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Teach for America Interview Questions & Reviews

Getting the Interview  287 Interviews

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Interview Experience  260 Ratings

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288 interview experiences
Updated May 17, 2013
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Interview Outcome:   All No Offer Received Offer

Corps Member at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Reviewed Apr 15, 2013

Interview Details Applied online for the first interview process. Got an email saying I could skip the phone interview and go directly to the in-person interview. The in-person interview took about 3 or 4 hours with a group section and then a personal 1-on-1 interview. I was contacted about a month later and was told I was accepted.

Interview Question – Tell us about a time when you set a goal and didn't reach it. How did you recover?   Answer Question

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Teacher at Teach for America

No Offer – Interviewed in New York, NY (US) Apr 2013 – Reviewed Apr 18, 2013

Interview Details Submit a statement of interest. Then find out if you have a phone interview or can skip straight to the final interview. Final interview day consists of a sample lesson, a group discussion and then one on one interviews. Then 3 weeks later you find out if you've had an offer or not. It's frustrating because they don't give you a reason why you weren't accepted and the entire process is very impersonal.

Interview Question – Under what circumstances would you quit the corps?   Answer Question

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Teacher at Teach for America

No Offer – Reviewed Apr 10, 2013

Interview Details You start off with an initial interview, and then most people get phone interviews as well. The phone interview lasts 30 minutes, and was pretty relaxed for me since it was with a former corps member and she was outgoing and very nice. The downside to the process is that the turnover time between the phone interview, being informed if you made it to the next round, and obtaining recommendations is very short. I had to ask for recommendations before I even knew if I made it to the final interview stage (which I didn't).

Interview Question – When was a time you had to work with someone and had a difficult time?   Answer Question

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Corps Member at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Jan 2012 – Reviewed Apr 08, 2013

Interview Details Extremely long online application process. (rec letters, transcripts, cover letter, resume, etc.).

You may or may not have to participate in a phone interview before being moved to the next step.

You have to take a 3 hour online "assessment" where you are asked how you would handle certain teaching situations.

The 4 hour interview consists of a private interview where they will ask you about how you answered on your assessment, your cover letter, etc. You also have a sample lesson you present to your group and a group exercise where you talk about articles you were asked to read beforehand. The group exercise is seeing how well you can work with others.

You will then recieve an offer and placement that may or may not be changed.

Interview Question – If you don't want to stay in teaching forever, why do you want to complete this program.   View Answer

Negotiation Details – No negotiation. If you are comfortable being taken advantage of and being in an uncomfortable work enviorment in exchange for doing good, this would be a great position for you. If you get stressed easily, get your feelings hurt, or can't handle hard situations I wouldn't advise accepting a position.

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Corps Member at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Reviewed Apr 10, 2013

Interview Details The application is lengthy and requires a lot of jumping through hoops. If they like what they see on paper, you get a phone interview. If you pass that, you advance to a final interview day where you complete an activity in a small group, delivery a demo lesson to that group, and do a one-on-one interview.

Interview Question – Why Teach for America in particular?   Answer Question

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Teacher at Teach for America

Declined Offer – Reviewed Apr 11, 2013

Interview Details Long process...application with intent letter, then online activity, phone interview, final interview with sample lesson etc.

Interview Question – Difficult questions when it came to the role playing activity   Answer Question

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TFA Corps Member at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Reviewed Apr 07, 2013

Interview Details After submitting the online application, there is a phone interview that you may or may not have to complete. I skipped to the final interview which was in person. There was a 5 minute presentation that each interviewee had to deliver to display creativity and speaking skills. There was also a group conversation and a one-on-one interview.

Interview Question – The questions were not very difficult, however the role play was unexpected.   Answer Question

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Corps Member at Teach for America

No Offer – Reviewed Mar 30, 2013

Interview Details written application, Phone interview and then final interview

Interview Question – What was your most difficult class in college?   Answer Question

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Teacher at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Interviewed on Ann Arbor, MI (US) Nov 2012 – Reviewed Mar 29, 2013

Interview Details The first stage is an online application, including your activities (specify leadership positions) and two letters of recommendation

Then there is a phone interview, which was pretty simple. They really want to hear about leadership positions and times when you had to manage other people. Be very clear about the number of people you managed

The final interview was a 5 minute teaching lesson and a 1-on-1 interview (many of the same questions as the phone interview)

Interview Question – What is the most difficult situation that you have had to handle   View Answer

Negotiation Details – It is pretty much up to each individual school district to determine your salary, TFA does not have any control over this

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Corps Member at Teach for America

Accepted Offer – Interviewed on Boston, MA (US) Sep 2010 – Reviewed Mar 26, 2013

Interview Details Three phases: online application (with a response to a video, essays and personal statements on education); phone interview (which I and some people skip); and group interview (sample lesson, logic test, group work, 1-on-1 interview).

Interview Question – Have you ever missed a deadline? Is there any circumstance under which you would quit TFA?   Answer Question

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