FAQs

We recruit experienced professionals based in the Philippines and Southeast Asia regardless of nationality. They are from a range of backgrounds but are mainly in business and management, community and social development, education, medical sciences and health, natural resources, HIV and AIDS and specific technical skills (e.g. irrigation).

Yes, we accept applications from married individuals or those who are in a relationship. However, we urge you to think very carefully about the consequences of your decision – emotionally and financially.

If you are married, we will require your husband/wife or long-term partner who would be left behind to fill out and submit a partner’s checklist, or if necessary undergo an interview. We do this to find out if the decision has been well thought through by both you and your partner. We also want to ensure that you are made aware of potential communication and separation issues if you go on to become a volunteer, and therefore will be better equipped to handle such issues later on.

You can bring your partner to your placement as a non-volunteering partner, as long as your partner can cover their own expenses. But they are also subject to medical and security clearance as per VSO policy.

We welcome applications if you are a couple wanting to volunteering together, but you may have very limited options in terms of placement and may have to wait a longer time before we can post you overseas. We respond to demand from overseas partners, and many of them request only one volunteer. It is rare for an employer to make a request for two volunteers for the same location, that will match both of your skills.

You must have a very good command of English. Our assessment days and training courses are all conducted in English, and you must be confident that you can understand and participate well in activities where several people may be speaking simultaneously. Unless you have a high degree of English language skills, you may end up feeling frustrated and disappointed which could affect your performance. If you are applying as an English teacher or trainer, you should have undergone and passed the IELTS exam with a score of at least 8.0.

After you have completed an application for we will assess your application based on your qualifications and skills. If this preliminary assessment is successful, we will then contact you for a 30-minute telephone or Skype interview. After this interview we will decide if we will move you to the next stage which is the volunteer assessment. A letter of invitation will be sent to you inviting you to the nearest assessment center near you, including the documents that are required of you.

This depends on where there is a request for someone with your background and qualifications. If there are many requests for a volunteer with your skills, we will be able to show you several placement options. In some cases, you may have few placements to choose from, in other cases just one.

We will never force you to accept a placement that you do not want. If you choose not to take the placement offer now, you would have to wait until a new request for a volunteer with your skills comes along. We will not hold rejection of placement offer against you, but your reasons would have to be valid.

All VSO volunteers, including those recruited in Southeast Asia, are offered placements in Asia, Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean. However, volunteers cannot be posted in their country of residence.

During the matching process, we will give you a placement document that will provide information about:

• the local organisation

• the rationale and objectives of the placement

• the terms and conditions of work

• your expected accommodation

• any other requirement such as language or motorbike skills

• the town or village where you will be based

• other possible sources of information including previous volunteers in the region.

Your volunteer placement advisor will be in contact with the program office and will be able to gather information and ask specific questions on your behalf.

We will also provide you with information about the country, local VSO program, and advice from other volunteers in the country.

Before you go on a VSO placement you will need to attend pre-departure training courses. See training for more details.

You will need to have a security clearance (in the Philippines this means securing a police and NBI clearance; in other countries a police clearance or CRB clearance), especially if your placement involves working with children, disabled people or other vulnerable groups.

You need to have a thorough medical examination conducted by our medical advisor in Manila. You will usually be advised to take the medical exam when you have been matched and accepted to a placement.

There is no easy answer to this – it really varies. Sometimes, the period between selection and departure can be as short as two months. In some cases, it can take up to a year. The length of period depends on whether there is a request for someone with your qualifications.

As much as possible, we plan for and anticipate volunteer requests. But situations can change and volunteer requests may be withdrawn for a variety of reasons. Do not hand in your resignation unless we advise you that it is the right time to do so.

On the average, it takes between four months and a year from applying to VSO to arriving in your placement. Not only do we have to secure funding for placements, but applications are also often considered on the basis of anticipated future need.

Occasionally we recruit for specific and immediate volunteer request. This approach means that we are able to respond more quickly when the request does come through from overseas.

We will be responsible for liaising with the appropriate VSO program offices overseas, which will then apply for a visa or work permit with the relevant authorities in your country of placement. In cases where there is an embassy or a consulate for that country located in Manila, you may be required to personally appear before the embassy or consulate.

You are responsible for obtaining your own machine-readable passport (valid for at least three years), along with other documents or certificates that may be required to facilitate the processing of necessary travel permits. For example, if you are a health professional, you will be required to have your license renewed prior to departure, to make sure it is valid throughout the duration of your assignments.

You will receive an allowance based on a daily rate designed to meet reasonable costs incurred, so that you are not out of pocket as a result of volunteering. 

The volunteer allowance consists of two parts:

• an in-country funded allowance that is the same daily rate for all volunteers working in the same country or region.  

• A home-country funded allowance that is the same daily rate for volunteers no matter where they are recruited. For Filipino volunteers, this is given in the form of a pre-departure allowance, quarterly allowances during service, and a coming-home allowance upon completion of placement.

You cannot expect to save enough to send home money on a regular basis. If you have any outstanding debts or are supporting dependents, you may want to consider if this is the right time for you to volunteer.

This will vary across placements and countries. We normally ask the local organization to provide the volunteer’s accommodation. It could be a house of your own, or you may have to share with a local colleague or another VSO volunteer.

Not all houses will have electricity – there may be none in the entire village. But we always try to ensure that there is a source of water nearby. We also provide a small fund to enable you to purchase basic household supplies.

If you have a two-year placement you are entitled to four weeks' paid holiday leave every year. However, we will not cover your travel expenses so you will have to pay for the airfare yourself.

Yes. Many volunteers extend their placement beyond their initial duration of service. However, the extension request will need to be initiated by the local organization who determines whether they need you to stay on in order to complete the job or extend its benefits and impact. The program office overseas then evaluates the situation, and a decision is reached by consulting all parties involved. Many returned volunteers apply again to re-volunteer, so if you really enjoy the volunteering experience, we could examine other options such as taking another volunteer placement in the same country or elsewhere.