Shara Andrade, eLearning Nerd

ID Interview: Work Sample Required?

I know I really should have kept track of how many interviews I have had over the past few months, but maybe it’s better I didn’t because there were so many positions I didn’t get. Don’t worry, the purpose of this post is not to whine. That’s not my style. Rather, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on some of the things I have learned in my experience as an imperfect interviewee. I really hope you will share your insights below!

Creating Work Samples As Part of The Interview Process: Yea or Nay?

There are at least 2 sides to this one. I brought up the topic last week on Clubhouse because I am currently advancing in the interview process with two companies, both of which require work samples. I am going to share a couple of the responses here and share my opinion.

The first approach is to flat-out deny these requests because the whole reason for having a portfolio is to showcase your work. This is true… but I have also heard from hiring managers who have discovered in the interview process that people have been sharing work that is not their own (or work they did not really contribute to creating) on their portfolios. So, in that sense, I can see how a new work sample can be helpful. 

Another idea, which I really liked, was to decline to do the work, but offer to work with the team on something instead. This would give everyone a chance to see if personalities click and how the candidate approaches work. If schedules line up for the team and they are open to the experience, then it’s great. I don’t see a lot of companies agreeing to this, however, since a lot have formalized hiring procedures that are in place to demonstrate that they are fair and give equal opportunity to all candidates. 

Both of these are wonderful suggestions for someone who is already experienced and employed full-time in the industry; they have nothing to lose. As someone who is breaking into the industry, I feel very pressured to go ahead and do the work and just pray that the company doesn’t hire someone else but use my work. Because I have shared my portfolio so often on LinkedIn, I have actually noticed at least one person’s portfolio site was drastically changed to look a lot like mine, so I am now hesitant about putting my work out there for people to steal, potentially. 

As I said, I am a newbie, so I have to do what is required in the interview process because I just can’t turn down opportunities. If you know me, I tend to try to put a positive spin on things (it comes from my experience in sales) even for myself; I see the work I create as a chance to add something to my portfolio because it will definitely be an example of my best work. If I have to sign an NDA, obviously, I’ll make a duplicate with different branding. I really don’t mind doing the extra work because it’s practice and experience. 

I would love to hear from my peers who are breaking into Instructional Design careers as well as experienced IDs and hiring managers! I am totally open to exploring all sides of the subject.

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One Response

  1. SA – Interesting question. We are a big fan of Work Samples in our hiring process. Several reasons: The assessment research shows work samples are very effective at predicting job performance (always a good thing). It also lets us better evaluate a candidate in terms of their work ethic, quality of work/output, and ability to focus on a content area that is new/outside of their comfort zone and quickly learn and produce something. To your point, it also creates great collaboration opportunities. When done right, the work sample should provide a nice realistic job preview for candidates. I think it is important that both sides have clear expectations around who owns the final product, how it will be used, and if the candidate will be paid for their work/labor. Making sure the candidate sees the process as fair and equitable is huge. Most candidates agree that being given an opportunity to demonstrate their skills is a win. Work samples should also have a scoring rubric so that they are objectively validated. At the same time, when doing a job search you have a lot of priorities and do not want to waste your time. Great first post.

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