BOLD Charter School Interview Questions
& Process

I talked to their head of talent, then did a take-home exercise that was three parts, and then I spoke with their CEO. This process took one month. Everyone seemed nice, but I had a bad feeling because the extensive hiring project that took several hours was never discussed or given feedback on. Also, the rejection was a three sentence template email, which was impersonal and disrespectful of my time and effort. More thoughtfulness in communications would be good, and if they ask for a lengthy hiring project, it should be discussed.

Went through a bunch of quick interviews, some on zoom and some in person. Then they went dark for a bit. After that, I spent a lot of time on unpaid tasks. The management seemed pretty disorganized, though they had a good long-term vision, it wasn't clear how to get there. They didn't give me any feedback even though I asked after not getting an offer, which was a bummer considering how much time I put into the interviews and the work.

So I applied, then had a phone screen, followed by a performance task. After that, I interviewed with the CEO, and then the final round was an in-person visit to the school with a final interview with the CEO. The Monday after my final interview, HR called and offered me the job, and then the offer letter came that afternoon. I told HR I had some questions, and she said she'd check with the CEO and get back to me. The CEO called Tuesday morning, and we spoke Wednesday afternoon. I asked my questions, and he answered most of them, but he needed to get back to me about talking to staff since I hadn't met any staff other than him and HR. On Thursday, I didn't hear anything, so I followed up Friday morning about my questions. Friday afternoon, the CEO emailed saying staffing needs had changed and they couldn't move forward with the offer, with no real explanation. Neither he nor HR called me, which I found disrespectful given the time I invested. I called him, and he called me back but still couldn't explain over the phone. The whole thing was unprofessional and a waste of time. I definitely don't recommend this school.

I applied for Bold's fellowship program after getting referred by someone and checking out their site. I have some teaching experience and good recommendations. I wanted to join because I want to get better at teaching, as I don't have an early childhood education degree and still have a lot to learn. I applied but didn't hear back for a couple of weeks, so I followed up since the listing was still up. Still no response, so I followed up again with the interviewer and admin. A lot of time passed and still nothing. Fine if they weren't interested or filled the role, but a quick reply would've been nice. I then emailed the founder and got a phone interview invite from the person who ignored my emails. That interview was super awkward. The interviewer sounded so uninterested and agitated from the start, like she didn't want to be there, maybe because I kept emailing. Her questions weren't deep, she was nonchalant, kept saying 'uh huh' and interrupting me, and even asked a question I'd already answered. She sounded distracted, with background noise. At the end, she didn't ask if I had questions, just rushed through next steps and told me to email with any questions by EOD before hanging up. She then emailed me a short application response section that took me a whole day to answer carefully. It had 3-4 questions needing detailed answers. I put a lot of thought into them, even had a lawyer proofread my responses. A week later, she emailed saying I wasn't a good fit, though I think she decided that before the phone interview. It's interesting she didn't find me suitable when I got accepted to Teach for America, which has a 15% acceptance rate. If Bold wants to serve students in the Bronx, they need to improve their hiring process. This isn't about the admin team, but the students. Given the issues in education like teacher shortages and COVID, they had a candidate willing to do a lot to help students but let personal feelings get in the way.