City Year Reviews

Pros

City year was such a wonderful experience. I learned so much from the students I worked with and I would definitely recommend this program

Cons

The hours are really really long
The pay is very low but there are ways to live around it comfortably

Pros

There are countless opportunities to grow professionally, both as an individual and a leader. They strongly promote team unity within the work place, which helps to develop the ability to work with small groups in high-stress situations. It is, however, a challenge to complete the year that one commits to City Year, but in the long run, the opportunities they provide make the struggle well worth it.

Cons

It is a volunteer position, so pay is minimum, making it hard to survive in the city. Communication between management and corps members is minimal, at best. It can be frustrating, and can sometimes make it a bit difficult to properly budget your living expenses. City Year is also dedicated to maintaining their image, which can often interfere with one's ability to do their job to their full-extent.

Pros

Ability to make an impact on students and communities; exploring a new city with a diverse group of passionate young adults

Cons

To complete City Year you need to devote 110% of yourself, to stand out you must give 150%. For many people, the latter is impractical.

Advice to Senior Management

Encourage a healthier work/life balance by reducing hours. Update or excise some of the City Year culture (PT moves; call and responses etc).

Pros

City Year has a great culture and is well known in the community. We get free access to movie theaters, discounts at restaurants, and leave work each day knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of others.

Cons

It's really difficult work. 11 hour days are more common that shorter days. It's been a challenging year for sure. The biggest issue I have is that you feel very very unsupported. That's the worst part of the job, by far.

Advice to Senior Management

There has to be some kind of better support given to corps members without sacrificing the mission. I think City Year needs to leave AmeriCorps in order to provide staff better support w/o losing out on the "Ed Award" given by AmeriCorps each year.

Pros

Leadership development and experience working on a team.

Cons

Hard work, long hours, and frustrating time-frames.

Pros

leadership development, positive reinforcement and work environment, noble cause and forward-thinking, visionary leaders enacting change in service to the cause.

Cons

Very low pay compared to other non-profits of equal size. Incredibly strong culture that discourages anything not perceived as being a "team player", which actually translates into forced volunteerism additional to your normal working hours, for which you are expected to work and not be compensated.

Pros

Kids fall in love with you- you fall for them too!
Amazing network opportunities
Ability to explore areas of interest
Foster mentorships and genuine connections

Cons

Long Work hours
Poverty stipend
general bureaucracy issues
funky team dynamics

Advice to Senior Management

continue to promote a strong team setting
continue to promote personal and professional life balance

Pros

Social benefit you receive from working for a non-profit organization. Very large national non-profit that is very connected in many communities around the nation. For the most part the co-workers are cordial.

Cons

You work very long days and sometimes weekends for little pay and recognition. There is often a lack of leadership from the national office and you spend a lot of time streamlining processes that already should have been streamlined.

Advice to Senior Management

Shift the focus from the bigger picture to the little things, like the happiness level of the staff and the corps.

Pros

City Year across the board does amazing work. I wish that it had 10 times the funding, as it is meeting a critical need, by providing positive mentors and role models to students at risk of not graduating high school in 4 years, or at all. As far as non-profits go, it's extremely organized, and constantly working to improve its methods.

I'm nearing the end of my second year with City Year, and am extremely grateful for the experience and growth it has given me. I've grown so much in my time here. Your City Year experience is what you make of it. If you understand and work with the culture pieces, and take advantage of the resources within the organization, City Year can be a life changing experience. If you fight the culture pieces (especially the uniform), you're going to have a very difficult year. Expect to work hard, and don't plan on being out of work before 6:30.

City Year allows you to work on diverse teams of 8-13 young people in under resourced schools, tutoring and mentoring students. These kids are some of the most inspiring people I've ever met. Your team makes you stronger.

Within City Year, there are AMAZING, talented people who work very hard to further City Year's mission. I have learned something from every single person on our staff.

Cons

Sometimes City Year does make things more difficult or stressful than it needs to be. During initiative heavy times of the year especially, the corps is exhausted.

The stipend is rough to live on, but there are ways to make it work.

Advice to Senior Management

Providing more opportunities for professional development that don't take CMs out of service, especially shadowing. Allowing 1st year CMs to shadow their TLs or other senior corps earlier in the year would also be helpful.

Pros

Doing great work for youth

Cons

The work is tiring and can be insular