How do I become an instructional designer?

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Maybe you just left a teaching job after feeling burnout from working long hours and you're looking for work-life balance. Or maybe you're looking for the next step in your learning-focused career.

Instructional design (ID) is a great way for teachers, educators, and people from many other career fields to apply their skills in a new role.

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You are a great fit for ID roles if you don't mind:

• Writing lessons with learning objectives (LOs)

• Applying learning theories into practical learning experiences

• Using technology,like learning management systems (LMS) and design tools

• Working on a team with clients, designers, and subject matter experts (SMEs)

• Work-life balance, where you might have a more flourishing personal life

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Master relevant learning theories. Depending on the industry that you're passionate about, you'll have to master specific learning theories. Here, we'll focus on adult learning theories.

Get a foundation on these adult learning theories:

• ADDIE model

• SAM model

• Gagne's 9 Events

• Kirkpatrick's model

• Bloom's Taxonomy

• Mayer's Principles

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Develop projects to show your skills. Recruiters expect to see a portfolio website or documents. Do you have projects from previous roles that you can re-use?

Your projects must show:

• Needs analysis to determine client needs and goals

• Action mapping or brainstorming ideas

• Storyboarding your scenario-based project with relatable characters

• Application of theories that you mastered

• Design visuals with technical skills in software and programs

• A final product to show all your skills

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There are a lot of awesome things about you. What specific projects do you like? If you were a brand, what would you look like?

Create your own personal brand by:

• Exploring your favorites, like colors, fonts, illustration styles, and layouts

• Applying user experience (UX) design best practices, especially in accessibility

• Creating professional media, like headshots, business cards and logos

• Writing your down your values and sticking to them!

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You don't need to know how to code to make a portfolio website. There are plenty of sites where you can choose pre-made options to fit your needs.

Construct a wonderful digital portfolio website with one of the following:

• Adobe Portfolio

• Canva

• Dribbble

• Google Sites

• SQUARESPACE

• Wix

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Grow with your professional contacts. Today, we are expected to connect digitally on online platforms for professional development and maybe get a job referral! Connect with curriculum developers, instructional designers, learning specialists, and technologists.

Practice daily or weekly professional networking by:

• Making new connections by requesting, following, and messaging a short hello

• Creating professional relevant posts with your new certifications and favorite designs

• Nurturing your current connections to grow with your colleagues

• Joining communities, such as Facebook groups, Slack channels or discord servers

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It is okay to have interview anxiety. Think of a time where things appeared to not be working out and then somehow they did. Know that you got this!

Learn how to interview for ID roles by:

• Adjusting your resume and cover letter to job descriptions

• Using videos or text resources specific to to the field

• Refreshing yourself on interview professionalism

• Develop and practice your answers using the STAR technique

• Consider reducing interview anxiety with some breathing exercises

Examples of transferrable work skills:

• Analyzing training needs = classroom lesson planning

• Key performance indicators (KPIs) = learning objectives and goals

• Learner personas = student personalities and backgrounds

• Assessment results = quiz or exam performance

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It's time to celebrate your goal and work towards becoming an instructional designer!