This is a SCAM. Please beware. I and a friend, also in the field, heard that some of our highly experienced colleagues were not getting past the phone interview stage. We had a suspicion that this company is hiring people who are young, and not beyond 40 or so years old. In fact, they ARE clearly discriminating on the basis of age. I submitted an application, all accurate, Ivy League grad school, 10 years of experience developing curriculum with substantial experience designing online learning. In addition, many years of teaching all levels, from grammar school through college. My colleague shaved years of experience off of her resume, and didn't include dates, so one could conclude that she's fairly new to the job market. She graduated from a large state university.
We were both contacted for a phone interview, and made sure we were together, with the speaker phone on during the separate interviews. In both cases, the interviewer sounded disinterested, like she were being forced to carry out the task. She did not identify herself by name. It appeared that she was reading down a list, and didn't go off script. There was no interested, no engagement with either of us, no follow up question to any of our responses. They were met with silence, followed by the next question. It was unquestionably the worst interviewer that I, and my colleague, ever experienced.
But here's where it gets interesting. I, with all of my degrees, and teaching and online curriculum development experience, received a rejection email with two days (auto-generated with no reply). My friend, who both on her resume and in the interview, did not show ANY online development experience, and in her interview acted as stilted as the interviewer, DID progress to the next round!!!! Mind you, she appeared to be much younger than I. I am in my 40s and my resume shows it. Her resume and demeanor during the interview made her appear to be in her 20s.
This company is clearly practicing age discrimination. I'm thinking, as I just read through the other interviews, that perhaps they are trolling for people to design courses for them for free - the supposed assignment that second round people are receiving. Mid to senior level professionals will not fall for that gimmick so early in the game, whereas inexperienced people might. A word of warning - you should not be asked to complete an "assignment" until it's down to you and one or two others - the final round. Legit places will tell you upfront that this will be expected whenthe field is narrowed to a few. At times places will ask for writing samples upfront - that's fair and different than this. The applicant is aware of the requirement from the first step, and, one assumes, has the material already if they are applying for a writing job.
I'm hoping this company will be investigated both for age discrimination and shady practices to acquire free work.