The BLOC Podcast

94: Job Interview Assignments for L&D Professionals

• Episode 94

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In this episode, inspired in part by my new friend Molly's LinkedIn post about undergoing 10 job interviews for a contract L&D position, I talk about the dreaded job interview assignment. 

This episode is both for job seekers and hiring managers because I give best practices for what you should be looking for in a job interview assignment, including the following:

  • Every job interview should be part of a structured process that is clearly communicated to candidates. This is what we DO as L&D professionals, we should be clearly communicating up front how many interviews, if there's an assignment, and the goal start date of the candidate. 
  • If given, job interview assignments should NOT be arbitrary - the assignment should clearly align with its purpose and HAVE a purpose. Is the purpose to show proficiency with a particular tool? Then, it should do that. It shouldn't be "create a 30-minute eLearning module on the topic of your choice" because that's what their portfolio is for. 
  • If the assignment is going to take the candidate more than 3 hours, it should be paid. Also, you should never use a candidate's work or ask for source files. 

If a job interview assignment feels icky, you should trust your gut!

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