I guess I grew as a person? - Corp Member City Year Employee Review

2.0
1 June 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You will be working with students 40+ hours a week. If this is the sort of thing you're looking for, you might consider this a plus. Daily calisthenics! Some of the middle management and fellow corp members were some of the greatest people I've ever met.

Cons

Exploitative pay: I was paid less than 200 a week for full time work, (which often turned into 50 hour+ work weeks.) Terrible Uniform: Uniform is an unprofessional hodgepodge of Timberland products and a fast food name tag. Lack of Training: Much of the time spent before being inserted into a school was spent playing "feelings" games (which, don't get me wrong, have their time and place). I was never taught how to tutor or teach or manage a classroom. This fact was complained about nearly constantly by all corp members, nothing was done to rectify it. "Diversity Decisions": Diversity in the workplace is essential, but asking black corp members to move to a different city and serve in a different, predominantly white corp in order to appear more diverse is just offensive. Statistics: The corp touts their total number of man hours served in schools as an indication of making a difference, regardless of the actual effect, positive or negative, our presence had. Dishonest Recruitment: That we were working in a school was downplayed during the recruitment process. I was told that corp members would spend upwards of 10 hours in the classroom each week, but class time was 90% of the job. Incompetent recruitment: Bearing in mind that this is an educational non-profit, I had co-workers who were illiterate, unfamiliar with basic math, completely incapable of communicating in a professional setting, and would inexplicably vomit without warning (that part was kind of weird). Creepy Culture: The office culture demanded the use of inane buzzwords, non-words, chants, songs, and other micro-cultural artifacts imported directly from a handbook written by corporate in Boston.

Explore other reviews about City Year

5.0
13 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Well-organized/structured Transportation, healthcare, and AmeriCorps benefits Lots of teambuilding

Cons

Long days Uniforms A lot of professional development

4.0
22 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You do very meaningful work and the staff truly care about you and what you are doing.

Cons

School placements can be quite far from where you live, and the days are long (7:30 am - 5 pm). Often is exhausting, but you stay for the kids.

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