How can we ensure faculty and staff across the University are utilizing best practices during interviews?
“Best Interview Practices” is a simulation-based training developed for Human Resources at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The module prepares faculty and staff to conduct structured, effective interviews by engaging them in branching scenarios that mirror authentic candidate interactions. Built on Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction and developed through the ADDIE process, the training emphasizes realistic decision-making, immediate feedback, and reinforcement of HR best practices to promote consistency and fairness across departments.
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Audience: Hiring managers, supervisors, and faculty at UNC Charlotte
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Responsibilities: Needs and gap analysis, defining learning objectives, SME collaboration, storyboarding and flowcharting, prototype development, instructional design, interactivity design, and simulation development
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Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, SCORM, Adobe Photoshop, Pixabay, MS Excel, Adobe Premiere, Suno AI
Hiring managers and supervisors at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte needed more consistency in interview practices. Human Resources identified variation in how interviews were conducted, from question phrasing to candidate evaluation, which created challenges in ensuring fairness and alignment with university standards. Prior lecture-based training failed to engage learners or prepare them for the realities of live interviews. A more interactive, scenario-based solution was needed to improve both confidence and practice.
Solution
I designed an interactive simulation module, Best Interview Practices, using Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction to anchor the design in authentic, problem-centered learning. Learners worked through a series of branching scenarios that mirrored real-world interviews. Each decision path revealed the consequences of choices and reinforced HR best practices with built-in feedback. The simulation allowed hiring managers to practice in a safe environment and immediately see how their actions shaped candidate interactions.
Process
Following the ADDIE framework, I collaborated with HR professionals to conduct a needs analysis and identify the target audience (faculty and staff who conduct interviews). From those discussions, I mapped specific learning objectives to HR’s defined expectations.
During the design phase, I built storyboards, flowcharts, and prototypes to visualize the branching scenarios and confirm alignment with best practices. I incorporated feedback loops throughout the module, ensuring learners received guidance not only on correct responses but also on why alternative paths were less effective.
For development, I used Articulate Storyline to build the final simulation. The structure allowed for scalable delivery through the HR learning system and ensured compatibility with existing staff training workflows.
Takeaway
The Best Interview Practices simulation transformed training from passive lecture-based content into an engaging, practice-driven experience. Learners could apply concepts immediately, make mistakes in a low-risk environment, and receive targeted feedback. The HR team praised the module for promoting consistency across departments and equipping staff with clearer, more confident approaches to interviewing.