Role-specific Training And Development Interview Questions & Answers:

1. Tell me how you keep current with the latest developments and ideas about business training?

Focus on your motivation for professional development and learning. Do you attend seminars, subscribe to relevant publications, do research on the internet and proactively update yourself.

2. Tell me what do you consider the key criteria for training to be effective?

When answering trainer interview questions about effective training relate it to actual examples. Effective training means the employees are engaged in the training, learn new skills, ideas and knowledge. The process enhances employee self esteem and instills confidence and motivation.
The participants are able to transfer effectively what has been learned into the work environment. The training meets the employee's development and training needs and helps fulfill the organization's goals and objectives.

3. Describe a training activity you facilitated?

On the job training presents its own challenges including distractions, lack of structure and nervousness from the employee. Take a specific example and discuss how you managed the difficulties.

4. How did you ensure the skills were successfully transferred?

Learning transfer is an ongoing process. Ways of assessing the degree of transfer include observation, talking to supervisors, customers, colleagues and getting feedback from the employee.
Focus on key requirements for training transfer starting with a training program that is properly linked to real work life experience.
Discuss the need for manager and supervisor support and reinforcement back on the job.

5. Tell me how you gone about identifying employee training needs in the organization?

Finding out training needs includes communicating with managers and supervisors, conducting surveys, talking to the employees and observing on the job performance. Analyzing performance management feedback and organizational, departmental and operational needs. Give a specific example in your interview answer.

6. Tell me what has been the most difficult training situation that you have had to deal with and what did you do?

Training employees can present many challenges. Some common difficulties include lack of manager or supervisor support, disinterest and lack of motivation from the employee, lack of engagement from participants and poor learning transfer to the job.
The key to answering these trainer interview questions is to explain how you analyzed why the difficulty occurred and what actions you took to improve the situation from redesigning the training to conducting feedback workshops with participants and supervisors.

7. Could you give me an example of a learning intervention you implemented which was successful. Why do you think it worked well?

Take the interviewer through each step of the training process from identifying the training needs to designing the right learning intervention, to presenting the training program and evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention.
Highlight the key skills you used from problem assessment to decision-making to presentation skills to evaluation skills.

8. Tell me about those specific skills which you bring to the trainer position?

Include personal competencies such as planning and organizing skills, information gathering and analysis, communication and presentation skills, coaching skills, adaptability, creativity and resilience.

9. Can you please explain the difference between on and Off the Job Training?

On-the-job training is a type of learning process that usually occurs in an actual work environment i.e. an employee will be learning the new job roles and responsibilities while undergoing this training.
Off-the-job training is a type of learning process that usually occurs out of an actual work environment. This involves case analysis, lectures, presentation, simulation games etc. to imbibe the concepts and brainstorm ideas in an effective manner.

10. Tell me how you end your training session?

The well experienced trainer would end the training session with the summary of the whole session/story/real life business example/feedback mechanism to evaluate the usefulness of both the training session and trainer as well.