Instructional Design: Is it the right career for you?

It has been almost 7 months of working as an instructional designer and I still get excited to work on different projects every day. On top of that, I get to learn more things and explore new skills as I work on these projects. Moreover, I also get to work with and be mentored by a group of passionate and talented learning and development professionals. It is, definitely, a win-win for me. In this article, we will talk more about instructional design as a career path and the different responsibilities of an ID. If you are wondering if instructional design is the right career path, please read on. Hopefully, you will find one or more things to help you decide.

What is Instructional Design?

Instructional design is a promising career because it is a growing field. As more and more organizations invest in the learning and development of their employees, instructional designers are becoming in demand too. Instructional designers have the opportunity to work on various projects, including designing eLearning courses, developing training materials, creating digital games, and more.

How to Become an Instructional Designer?

The path to becoming an instructional designer is not linear. However, there are some basic qualifications that you need to have. These are the following:

– Knowledge of instructional design principles

– Knowledge of instructional design methodologies

– Ability to use various software tools for creating eLearning content

Although some organizations might have a separate team of eLearning developers, it is going to be a great advantage if you are familiar with 1-2 tools such as Articulate Storyline or Adobe Captivate. You might also want to consider creating your instructional design portfolio to showcase your skills.

What are the Responsibilities of Instructional Designers

As mentioned earlier, IDs are responsible for designing, developing and delivering instructional content. They work in close collaboration with the different departments such as human resources, operations, and training.

The responsibilities of an instructional designer include:

– Identifying the learning needs of learners

– Designing instruction to meet these needs

– Developing materials that support the design

– Evaluating the effectiveness of the design and materials

Is Instructional Design the right career for you?

There are probably more factors to consider when it comes to choosing the right career path for you. However, if you are someone who is up to the challenge of redefining learning then instructional design is one of the paths that you should consider. What I love about being an ID is that apart from being able to design the learning experiences through the instructional materials we create, instructional design has also paved the way for me to discover more skills so I can design better materials.

What other instructional design-related questions do you have? Feel free to share these by leaving a comment below.