Nice people but unprofessional and unorganized--Informal process, a phone interview then a week later an in-person interview. Very unorganized, the interviewers did not seem to have a clear idea of what they were looking for. Everyone was polite and pleasant and clearly believed in their work, but topics and questions bounced around. Following the in-person there was never any follow-up, which I find very unprofessional. Just decline someone if they are not the right fit.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at NJ Seeds (Newark, NJ) in May 2012
Interview
Two In-Person Interviews followed-up with a classroom observation. The NJSEEDS office sent a couple of their staff to come observe me in action in my classroom. Overall, it was a fairly thorough process where they got a good sense of who I was and what skills I could bring to the table for NJSEEDS. Overall, I have a fond memory from my experiences of working with them.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What has been the greatest obstacle that you've overcome?
Through my experience interviewing with NJ SEEDS, it is clear the organization approaches interviews/applications in a very unorganized, unprofessional manner.
Upon submitting a resume/cover letter, a representative of NJ SEEDS contacted me to set up a phone interview. During the phone interview, the interviewer 1) told me more about the organization, 2) talked about various positions I did not even apply for, and 3) discussed salary ranges. Saying that he was excited about my candidacy, the interviewer set up an in-person interview over the phone.
During the in-person interview, I met with multiple members of the organization, many of whom were unaware that they were supposed to interview me (and thus unprepared with questions). Once the interview was over, the contact person told me the interview went well and to email him the following day. Upon emailing him, he took a week to respond and said things were "busy" and he could not talk. We rescheduled multiple times with the same response. Finally, he said he could not talk over the phone and there were no updates on the application process. Months passed and he never followed up.