Category Archives: Jobs

My Transition from Training to Elearning Design

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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Image of a tree turning orange for fallRecently, a friend asked me how I transitioned from training to instructional design. In the interest of possibly helping others, I thought I’d share my path here.

1) Starting as both a test prep trainer and a software trainer, I volunteered for ILT curriculum design projects, which led to blended and elearning. Often trainers are tasked with design projects or asked to work with staff IDs.

2) I got a new job managing ILT and elearning projects and grew more interest in doing elearning design and development.

3) I got some formal training and made new connections. ASTD’s E-Learning Instructional Design class was an outstanding place to start. I also looked to the blogosphere for opinion and examples. (Aggregators like eLearning Learning and Alltop can help you find the blogs you like best.)

4) I changed jobs again to do actual ID.

I also highly recommend you find mentors; luckily, the instructional design community is full of people who love to help other people! Diane Elkins and Desiree Ward (who founded the company I now work for) have been mine since I first realized I wanted to become a designer, and I’ve been lucky to make many other connections — mainly through social media — since starting this blog.

I’m sure others have taken other routes and have more suggestions. Any one else care to share their paths and/or tips?

Calling All English Majors

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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So, you went to college and got you some knowledge. If you majored in English (as I did), you are probably sick of people assuming that you 1) won’t be able to get a job, or 2) are going to teach.

I’m here to tell you that there are lots of things you can do. Instructional design may be one of them.

Why you should consider instructional design:

  1. It’s a booming industry.*
  2. You can make cool stuff.
  3. Really? In this economy, with an English degree, you need a third reason?

Why instructional design should consider you:

  1. You can research.
  2. You can write, both instructionally and creatively. Scenarios need plot, dialogue, even drama.
  3. You can edit. Copyediting skills are great and being able to distinguish between essential and peripheral information is better.

At least… I hope you can do those things. :) Happy graduation!

*There is actually no listing for Instruction Designer with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (or Salary.com), but related job outlooks, anecdotal evidence, and training industry trends all bode very well for elearning designers.

Volunteer Opportunity to Build Your eLearning Portfolio

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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A few months ago, I suggested some ideas for building your portfolio if you’re a starting elearning designer or developer, or just in portfolio limbo because all of your work is confidential and/or proprietary.

One of them was to do volunteer work for an organization that is in need of your talents, and yesterday on ASTD’s LinkedIn group, I came across one such volunteer opportunity. The contact (company president Tegan Acree) has told me that they would be open to allowing designers/developers to use the work in their portfolios. They are creating coaching modules for job seekers and Tegan says they can use all the help they can get.

For more information, contact Tegan at tacree@hiringforhope.org and view information about the company on their LinkedIn page.

Building Your Portfolio

Posted on by Judy Unrein
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Great post from The Rapid E-Learning Blog, on why job-seekers should have an elearning portfolio.

rapidelearningblog

Here, thoughts to help get it done…

Ideas. Instructional designers generally don’t create because they get thunderbolts of inspiration; they create because they get assignments. A friend of mine who offered her talents pro bono to a local charity now has a portfolio piece and a great client recommendation.

Also, consider redeveloping old work projects — without proprietary info and with the cool ideas your budget/timeline/boss wouldn’t allow the first time.

Software. You know about educational discounts and trials. If those won’t work, record a PowerPoint presentation that simulates branching or invest in one application that you can use to create several kinds of projects.

If you focus more on design than development anyway, partner with a student/out-of-work multimedia developer. Violà, portfolio pieces for both of you!