Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the International Center in New York. To become a volunteer at the International Center, the first step is to fill out our online application. If we have volunteer opportunites available that we feel will be appropriate for you, we will contact you within 1-3 weeks. NOTE: If your application is not filled out completely, we will unable to offer you a volunteer position.

No – Prospective volunteers do not need to know another language in order to volunteer at ICNY. Beginner level students benefit most from learning from someone who is fluent in their native language, and ICNY members have at least some proficiency in spoken English.

ICNY provides training for all volunteers before they start volunteering. ICNY considers training a part of the volunteer screening process.

Volunteers can offer their time within the hours the International Center is open or in one of our Community Outreach Programs. Weekday evenings (5-8 PM) and Saturdays (9:30 AM-3:30 PM) are optimal for working volunteers.

We are looking for volunteers who can commit to a regular weekly schedule of at least two hours a week. Unfortunately, due to the large size of our volunteer corps and limited staff, we are unable to accommodate volunteers with unpredictable schedules. If you cannot meet this requirement, we prefer you wait to apply until your schedule is more regular.

Most volunteer opportunities at ICNY are not conducive to group volunteer activities. For example, the One-to-one Partnership program (the largest program at ICNY) pairs English speaking volunteers with ICNY members by maintaining a list of members who are waiting for volunteer partners. On average, ICNY members wait four to six weeks for a volunteer partner. This system makes it quite difficult to place friends or co-workers who would like to volunteer as a group. There are occasional exceptions. For example, a group of corporate employees provide resume writing and interviewing skills assistance to ICNY members one Saturday each month. One member of the group manages the program and acts as a liaison with ICNY. Please contact Louisa Treskon at (212) 255-9555 x207 to discuss this possibility.

ICNY encourages volunteers to only speak English during their scheduled volunteer hours. ICNY usually does not match volunteers with members who speak the same language.

However, ICNY’s Language Exchange Program is available to all volunteers who have successfully completed training and met with each of their partners four times. Volunteers must maintain a two-hour-a-week commitment in order to take advantage of the Language Exchange Program.

From 3 days up to 3 weeks - Once you have completed an application, please give the Volunteer Services Department up to two weeks to respond. If your application is complete and satisfactory, you will be invited to attend a Volunteer Interview-Orientation. These sessions are scheduled at least once a week (6-8 PM, Mon.-Thurs.). (A Saturday session is scheduled every other month.) If you and the Volunteer Services Department agree that the International Center in New York is a good match, you will be scheduled for training. Training takes about one month.

No - After you have completed your application, the Volunteer Services Department will invite you to attend an Interview-Orientation session. At that time, we will offer you a tour of our facility and you will be encouraged to ask as many questions as you may have about the International Center in New York’s programs and volunteer opportunities. Only active volunteers are allowed to enter the International Center and need to show a valid photo ID card to do so.

Yes - In order to best serve the needs of our international members, we are seeking volunteers with native English fluency for each of our one-to-one volunteer opportunities. Non-native English speakers may be eligible for several administrative opportunities as well as group leader positions. A detailed list of these opportunities will be given to you at the Volunteer Interview-Orientation.

The information provided is used to assess whether prospective volunteers can meet the needs of our diverse international membership. Information about your background and experience helps us to evaluate whether your interests and skills match with the International Center’s current needs. The answers to open-ended questions are especially important.

Yes – Although previous volunteer, teaching, or tutoring experience may make you better prepared for volunteer work at the International Center, it is not a requirement.

Many prospective volunteers are asked to re-answer a question on the application. It usually means that you either misunderstood or did not directly answer the question. If you were asked to re-answer a question, please read it again carefully and make sure to offer specific examples in your answer. Please understand that the Volunteer Services Department will only select volunteers who can demonstrate a genuine sensitivity to other cultures and an understanding of the difficulties of learning and mastering a foreign language. Your answers help us assess these qualities.

Many prospective volunteers are asked to expand on their answer(s) to one or two question(s) on the application. It usually means the answers provided are relevant but are not detailed enough and/or are not supported by specific examples. It may also mean that you did not answer with complete sentences.
If you were also asked to edit your answers, please make sure to review the spelling and grammar in your answers.

Please understand that the Volunteer Services Department will only select volunteers who can demonstrate a genuine sensitivity to other cultures and an understanding of the difficulties of learning and mastering a foreign language. Your answers help us assess these qualities.

No - Please provide the Volunteer Services Department with two references from an academic, professional, or volunteer experience. Although we do accept professional colleagues as references, we require that academic and volunteer references come from a superior. We believe that these references enhance your application by providing a more objective view of your skills and interests.

No – Please provide the Volunteer Services Department with at least one reference from an academic, professional, or volunteer experience. We believe that this reference enhances your application by providing an objective view of your experience, skills and interests.

The Volunteer Services Department of the International Center will contact references if there are any questions about the prospective volunteer’s capacity to serve the needs of our diverse membership. In most circumstances, we will notify the prospective volunteer before contacting the references.

Due to limited space, a small staff and the fact that we receive up to 100 volunteer applications each month, we recommend that you wait at least two weeks after you have applied to inquire about the status of your application. Please feel free to call or email the Volunteer Services Department to follow up after a two-week time period. We ask that you do not stop by the International Center before an interview-orientation because the Volunteer Services Department may not be available to meet with you.

If you haven’t heard from the International Center at least two weeks after you applied, please contact the Volunteer Services Department as soon as possible at volunteer@intlcenter.org or (212) 255-9555. We may not have received your application or you may not have received our response.

Please review our website in order to gain a better understanding of our organization and our volunteer program. Also, please prepare to share any previous volunteer, teaching or tutoring experience you may have with the interviewer. We will also ask you how you can help to meet the needs of our international English language learners and what you can bring to the ICNY Volunteer Program.

The only thing you need to bring is your resume. It does not need to be geared toward this specific volunteer opportunity. Please bring a resume that tells most about your experience and interests as an active member of the New York City community.

No – If you forget to bring your resume, please attend the Volunteer Interview-Orientation you are scheduled for and send (by email, mail, or fax) your resume to the Volunteer Services Department the following day.

If you are not able to attend the Volunteer Interview-Orientation you are scheduled for, please let the Volunteer Services Department know as soon as possible. (Space is limited and we would like to offer another prospective volunteer your space.) Please visit the link to the interview schedule that we sent to you to reschedule as soon as possible. If none of the available dates are convenient for you, please visit the page again in a few days, as new dates are added regularly.

No - Eight to twelve prospective volunteers are scheduled for each Interview-Orientation session. We cannot accommodate individual schedules. Please be considerate of others and make sure to arrive no later than 6:10 PM so that all participants can take full advantage of the session. Please note that daytime Saturday interviews are scheduled every other month. If you are never able to attend a session at 6 PM on weekdays, please let the Volunteer Services Department know, so that you can sign up for the next Saturday interview.

All training sessions are hands-on training where a group of up to 10 volunteers and 10 members discuss various topics under the supervision of a teacher and volunteer trainer in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Each new volunteer receives training in Intercultural Communication as well as vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and writing.

Six - Each new volunteer needs to complete 2 two-and-a-half-hour training sessions. These sessions are scheduled from 5:30 to 8 PM on weekdays. Provided your application is approved after the Volunteer Interview-Orientation, we will sign you up for training for two consecutive weeks on the same weekday (for example: two Tuesdays in a row). Although we hope you will attend the whole cycle you are signed up for, we understand if you need to reschedule one of the sessions. If that is the case, please contact the Volunteer Services Department as soon as possible at training@intlcenter.org or (212) 255-9555, ext. 211..

Yes - Even if you have extensive experience teaching or tutoring English and/or you are certified to teach English to speakers of other languages, going through the ICNY training will give you important insights about ICNY’s unique conversation model, our members’ backgrounds and specific needs, as well as an opportunity to meet with one of the certified and experienced teacher trainers on our staff. We encourage you to share your specific situation with your trainer to make sure your specific needs are met as well.

No – Because up to ten volunteers and ten members attend the orientations, we cannot accommodate individual schedules. Please be considerate of others and make sure to arrive no later than 5:40 PM so that all participants can take full advantage of the session.