If you are considering this role or any similar part-time role at Lexia, I would advise you to reconsider. I actually went through two completely different sets of interviews for two unrelated part-time roles (a training designer and a traveling facilitator). Both sets of interviews showed a lack of proper planning for setting up contract work. In fact, the interview process for the remote role took nearly two months and required the completion of a "2-hour assignment" that actually took longer than 6 hours to complete! At one point in the process, I received an email sent to all candidates indicating that the hiring team anticipated so much work that they would need to hire more contractors. Oddly, only two weeks later, another email was sent indicating no contractors would be used for monthly project work due to a decision made by Lexia's leadership team. Weeks after this chaotic experience with the remote role, it became evident that the travel-related facilitator role was headed in the same chaotic direction, so I decided to withdraw my application.
When I initially applied for the facilitator role, it took a month to be contacted. A few days after the screening call, I was invited to what I was told was the first of three interviews. By this point, I was pretty far along with other interviews, but I was willing to explore this role further based on my extensive experience as a trainer. While researching the hiring manager's profile on LinkedIn, I noticed several typos and employment gaps throughout her work experience section. While this caught my attention, I didn't read into it too much since things like this can be misinterpreted. However, at the start of the virtual interview, there were immediate red flags this was not going to be a positive experience. First, after the hiring manager joined the meeting late, she failed to introduce herself or explain her role. When I introduced myself to initiate the process, she didn't reciprocate which felt very awkward and rude. She also spoke with a slight slur and struggled to make eye contact at times which made me wonder if she was okay.
Then, the hiring manager abruptly started asking me questions about my training techniques based on different scenarios she would provide. At no point did she bother to ask me any questions about my previous training experiences or related roles. This surprised me since it was obvious she had not taken the time to read my resume based on her reactions when I mentioned some of my previous positions. She was also not taking any notes when I responded to her questions even though she said she would be sharing her notes with her team. When it was time for me to ask questions, she seemed very disengaged and unfriendly. At one point, she even interrupted me before I could finish my question in an attempt to quickly answer it. This forced me to have to ask it again since she didn't answer my question fully. Overall, her responses were short and not very helpful.
When I asked how long it would take to complete my onboarding and training in preparation for the role, she indicated it would take 6-8 weeks! As another previous contractor indicated in their review, "there are 100-200 hours of required unpaid training before starting, plus several hours monthly of unpaid required PD" which is not appealing at all. The hiring manager also couldn't assure me of the minimum number of days I should expect for conducting training each month and that some months might have none! This is because I would only be used as a backup when needing to relieve other facilitators from being overworked, and in some cases, with less than two weeks' notice. When I inquired further, I was told the person in this role would have to be on call and available as needed and that they could only turn down a request a few times before management dings them and labels them as unreliable. This poor scheduling approach means that my calendar would have to be wide open most of the month to accommodate any late training requests which is not realistic if you have a second job that schedules work in advance. However, as another former contractor noted in their recent review, "way too many people have been hired to do this job," so "it's impossible to get work."
When I inquired about turnover within the team, the hiring manager indicated there is a lot and is due to either promotions, people moving to other departments, or people leaving due to personal reasons. After the interview, I revisited Glassdoor and noticed that some reviewers complained about management participating in workplace bullying which forced many facilitators to quit. I was not surprised to read this since I sensed some toxic behavior during my interview as the hiring manager came across as arrogant and unfriendly throughout it. As a result of my experience and similar reviews on this platform, I decided to withdraw my application.
