Navigating the eLearning & Instructional Design Interview Process
Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of folks who find themselves interviewing for their very first instructional design and eLearning development jobs. And while it’s so exciting when they get that email or phone call to schedule that first interview, for a lot of folks trying to make their way into this industry (or those who haven’t participated in an interview for a long time), it can be a little intimidating and foreign not knowing what to expect at each stage of the process.
So, in this article, I’ll share a step-by-step overview of what you can typically expect at each stage of the eLearning and instructional design interview process.
The Initial Screening Interview
The first step in the eLearning and instructional design interview process is the initial screening interview. Typically, after you’ve submitted your resume and application for a job, it gets reviewed and filtered by the hiring recruiter. Ultimately, the recruiter’s job is to work in collaboration with the hiring manager to identify the needs of a potential candidate and filter through all of the resumes and applications to narrow it down to those folks who are worth being put in front of the hiring manager. And one way that recruiters do that is through an initial screening interview.
Generally, the initial screening interview is a relatively low-stakes conversation that will take place over the phone or on camera. In most instances, the only knowledge that the recruiter will have about the job you’re interviewing for will either have come from what the hiring manager has told them directly and/or what’s listed in the job description. As a result, most of the questions you’ll get asked will usually be general questions, like “Why are you specifically interested in this role and company?”
Your goal during this interview is to make sure you sound like you know what you’re talking about, to evaluate how much your skills and experience align with what’s listed in the job description, and to answer any general questions you have about the organization and the rest of the interview process.
The truth is, you’re not likely to get any hard-hitting or detailed questions about your instructional design process or anything like that. I also wouldn’t expect the recruiter to be able to answer any specific questions about the job or the work. Generally, they’ll usually be able to provide some basic information about the structure of the organization or where the learning and development team sits at large within the rest of the company. However, if you have any questions about the types of projects the team works on or their instructional design process, nine times out of ten, they’ll tell you to hold those questions for the hiring manager.
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The Hiring Manager Interview
This brings us to the second step in the eLearning and instructional design interview process, which is the hiring manager interview. After you and the other candidates have gone through the initial screening interview with the recruiter and after they’ve figured out who they want to send through, the next step is usually the interview with the hiring manager.
At this point, you might feel like you’re still very early in the interview process, but I encourage you to put things into perspective: The vast majority of those who initially applied for the job will have not made it to this point. In fact, it’s been my experience that by the time you’re interviewing with the hiring manager themselves, you’re likely in a small group of maybe 10-12 candidates at most. So, you should feel good at this point!
The hiring manager interview is going to be the most high-stakes interview, and it’s the one that you should be the most prepared for. Unlike the initial screening interview with the recruiter, the hiring manager is your potential future boss, and so, they want to make sure they’re hiring the right person.
What you should expect from this conversation, which might take place over a video conference or in person (depending on the role) is a deep dive into your resume and your experience. And this will most often come in the form of situational or behavioral questions—questions like, “Tell me about a time you had to work on a project that didn’t go as expected. How did you handle it, and what were the outcomes?”
You’ll also likely get asked about your instructional design or eLearning development process, how you approach new projects, and how you collaborate with stakeholders and subject matter experts.
The hiring manager interview is also the interview where you want to ask as many questions as possible about the role, the work, and the team you’ll be working on. And it would be my recommendation that you don’t ask superficial questions about the company culture, salary, or time-off benefits—leave that stuff for the recruiter. Instead, get into the nitty-gritty of the work and what your day-to-day life might look like working in this role. Remember, a big part of this particular interview is not just for the hiring manager to interview you but for you to also interview the hiring manager—they want to make sure you’re a right fit for them, and you want to make sure they’re a right fit for you.
The Team Interview
The third step in the eLearning and instructional design interview process is typically the team interview. After the initial screening and hiring manager interviews, what happens next is usually where you’ll start to see variation. In some instances, this third step might be you participating in an interview assignment or design challenge, interviewing with a senior stakeholder that you’d be working closely with, or interviewing with another manager on the team. But, usually somewhere in there, depending on the size and structure of the team, you’ll likely have an interview with those that you’ll potentially be working with on a day-to-day basis.
Now, how much of a high-stakes interview is the team interview? Well, it’s really hard to say. You might find that only one person asks all of the questions while everyone else just listens. You might find that they each take a turn asking a question. Or, you might just find yourself hanging out and having a great casual conversation with the team.
Whatever the case might be, your ultimate goal is to demonstrate that you’re someone they’ll all want to work with and that you’re capable of being a reasonably self-sufficient contributor to the team. And as with the hiring manager interview, this would be an ideal time to ask questions about how work is prioritized amongst the team, how and if they collaborate on projects, or if they each own their own separate projects.
At this point, you’re pretty deep into the whole interview process, and if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably down to the final two or three candidates, which is fantastic!
The Executive or Final Interview
Depending on the organization and the size of the team, the fourth step in the eLearning and instructional design interview process might vary. In some instances, it might be where the hiring manager makes a final decision and extends a job offer. However, you may also participate in one more interview, and that’s what I like to call the executive interview.
Typically, this interview is with a senior member of the learning and development team or even a senior member of the parent team in which the learning and development team sits, like HR. And usually, this person is the hiring manager’s boss or direct supervisor. And so, the goal of this meeting is for the hiring manager to proverbially present you (and maybe one other candidate) for the final “blessing” by this senior executive.
Now, for context, if you’ve made it to this point, you can usually rest assured that you’re a preferred candidate, and all of the really stressful hard work is mostly done.
But, what should you expect from this executive interview? Well, this is a hard one, too. Like the team interview, your results may vary with this one as well. In fact, early in my career, I remember having my final interview for an instructional design job with the Senior Vice President of the L&D team I was interviewing for, and he spent the whole hour talking about his vision for the future of the department—he literally asked me zero questions.
And so, what questions you get asked, if at all, will really depend on the personality of the individual you’re interviewing and how much they’re actually involved with the day-to-day work of the team you’ll potentially be working on.
The truth is these senior executives usually have little contextual knowledge about the role or the work. And, at the end of the day, they’re not the ones who will be responsible for you, so the stakes aren’t as high for them to ask you a bunch of hard-hitting questions.
With that said, in order to be successful in this interview, I do recommend asking questions about their vision for where they’re taking the learning and development team and how they work strategically with the rest of the organization to deliver business results. These are the types of questions that will demonstrate that you’re capable of speaking their language.
The Job Offer
Alright! So, after the initial screening interview, the hiring manager interview, the team interview, and the executive / final interview (and maybe some sort of design challenge or interview assignment), the final step of the eLearning and instructional design interview process is the job offer.
How any particular company processes a job offer is going to vary. This job offer might come directly from the hiring manager, or it might come from the recruiter. It might be a phone call, or it might be an email. Whatever the case might be, the job offer should always include the salary amount and the desired start date along with a list of any other defined benefits, such as time off and other important information.
And so, whatever way the job offer is presented to you, it’s my recommendation that you don’t accept anything until you see it in writing. Of course, you want to demonstrate how excited you are about the opportunity, but you want to make sure you’ve had a chance to thoroughly review the written offer before accepting.
Usually, a job offer will be presented as being contingent on a background check to verify your employment and criminal history, maybe a reference check, and more rarely nowadays, some sort of drug test. But, once all that happens, if you’ve reached this point, then you’ve got the job!
Put Your Instructional Design Interviewing Skills into Practice!
To truly feel prepared and do your best during an instructional design interview, you need to practice answering questions! A great way to do that is to use AI to conduct a mock instructional design interview! Check out this video, where @Tim Slade shows you how!
What’s Next?
There’s a lot more to explore when it comes to preparing for an instructional design interview. Keep learning by checking out these additional resources!
The Bottom Line
So, that’s an overview of what the eLearning and instructional design interview process typically looks like. And, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s exhausting—I know! But, hopefully, it’ll give you good context for what you can expect when you finally get that phone call or email inviting you to interview for your next job.
So, what do you think? How have your interview experiences been similar to or different from what I outlined in this article? Share your thoughts, tips, and questions by commenting below!