What do you do if your digital learning professional interviewee lacks experience in instructional design?

You can focus on other areas of expertise and assess their potential to learn and adapt. Assess Their Transferable Skills: Even if the interviewee lacks direct experience in instructional design, they might possess transferable skills that could be relevant to the position. Look for skills such as project management, educational technology, or adult teaching, which could compensate for the lack of direct instructional design experience. Probe for Related Experience: While the interviewee may not have direct experience in instructional design, they may have worked on projects that involved aspects of instructional design. For example, developing training materials, creating educational content, or working with curriculum development.

if someone is lacking experience, that can be taught. i would shift focus to where the experience lies and find ways to leverage that experience. perhaps other experiences can help the candidate apply that to ID and enhance the skillset.

Evaluate their understanding of instructional design principles and willingness to learn. Offer training or mentorship opportunities to develop their skills in this area. Consider their broader skillset and potential contributions to the team. Assess their passion for digital learning and alignment with organizational goals. Ultimately, prioritize candidates who demonstrate a growth mindset, enthusiasm for learning, and a strong cultural fit, alongside their existing qualifications.

I'm assuming the technical expertise of this individual is superior or there is some other reason you are considering them for the position. In this case, I would weigh the skills against the shortcomings at a high-level view and assign tasks that enhance the shortcomings in a non-threatening way but still use their skills to the benefit of the project. Tasks that include both technical and design skills collaboratively will reinforce the technical skills they already possess while giving them an opportunity—within the same setting—to improve the skills that are lacking. Additionally, I'm a big advocate for mentorship. Pair them up with an experienced designer to help hone the design aspects of their skillset while still being productive.

Instructional design is absolutely teachable. It's a skill that one can acquire and refine over the years. A sensitive person is able to become a good instructional designer. The technologies are evolving immensely. It's more important to have a curious professional that is aware of how people are learning than someone that as done it for a long time. They need to enjoy putting in the learner shoes and try things out.

I have over 6+ years of expertise in core instructional design, thanks to my previous role. However, when I originally interviewed with the company, I had applied for a content development position. After initial talks, the HR Head and Founder suggested I apply to be an ID. I took the test and joined the company as a junior instructional designer. And everything I learned was on the job, thanks to the customized mentorship program my boss put me into. I learned iteratively and grew to the point where I was creating custom end-to-end e-learning solutions and training other IDs from scratch. It always pays to create a multi-step mentorship plan for new and existing employees so that professional learning and growth can continue upwards!

Since at the interview stage itself the lack of Instructional Design experience is identified, and even at that when the candidate has been invited, clearly indicates some good potential for grooming. A fair bet cud be a quick on-the-spot-assignment which is time bound to the extent that external references (Google, GenAI ...) if at all won't have the bandwidth to replace his/her thought directions to allow the advantage of pretense aka IQ. Plus, a check on EQ or attitude. As for any assessment, the Hiring Manager's expert judgement and evaluation protocols are paramount.

Don't dismiss them quite yet. Spend time asking lots of questions about how they might approach a project, elements that would be a part, interactions that would enhance the learning, the kinds of hands-on experiences they could provide. You are looking for creativity in their responses. You are looking for good learning ideas, ways to present information, ways to help students engage with the content. Hire for passion and eagerness because those are internal motivators and cannot be taught. Skills can be learned.