Tell me about a time when you failed to meet an objective.
Failures are inevitable at any job. Fortunately, evaluation is part and parcel of the instructional design process, and Instructional Designers are typically thick-skinned when it comes to negative results. Take advantage of this opportunity to describe a notable time when you did not hit your targets. A strong response will focus on ownership and the learnings you took from the experience. Further, the hiring manager will want to hear about the long-term impact the experience had on you as an Instructional Designer.
"At ABC & Co, I designed an up-skilling program for customer care representatives. The company had just rebranded, and there was a new direction concerning representing the brand from the customer care side. Because of bandwidth limitations, we decided to pull the reps out for 30 minutes and rolled out the training in a classroom setting. We had visual aids and handouts that outlined the brand values and how they should be reflected in the language used when interacting with customers. After a month, we went back to assess how well the reps retained their knowledge by listening to their calls. We found that only 15% of them applied what they learned, compared to our initial target of 60%.
Looking back at the delivery method, I would say that we should have tried something else. There was minimal demonstration involved, so the representatives didn't really see everything in action. It would have been more effective if we allowed for simulations and let the learners devise different ways to apply what they just learned. This could have been done in shorter sessions after the first 30-minute class. Now, whenever I develop training for cross-skilling or up-skilling, I take a couple of extra steps. I add more modeling and demonstration techniques to paint a clearer, more realistic picture for the employees. And two, I test the materials out with a smaller group first, evaluate the outcomes, and then improve the material further before rolling it out 100%."
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