for a long time. How does the industry view service in the peace corps? Furthermore, after having done two internships, I'm not so sure I want to go into the private sector right after graduation. The work is challenging, but I don't feel very happy. I don't think I can picture myself working in this type of atmosphere for a very long time. At the same time, I don't want to get back from the peace corps and not be able to get a job. </p>
<p>Any wisdom will be very much appreciated.</p>
<p>I do not think many employers will look down on your Peace Corps service, most will either ignore it or think it shows character. I think the bigger concern is your technical knowledge.</p>
<p>If you try to do the Peace Corps during or prior to entering the masters program, the main issue will be with the department itself. Doing the Peace Corps first will mean that (like many other grad applicants) your skills will be rusty and your references will struggle to remember who you are. Doing it in the middle you may run afoul of department policies, and at best will enter difficult 2nd-year courses and research trying to remember the basics that your new peers will have just learned. On the bright side, in this scenario employers won’t really care - you will have at least a year of grad school immediately prior to hiring, so they will assume you are up to speed.</p>
<p>If you do the Peace Corps between grad school and employment, then you WILL have to convince employers that your skills are up to snuff, but at least the grad schools won’t care.</p>
<p>Either way, this will be a challenge that you will need to overcome, but it is managable. Military personnel face this issue on a regular basis.</p>
<p>I just looked up the program. It looks like they will put you in a job using the skills you have already acquired. I say go for it (and I would say the same to my sons if they were in your position). If you don’t do it, you will kick yourself in the butt for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>I can’t see how learning to apply what you have learned in a classroom would possibly hurt you. Aren’t most of us hands-on and won’t getting a chance to apply it make it stick in your mind more? If this is a program set up by your grad school, then you shouldn’t have to worry about policy changes mid-stream. If you are doing this on your own I can see that concern. The whole concept of getting rusty when an education teachs you how to think (not memorize) and where to look stuff up is rediculous. Take your PE exam before you go, but the whole rest of your life in open book!</p>