Seven Great Interview Questions for Hiring DL Staff

Let's move beyond the regular, the tried, and the true. Let's weed out those who really understand DL issues from those who have great scripted answers. Here's some good questions I like to use.

1. Do you believe that online degrees are equivalent in quality to campus-based degrees? Explain your answer.


2. What is the best way to evaluate the quality of a distance learning course or program?


3. What are the top three reasons that you believe that some faculty feel threatened by distance learning? What would you say to alleviate these fears?


4. Describe your experience taking an online course. What did you like and dislike? What would you have done differently if you were the instructor. These days, having taken an online course is usually a requirement for getting a job in my office.


5. What would you have liked to change about your previous employer? Be specific. Very revealing question for any job. I don't like it if they say, "Nothing. He/she was perfect."


6. Next, I give them 20 minutes to complete an essay on a question such as, "Our Online Psychology Program is experiencing disappointing retention, with many students dropping out of the courses or the program. What can we do in our office to address this and improve retention? This also gives me a good sense of their ability to work under pressure as well as their writing ability.


7. Finally, I put them on the phone and call them (from another phone) with a made-up question about our course management system (ex: how do I add a total grade column in the WebCT gradebook?). I can see how knowledgeable they are as well as how friendly and helpful they are in a support role.

Image by FreePhotosBank.com