How DREAM Charter Schools Build Authentic Teams

Seven schools. Multiple campuses across New York City. One mission: developing the whole child. For DREAM Charter Schools, scaling their people operations while maintaining hiring integrity has become increasingly critical—and increasingly complex. Carissa Mueller, Director of People Operations at DREAM, manages recruitment and hiring across the network with an intentional, multi-layered approach that goes far beyond a standard applicant tracking system.

Key challenges included:

• Rising candidate fraud (AI-generated resumes, placeholder documents, fake application materials).
• Need to scale hiring across 7 schools while maintaining integrity and mission alignment.
• High application volume, making it difficult to identify authentic candidates efficiently.
• Critical need to hire people who can truly "develop the whole child," requiring deeper vetting beyond resumes.

• Implemented a multi-layered hiring process, including recruiter screens, phone interviews, performance tasks, and in-person vetting.
• Introduced performance tasks that candidates must complete independently and then explain live, making fraud extremely difficult.
• Balanced automation with human judgment, allowing AI use but requiring candidates to defend their answers and provide GPT prompts for transparency.

• Significant reduction in fraudulent applicants making it past early stages due to layered screening and performance tasks.
• Improved ability to identify genuine, mission-aligned candidates who can speak substantively about their work.
• More efficient hiring process, saving time and resources by filtering out non-authentic applicants earlier.
• Stronger, more capable teams aligned with DREAM's mission of developing the whole child.