After submitting my application (well before the deadline), I followed up with a question, to which MJ never responded. The fellowship application stated that applicants would be informed by May 1st; May 1st came and went, and there was zero communication. I followed up in the subsequent week, both by phone and e-mail, and still received no response. I sent one more e-mail (the second week of way), this time to three editors specifically, and still heard nothing.
When I was in town, several weeks later, I e-mailed these same editors to let them know that I would like to stop by the office; it was only then that I received a brief "sorry but you didn't get it" response. The lack of communication throughout the whole process was extremely unprofessional and disrespectful. I have not had a similar experience at any comparable publication. I hope that Mother Jones reevaluates the way it treats applicants to the fellowship program.
The interview process was just a straightforward phone interview to talk about my educational background, any previous experience in journalism I had had, and to give me the opportunity to address any questions I had. There were not any unexpected or stress inducing questions that I can think of. Pretty pleasant experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
I had to describe the most difficult challenge I have faced and explain how I handled it.
