Teach for America interview questions

Upon filling out the initial application, I was invited for a phone interview. The interview began with a young man introducing himself and his current job, making it clear that he did not stay with TFA beyond his required two years teaching. I took this as a negative sign since I had designed my application around my desire to teach and close the achievement gap. If the interviewer makes it clear that teaching was never his true goal, it makes it seem as though people who do want to be teachers long term are not exactly what they are looking for. A hint for others: either lie or make it clear that TFA will be a stepping stone for you to move on to bigger and better things. That is what they want to hear. The questions were very specific and at times, quite silly. I was questioned to the point of exhaustion about my retail experience because I assume retail is not the kind of background they are looking for. Since most corps members are fresh out of college, I can only imagine they want a lot of leadership in clubs and extracurriculars. Keep in mind that TFA is not an organization that is looking for people who want to be teachers. They are looking for people to give this experience to for 2 years, before their alumni move on to much bigger and "better" things. If you want to be a teacher as your career, lie and tell them you want to some day go to law school. Boost any leadership you did in school, that is the selling point.

The process begins with an online application that is pretty long. I think they focus on leadership skills, your ability to overcome adversity, and your mindset/rationle behind applying for this program (this is explained in one of the essays you need to write for the application). If you move past the online application, you will be schedule a phone interview (ex question: why do you think some parents aren't involved in their child's education). If selected to move on to the final interview day, you will take part in an all day in person interview that includes a sample lesson plan, testing, group discussions on prior reading, and a 1:1 interview where we had to role play a given situation, in addition to answering regular questions.