A
SELF-ASSESSMENT…
Please take the
time to reflect (and your family or partner as well, if appropriate)
on the following questions and consider them honestly before submitting
your application. Different cultural expectations, living conditions,
and levels of support all have to be considered.
Personal Considerations – What is your motivation?
Adapting to life overseas will require adjustments in food, living
quarters, pace, forms of entertainment, language and companionship.
| • |
Do you have romanticized
notions of what this entails, or are you making an informed
choice? |
| • |
How do you adapt to changes
in your lifestyle? |
| • |
How stressful do you find
major changes? |
| • |
Are your motivations and
values a good match for the mission and vision of CUSO? |
| • |
If your spouse, common-law
partner, or children are accompanying you - what are their
motivations and values? |
Professional Considerations
By the time a cooperant arrives at the posting, it is not uncommon
for the placement to have changed from the original job description.
| • |
How do you value “professional
satisfaction”? |
| • |
How flexible are you when it
comes to your job? |
| • |
Frequently cooperants are required
to take initiative in determining the work they will do with
their partner organization. Do you prefer to have a prescribed
plan and direction or to be
“self-directed”? |
| • |
The most successful cooperants
are those who approach their placements with an attitude of
humility and a desire to learn from their host colleagues.
Cooperants are expected to share and exchange skills and expertise
with local colleagues. Do you feel comfortable in a teaching
role? In learning from your colleagues? |
| • |
Are you prepared to return
to Canada after two years with very little savings? |
Emotional Considerations
| • |
What concerns do you have about
being separated from your friends and loved ones for two years? |
| • |
What will be the impact of
adapting to a new job, culture and lifestyle, or your primary
relationships? |
| • |
Each society has its own norms
for the expression of affection between partners (same and
other sex). How do you feel about adapting your primary relationships
to accommodate the cultural norms of the host country? |
| • |
Cooperants are often required
to creatively adjust their leisure activities to the context
of their placement. Sometimes jogging, solo hiking, tennis,
etc. are not possible. How important is maintaining your existing
leisure activities to you? |
Cultural factors
Working cross-culturally inevitably involves encountering miscommunication.
| • |
What are some strategies you
would use to take responsibility for addressing misunderstandings
that arise? |
| • |
What has been your experience
of living and working in other cultures? |
| • |
How have you dealt with the
difference in work experience, work styles and values? |
| • |
What have you learned about
yourself from these experiences? |
| • |
What do you hope to learn from
your host culture? |
| • |
What does “working in
solidarity”
mean to you? |
| • |
How prepared do you feel to
adapt to different cultural norms of dress, social conduct,
expression of affection, workstyle, etc.? |
Physical Conditions
| • |
What challenges do you anticipate
in adapting to a different climate; are you prepared to live
in a climate with hot, humid temperatures and heavy rainfall? |
| • |
While living at a generous
lifestyle compared to most local people, cooperants’ lifestyles
are very simple by Canadian standards. This can mean doing
your own laundry by hand, living with utility shortages, without
TV or access to Western food and entertainment, etc. What are
your minimal requirements for living comfortably for two years? |
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