Ideas to kick-Start your Instructional Design Career.
Ideas to kick-Start your Instructional Design Career.
So you’ve made the big decision to pursue instructional design as a career! Once you’ve designed a portfolio, done the initial research and even acquired certification, what is the next big step towards landing the next gig? What next! What would be a natural progression to break the ice? Most novice IDs encounter these questions while waiting to land their dream job. This article gives an initial insight on how to market yourse
lf as a learning and development professional.
Volunteer:
One of the most common options to bridge the gap between education and employment is volunteering. Most non-profit organizations, like LINGOs organized by Global Giveback, Designersforlearning and Keelworks, offer virtual online volunteering opportunities. In addition to bridging the gap in employment, volunteering helps you take on roles and responsibilities which can be an asset to your resume. Onlinevounterring.org and volunteermatch.org recruit volunteers and match them with organizations that need help.
Create Samples and templates:
Another option is to market your talent through DIY samples. Creating templates which can be customized to work for different industries can help create work samples. These can be marketed on freelance websites like Freelancer and Fiverr to earn an extra buck and get you a step closer to your own freelancing business. Not only do you hold the copyright for this work, it is also non-proprietary and can be easily displayed on your portfolio. The Articulate E-Learning Heroes community offers weekly challenges which provide additional inspiration for making independent samples.
Blog, write articles, co-author a book/newsletter:
Creative writing, content writing and technical writing are an inherent part of an instructional designer’s job. Most of us are in this business for the love of writing. Leverage your ability to write by blogging, writing for magazines, co-authoring a book or publishing for a newsletter.
Network:
Network, Network, Network!! I cannot emphasize the importance of networking enough. A great way to leverage your skills is through social media like twitter, linkedin and facebook. The local chapter of ATD is also a great way to meet fellow professionals.
Keep up with trends:
Things constantly change in the field of eLearning and instructional design. Keep yourself abreast with all the current trends and technology in the industry. Joining professional communities, like Articulate E-Learning Heroes, the eLearning Guild and following blogs, not only provides networking opportunities but also helps build an excellent knowledge base. Cathy Moore, Christy Tucker and the e-Learning Coach are excellent blogs to follow.
Freelance Projects:
Lastly, build your experience and diversify with freelancing projects. Freelancer, Fiverr, Upwork, and eLance are great places to find short term gigs.
In a nutshell, the best way to market yourself as an instructional designer is to be consistent in your effort. The eLearning community has a large support system, reach out to as many people as possible. Given the persistence and consistency success is inevitable. Last but not the least enjoy the process!
