I was reached out to by a Year Up recruiter on LinkedIn. We quickly set up a call for a basic screening interview to determine if I'd be a good fit for the roll. About a week later I had two 1:1 interviews with current program instructors. About a week later I was set up for a mock lesson with current students and current staff over zoom, and was sent a list of lesson topics to choose from. Afterwards I met with the director of the program for a final interview. Everyone was very kind, but definitely a lengthy and involved process.

I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn and asked to send my resume. I was then given a phone screening interview which I aced. I talked about the experience I had teaching EFL in different countries as well as ESL support and working with disadvantaged youth and first-generation high school grads in this country. I was then asked to come in and take part in a face to face interview as well as deliver a sample lesson to the students there. Everything went well, I received excellent feedback in the moment and I asked great questions to my interviewers and made an excellent impression. A few days later I was told that I did not get the position because they were "concerned that I would not be able to connect with and relate to minorities." Based on my work experience, and how much I have demonstrated that I can indeed effectively relate to and connect with minorities, the only conclusion I can arrive to about this feedback is that they rejected me on the basis of what they thought my race to be (I have white skin and am of European descent). I'm quite relieved that I did not end up working for them as I feel that those kinds of remarks to prospective employees could prove to be a liability; I'm surprised they've been around this long and haven't been sued if they are so openly bigoted and racist.