20th October 2023

The Bureau of Labour Statistics anticipates that there will be a 7% increase in Instructional Design employment till 2031.

These statistics offer clear evidence that instructional design is quite a booming field and hence you will need to prepare to land an exciting opportunity. Regardless of whether you are a newbie or a seasoned professional, you need to crack an interview every time you want to secure a new job. As an instructional designer, you always have a unique story to tell. But how do you weave that narrative into typical interview questions? Read on for more.

Who Is An Instructional Designer?
 

  Source: instructionaldesign.com.au

An instructional designer is someone who develops and designs education and training materials helping people to learn effectively. Their role includes designing effective strategies, identifying learning needs, developing content materials, and evaluating learning experience success. They further collaborate with subject matter experts, apply instructional design methods and theories, and utilize multimedia tools to enhance the learning process.

Hey, do you follow us on Social Media? We regularly share upgraded educational content, tips, feedback and more. Check us out by clicking the profiles here - Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Pinterest / Instagram / YouTube

Critical Instructional Design Interview Questions And How To Answer Them

To build confidence in your responses, you need to practice and be ready to impress. Here are a few questions to help you in the process:
 

1. What Is Your Design Process?

   Here your interviewer wants to know about your step-by-step design process. This involves every step from planning to execution. They want to know the approach you have, basically your working style, your daily routine, and everything in between to understand your theories and methodologies of work.

   This question might demand a tempting response, but make sure to walk your interviewer through your actual workday. Do not involve any fluff or fake details just to impress them. Demonstrate your process and let them know how you prioritize projects to manage your own time. Talk about instructional design models, your knowledge of proven theories, and your ability to incorporate a range of methodologies in your design process.
    

2. What Professional Experiences Outside Instructional Design Have Helped You Prepare For This Role?

   This question is often asked to gain a better understanding of your experiences and background. Be mindful as the interviewers are also looking for any red flags like employment or educational gaps. Thus, give a brief rundown of all the experiences that have led you to the instructional designer role.

   Make sure that there is a parity between what you are saying and what you have written in the resume. Highlight your relevant experiences and skills that are suitable for the job. You can also talk about the challenges you might have faced in your previous positions and how you overcame them.
    

3. What Methods Do You Plan On Using To Evaluate Course Design Success?

   With this question, the interviewer is trying to know about your experience in evaluating the success of your designs. This involves your ability to use data collection and analysis. Employers benefit greatly from knowing that the candidate’s way of evaluating data and measuring success is similar to their standards.

   They are also looking to know how your approaches can improve their success rate. So try to describe your strategies for collecting and analysing data and how you use them to make detailed and informed decisions.
    

4. How Do You Work With Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)?

   Here, your employer is trying to know your compatibility and comfort level with your team members. They also want to know about your experience level while working in a non-design role.

   Talk about the experiences you have had with your SMEs and also the challenges you faced while extracting information from them. You can use your experiences to build a foundation and talk about how you outsourced the information required and used it to create engaging results.
    

5. What Role Does The Learner Play In Your Design?

   The hiring manager wants to know if you consider the three major principal recipients of content- the learner, the organization, and the sponsor. You need to remember that despite the sponsor playing an important role, you are striving to affect the learner's knowledge and behavior.

   You should describe how you determine a learner's perspective and offer examples of how you acted on the learner's behalf to get the content developed accordingly. Provide ample situations for your employer to gauge and understand your level of experience in delivering learner-centric content.
    

6. How Would You Approach Increasing Engagement With Course Material?

   Engagement is a crucial part of engagement designs and hence employers ask you this question to know how you plan on increasing engagement. Discuss how you use various multimedia tools and elements such as audio and videos and technological components like gamification to boost learner engagement.

   You can also go on to mention your tailored and personalized approach to cater to every learner's needs, interests, knowledge levels and skills t ensure they stay engaged throughout the learning process.
    

7. What Tools And LMSs Are You Familiar With?

   As instructional designers, you are expected to have a wide range of technical proficiencies and skill sets. Thus, offer a detailed answer here. Many job descriptions have a list of tools they require knowledge of. It is mostly mandatory. Hence quote tools such as Adobe products, Blackboard, and Storyline etch to let your interviewers know how well-versed you are.

   Your response to this question allows the interviewer to know how involved you are with coding, graphic design, and technical assistance. Even though you don't possess these qualifications, it does not mean that you are underqualified. So answer this question strategically.

Take Your Next Leap Towards Your Dream Job

As instructional design is a fast-growing career, it is an ever-changing landscape. Whether you are a TEFL teacher with an offline or online TEFL degree, a curriculum developer, or a professional instructional designer, there are a few questions you need to know answers to. With the rise of AI in education and the shift to online learning, as instructional design professionals it is best to stay updated. Prepare for these interview questions to land your dream job without fail.

We believe education should be accessible for everyone. That’s why we don’t charge for our blogs. Find the right course that will help you in your career with us, contact us at - 1800-212-6400. You can mail us at act@asiancollegeofteachers.com

Written By: Rimpa Ghosh