# I have a TFA interview in half an hour!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-tfa-interview-in-half-an-hour/349153>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 20, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-tfa-interview-in-half-an-hour/349153 "2006-03-20T16:41:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-tfa-interview-in-half-an-hour/349153/1 "2006-03-20T16:41:28Z")

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So I’m going to go interview for [Teach For America](http://www.teachforamerica.org) in half an hour. It’ll take most of the day (you know it’s a long interview when they tell you to bring money for lunch). It’s a pretty cool-looking program, and I’m a little excited about it. People say I will make a fantastic brilliant-asshole teacher.

I’m going to run a short lesson on polynomial factoring.

I’m not entirely sure how badly I want it - I care quite a bit about giving people chances at meaningful educations, but circumstances say that my first-choice locations are pretty unlikely because of schedule conflicts (fairly important; you have to enjoy where you live) and my parents are about ready to disown me if I take it (surprisingly, I’m less frustrated over this than the other thing - it’s a long-held article of faith with my friends that my parents are certifiable). I take a _really_ (think $15-20K/year) steep paycut versus going into industry… if I can get a job there. Most of the places I’ve left resumes haven’t called back, or are only making noncommittal noises.

Anyone have any experiences with it, one way or the other? Should I have a job lined up already? Engineering-types who’ve done it, is it worth it?

Okay, now I have my TFA interview in 20 minutes. _dash_