Applying to become a field volunteer

Required

• Strong personal reflection on your motivations for working with PBI in the field.
• A good level of Spanish – spoken, written and read.
• Previous experience of working with human rights or development NGOs, social, grass roots, or community organisations.
• Ability to commit to a minimum of 12 months’ work in the field.
• Ability to work within the principles of non-partisanship, non-violence, and non-interference.
• Ability to work in a horizontal structure based on consensus making decisions.
• Experience of teamwork and group living, especially in high-stress situations.
• Basic computer skills – word-processing, email, databases etc.
• Availability to participate in the project’s training and selection process.
• Availability of two referees able to give account of your professional and personal capacities (who know  you in the context of your paid or voluntary work with interest/solidarity groups, NGOs or academic study, for example).
• Minimum age of 22 years. 

Desirable

• Knowledge of Guatemala’s history and current situation.
• Experience of work involving liaison with authorities, campaigning, communication, negotiation, advocacy, etc.
• Capacity for political analysis.
• Knowledge of human rights.
• Experience of work in the field of research and information management.
• Experience of working using a consensus decision-making process.
• Experience of working with PBI, such as with the PBI Country Group of your country of residence.

Due to the characteristics of the PBI field experience, it is fundamental that candidates are people who have the capacity to interact in a positive way with others; who are able to communicate assertively; who are able to adapt to diverse contexts as dictated by the country’s political and social situation as well as by the mandate and principles of PBI in Guatemala; who have strategies for managing stress; who possess a high degree of self-awareness, flexibility and openness; and who have a high capacity for work.

Read here what former volunteers share about their experiences.

Process for becoming a field volunteer

• Read carefully the documents available on this website (

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• Contact the Guatemala Project Training and Selection Team (formación@pbi-guatemala.org) for any doubt or question.
• Contact your local PBI Country Group, and attend one of the introductory events regularly organised by them.
• Return your 

• to the Training and Selection Team before the application deadline (see process calendar).
• Ask your two referees to send the completed 

• to the Training and Selection Team before the application deadline.
• Once your application has been reviewed, you will receive an email from us informing you whether or not you pass to the next stage of the selection process, which will consist of an online interview. This interview will be decisive to invite you to the week of training and on-site selection as long as you complete the previous self-training workbooks within the stipulated time.
• The final stage of selection consists of participation in the in-person training and selection week. The selection decision will be made after this week and will be communicated via video conference. Therefore, participation in this meeting does not imply automatic selection.
• Incorporation into the team is not always immediate after the selection and training week, and selected volunteers are asked to keep themselves up-to-date with the situation in Guatemala during the period before their arrival.
• On arrival in the field as a new volunteer, you will participate in a 2-3 week period of orientation. In this way the training and selection process continues in Guatemala, with an evaluation period after the first two months in the team.

Policies of PBI against discrimination of any type in the team in the field:

• PBI Guatemala recognises the potential of any person to integrate into the team and embrace diversity. Everybody is welcome to apply and PBI responds to those who are interested that meet the identified criteria.
• Likewise PBI contemplates the possibilities of approving bursaries to the candidates that come from the region known as the “global south”. This is to facilitate their participation in the face to face training process and selection.
• However the context of the work and the conditions in which the volunteers in the field in Guatemala operate, requires them to consider aspects that are relative to the capacities and physical appearance in order to guaranty the security of the volunteers of the Project. Please do no hesitate to contact the representative of the formation team for any enquires or information: formacion@pbi-guatemala.org.