PROTOCOL.md

Informal Tech Interview Protocol

Areas of Investigation

• Introduction / Area 1: Cultural Cohesion
  • Norms and values
  • Mission
  • Onboarding
  • Intra-organizational communication
• Area 2: Learning Approach
  • Pedagogy
  • Projects
  • Content development
  • Success / Literacy / Mastery
  • Target demographics
  • Peer interactions
  • Sharing
  • Space design
  • Critique / feedback models
• Area 3: Ethics and Governance
  • Relationship to industry “needs” and requirements
  • Recruitment
  • Sponsorship & Partnership
  • Competition
  • Decision-making

Introduction / Area 1: Cultural Cohesion

Question	Reason for Asking
Who are you?	Background and self identification.
How did your organization start, and where is it today?	Prompts storytelling, eases interviewee into mindset about both establishment of organization and its evolution.
When you look around the room, who is there in your core organization?	Self-definition and demographics.
Does your organization have a mission or core values?	Definition.
[If yes] how do those play out in the day-to-day?	Uncover how values surface in the design of the organization.
How do your members come together?	Social dynamics.
When does someone "become" a member?	Onboarding.

Area 2: Learning Approach

Question	Reason for Asking
If someone said “Learning the [organization’s name] way” what would that mean?	Pedagogical approach.
Who needs to learn the skills you offer? How do you reach them?	Uncover target demographic and engagement strategy.
What level are learners usually at when they come to your organization?	Demographics.
How do you start learning activities?	Approach.
What kinds of guides or prompts do you use?	Find out how content aligns with learning approach
How were these developed? What problems were you looking to solve?	Surface pedagogical philosophy behind content.
How do you help learners when they are stuck?	Approach.
What tactics do you always use?	Approach.
What tactics do you never use?	Approach.
How do learners interact?	Peer interactions.
Do learners help each other? How?	Peer interactions.
How do learners get feedback?	Critique and support.
Do you learners them to share their projects? In what kind of forum?	Peer interactions.
How is your space designed to enable these kinds of interactions?	Peer interactions.
When are learners "done"? What can they do by the time they leave?	Mastery and literacy.
How do you know they know that?	Mastery and literacy.
Do you ask learners to reflect? How and in what ways.	Approach.

Area 3: Ethics and Governance

Question	Reason for Asking
How is your organization funded? Why?	Governance.
How are decisions made about the organization?	Decision-making / governance.
When's the last time an important strategy decision was made in your organization?	Decision-making / governance.
How do you express new ideas to the wider network?	Decision-making / governance.
How does someone create a satellite for your organization? What do they need to commit to? Report on?	Governance.
When's the last time you shared a success story with the wider network? How did you do it?	Governance.
A failure?	Governance.
How do you decide what skills to teach?	Ethics.
Do industry trends / requirements for skills play into your learning design?	Ethics.
[If appropriate] Do you connect learners and recruiters? Why or why not?	Ethics.
[If appropriate] How do you select sponsors? Is there a kind of organization that you'd never partner with?	Ethics.
Are you “competing” with other informal learning organizations?	Ethics / governance.
Are there other groups in your “space”?	Ethics / governance.
Do you collaborate or cross promote? How does that happen?	Ethics / governance.