Teach for America Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America full-time for more than a year

Pros – Payed Positions at very start. Great professional development to assist along the way and awesome networking events for whatever field you choose to stay in.

Cons – Work life balance can be a bit overwhelming. Teach For America is more of a contracter therefore, your dealing with this agency along with school /district rules.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Teach for America full-time

Pros – Excellent networking opportunities
Meaningful work
Support to get placed in a school
Get paid while earning your teaching credential
Alumni support
Ongoing support during two year commitment
Extremely rewarding/fulfilling

Cons – Hardest job you will ever do
TFA has an increasingly competitive applicant pool

Advice to Senior Management – Take opportunities to hire leaders of color

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Teach for America full-time

Pros – Phenomenal mission and set of core values and competencies drive the work in a manner that is aligned to all systems through talent acquisition to alumni support.

Cons – Focused on the PC agenda to the point of detriment, prevents real dialogue and scares employees.

Advice to Senior Management – Embrace individualism through released autonomy - rely on your field operatives to guide support structures.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America as an intern for more than a year

Pros – Great friendly people, awesome mission, very organized, clear goals

Cons – Work is challenging and time consuming

– I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America full-time for more than a year

Pros – Teach for America provides you with invaluable experience that is potentially life-changing for both you and your students. You will never be so tested as you are in a Corps Member position.

Cons – Teach for America is a large organization and has to adopt corporate structure in order to meet their big goals. At times, "corporate-speak," overbearing insider culture, and an almost religious feeling to the organization can become overwhelming.

Advice to Senior Management – Decrease the corporate-speak! Increase support for corps members rather than directing attention in 1,000 different ways.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Teach for America

Pros – If you make it through, you'll grow professionally, personally, and you will truly understand what it means to go forth with a vision to accomplish the things that you want.

Cons – Soul draining, emotionally and physically taxing, and unforgiving. Make sure you develop a strong support network, otherwise you won't make it through.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America full-time

Pros – Making a difference in low-income areas, extremely hard program to get into and great resume builder

Cons – teacher pay is not always the best, but definitely enough to survive

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Teach for America as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Strong mission; organization getting results. Highly respected within non-profit sector. Very talented people there at all levels.

Cons – Proccesses could be more efficient in some areas.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue to empower individuals at all levels to make a difference.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America full-time for more than a year

Pros – Life Changing: You will really have the opportunity to be invited into a community and the lives of the people who live there and make a great impact.
Salary/Benefits: The compensation is no more or less than what other teachers in the region make. Corps members are, however, given additional funds for education or loan repayment.
Professional Development: I've grown leaps and bounds in professionalism which is awesome for someone who's not very far removed from college.
Placement: It's an opportunity to move to somewhere else that you may never have otherwise and broaden your horizons.

Cons – It can be very difficult in the beginning to adjust to being a teacher with no prior experience but there's always someone visiting your classroom to support your growth.

Advice to Senior Management – Continue doing a great job of taking the corps members' feedback and using it to improve the corps experience.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Teach for America

Pros – Where there has been the introduction of great teachers into the profession and great leaders of schools and systems who would otherwise not have considered education, that's a benefit to the students in high needs communities who might not otherwise have access to that talent.

Cons – Incestuous. Lacks understanding about developing SMART goals. At the regional level puts leaders in place who may be smart, but who are not managers and then fails to develop them. Insular -- actions demonstrate that non-alumni have little value internally or externally.

Advice to Senior Management – Learn to manage, develop your managers, recognize that you do not know everything and that others might have valuable insight.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company