Multi-step interview process: phone screen with recruiter, pretty time consuming work sample, phone screen with potential supervisor, Zoom interviews with several in the department—that’s as far as I got. I wasn’t really given much feedback about my work sample that I worked very long and hard on, but they moved me along in the process after that point so I would assume it was good. Everyone was nice enough and asked good questions. When I didn’t hear back after the marathon Zoom interviews with the team, I had to reach out to the recruiter to be told that the team was “moving in another direction.” I asked for feedback about how I could improve for my next interview experience and again received nothing. It wasn’t so much a negative experience as it was a very time-consuming and tedious one, and it would be nice if prospective employees were at least afforded the courtesy of feedback after going through such a process.

Entire process took less than two weeks. Was asked to submit a work sample containing a unit outline and lesson plans using Newsela content, which makes sense for the role. However, it was difficult to find any Newsela articles that matched the tasks that I was asked to create plans for, making it was nearly impossible to create a product that allowed my skills and expertise as an educator and curriculum writer to shine. This leads me to believe that there is a disconnect between the hiring team and their knowledge of their own product. I’ve used Newsela for years so I am very familiar with their resources. I would have loved an opportunity to discuss my work sample with the hiring team so I could bring these concerns up, but was not given the opportunity.