How to Not Give Up on the Instructional Design Job Search

From scrolling up and down on LinkedIn and Facebook, I have seen many of you newbies coming into the field expressing about how difficult the job searching process is wearing on your mental well-being. First and foremost, let me say that your feelings are valid and I see you and hear you. It took me years to become an instructional designer. Years. The state of instructional design job opportunities were much different back in 2013 compared to every company looking to hire an ID now a days. This doesn’t mean that it’s easier now, it just presents new challenges and a different level of competition. But reading so many posts about this level of frustration instantly sets me back to when I first started my own instructional design journey.

At the time, I worked at SNHU in their online division. There were roughly 40-50 people when I first started and I used this time to introduce myself to as many people as I could. I would bounce from cubicle to cubicle to say hi to different people every day and to learn a little bit more about what everyone did within an online university. This was how a conversation with one friend changed everything for me when he said that he was an instructional designer. “What the heck is instructional design?” I said. I always thought the professors made the online courses, but no, there was a team of dedicated learning nerds working behind the scenes. Talking with this friend of mine always gave me a jolt of energy. The fact that he got to collaborate with others and solve puzzles through education for a living was something I could never imagine.

There was, of course, one major hurdle I faced almost 10 years ago. How exactly does one become an ID? Every instructional designer I talked to said they fell into the role by accident. Everyone I talked to had wildly different backgrounds ranging from education to vendor management to PhDs in English. It was almost unheard of (at least for me at this time) to find someone who went to school for a degree in instructional design and had a clear path towards being an ID in higher education. The degrees that did exist online didn’t seem that flexible or the costs just didn’t make sense. Turning to Google didn’t really lead to any other alternatives so I had to figure it out by myself.

As you can imagine, this didn’t lead to a successful journey. Keep in mind too that the 24-year-old Luke is much different compared to the 34-year-old Luke that you’ve come to know. I was inexperienced and didn’t have a clue about how to present my current skill set or even be able to identify what my skill set was. It was a blend of graphic design, marketing, sales, and academic advising. At the time, none of those screamed instructional design, but I saw countless other academic advisors becoming IDs so I thought, why not me? I wasn’t entirely off base, but I kept finding myself making it to the first or second rounds and then getting eliminated. Then came the usual feedback in that someone with more experience beat me out. I believed them when they told me this, but it didn’t make it any easier seeing them in the hallways and thinking there goes another person who didn’t believe in me. After the 9th time or so of going through the motions, and getting another rejection email, I quit. I had enough. I wasn’t meant to be an ID.

After months, I picked myself back off the ground and did find a team within the university that wanted to use my skills. It took forever, but through trial and error, conversations, reading books, professional and personal development, and other tactics, I did land an ID role. All of this long story is to say that I’ve been where you are and I wish I created a better plan for myself. So, in theory, if I could do this all over again, what would I do differently to save myself from the agony of being rejected constantly? This is what I’d do:

✅ Design a Plan and Work Your Way Backwards

You know I talk a lot about backward design and it’s for a good reason. This model doesn’t just apply to developing trainings, courses, and programs. You can apply the lessons to learning any kind of skill. After all, what are the backward design principles? You first start with identifying the problems and what goals you are striving for. Then, you work your way backwards towards figuring out how you need to see in order to say that you are successfully on track. From there, you create ways to practice to build up your self-confidence and make mistakes. Finally, you immerse yourself in the right content. That’s really all there is to it. Designing a plan can be your focal point to refer back to if you face doubt or wondering if you are doing the right thing. Make this plan visible for you to see. Place it in your office, your bathroom mirror, wherever. The aim of this is to make tasks less daunting. Seeing a goal from a 50,000 ft view is scary and overwhelming. Seeing things broken down step by step, piece by piece makes it attainable.

If you are entirely new to backwards design by the way, I do have a mini course on backwards design.

🎉 Celebrate Every Win

Doesn’t matter how big or small. Every time you do something awesome, celebrate the life out of that accomplishment. Your definition of celebration could be different from mine too. Maybe you order doordash or go out to dinner with your significant other. Maybe you simply call your best friend, mom, dad, siblings, kids, colleagues, whoever. The point is to talk about what you are doing and how you are taking another step forward. By speaking about your wins out loud, you will build more momentum towards the goal. So ride that wave and keep on crushing your goals all the way until you cross the finish line.

🗣 Network Every week

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, relationships are everything. Connecting with others leads to learning, bonding, and opportunities. There is a saying in networking that mentions to dig the well before you’re thirsty. This means that having a strong community you can rely on will pay off leaps and bounds in the future. I would try to set up as many virtual coffee chats as you can with folks via Linkedin and Facebook and understand what they are going through. What’s their typical day like? What problems are they facing? If there is ever an opportunity for you to assist in this process, it will make you look reliable and can become a go-to person. The other huge part about networking is you should be connecting with instructional designers on LinkedIn. The reason being is because instructional designers post instructional design positions. They are the first to know if their team is hiring and if you come to mind, they could be reaching out to you about the opportunity. Networking is a long-term game, but with creating real relationships, you are setting yourself up for success in the future.

📕 Read With Purpose and Then Take Action

If you find yourself consuming book after book and then struggling with being able to recall anything, then this bullet point is for you. If you are like me, you don’t have free time. It simply does not exist. So when you do find that one magical uninterrupted hour, you’ll read as much of a book as you can. The problem is, you won’t retain nearly as much information as you think. You can only consume so much at one time. Try this instead: read a chapter, write down a summary, and then go apply those takeaways. This is especially common in design books and you’ll see to-do lists and exercises at the end of each chapter. In What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an Instructional Designer, I created practice questions and reflections at the end of each chapter for this very reason. I wanted you to read about the information and then go apply it to help with retention. If these types of exercises aren’t at the end of the book, then create a summary, and think about where you could apply the lessons immediately. It’s basically like going back to highschool where you had to write a book report and then go present it to the class. If you can still remember creating presentations for To Kill a Mockingbird or The Catcher in the Rye, this is why. So read with purpose and go take action.

👥 Form a Mastermind

Human beings are social creatures. We learn from others. That’s why you are currently listening to me talk right now. So doesn’t it make sense to create groups to learn from one anothers’ stories and experiences? Yes, it sure does! You should create a mastermind to help you with studying and working together. You can share your wins and your losses. You can ask for new ideas if you get stuck. You are far more likely to hit your goals when you have a group that can hold you accountable. This is how I hit so many of my goals. I have a mastermind for basically anything in my life. I use these groups to check in with them, give them updates, ask for tips, and figure out how to get better each week.

Now you might be saying, sounds great Luke but have you tried making friends as an adult? It’s really hard and yes, I understand. So here are two places to meet awesome people.

1. I would highly suggest joining our instructional design group on Facebook and you can certainly post in there asking if anyone would like to form a mastermind. The link will be in the description below.

2. You can go on LinkedIn and make a post asking if other instructional designers will join you and you can use hashtags like #instructionaldesign and #mastermind to generate the right attention. Feel free to tag me if that helps to get the conversation going!

Collaborating with others on similar goals will 100% make a difference for you.

For my last and final tip folks, remember that good things come to those who wait and work hard. Keep on giving it your all and your efforts will pay off over time.

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