3 Worst Pieces of Advice for Aspiring Instructional Designers

I was mindlessly scrolling up and down on LinkedIn when I came across a post with quite a bit of traction. It was from a person with one of LinkedIn’s blue top voice badges, which usually indicates that LinkedIn has recognized a person as a thought leader in their space. The person, who was not an instructional designer, was giving advice to teachers on how to transition and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They weren’t just giving bad advice, but insanely bad. They were things I would never recommend and it’s a reminder that hey, there is a ton of bad advice out there. There is plenty of outdated advice that’s still circling online. Times have changed and the advice needs to be revised to help folks.

From scouring the internet, I came across 3 pieces of advice that are a sure-fire way to be stuck in job transitioning limbo. Let’s go through these, discuss their intentions, and get you down the right path for success.

It’s Easy to Transition

There is no world where it’s easy to transition from one job to another. Anyone who says “it’s easy” has never experienced the massive rollercoaster of emotions with trying to land a new job. I can see the argument that at one point in time, it was easier to transition because of the pandemic and surplus of instructional design jobs. This forever changed the landscape of instructional design. The job market honestly is quite confusing right now. On one hand, LinkedIn published an article that 2 of the hottest jobs in 2024 are instructional design related. On the other hand, jobs aren’t falling out of the sky anymore. The surplus of jobs created the surplus of applicants, therefore, creating less opportunities to interview. On top of this, there have also been massive layoffs from higher education to corporate America, meaning even more candidates are applying for roles.

All of this to say is that it is not easy to transition. Those who did transition worked their butts off to make it happen with upskilling, creating portfolios, practicing interviewing, networking, etc. There is also a significant amount of luck that goes into this. And to be clear, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. The more luck you can create, the better the chances of finding the right job for you.

Only Focus on Authoring Tools

Ah yes, just learn Storyline and you’ll instantly become an instructional designer! Why haven’t I thought of this before. I’m picking on Storyline specifically because this is the one authoring tool that gets mentioned more than any of them, and there are certainly tons of authoring tools out there. Here’s the thing, there is so much more to designing learning experiences than authoring tools. It’s usually the last step in the design process, not the first. Instructional design has existed far before authoring tools.

Look at any of the instructional designers who have been publishing about their work for decades. They aren’t hitting home about the need for authoring tools. They are far more concerned with research, results, performance, learning, project management, and working with stakeholders/SME. Tech has become a valuable ally for us in instructional design land, but you can become an instructional designer without using authoring tools.

But Luke, this job posting calls out Storyline! I get that. And by all means, you can learn how to use this tool through LinkedIn Learning, YouTube, or other ways. I mean, Mark Spermon has 100 videos on how to use Storyline! I won’t discourage you from learning this tool or Rise, 7Taps, Genially, H5P, iSpring, or any of the other popular tools. There is nothing wrong with using authoring tools. Having this skillset is helpful and you should include tech in your portfolio. But here’s the thing, as a hiring manager, I know anyone can learn how to use a tool. Knowing how to design learning for adults, manage complex projects, communicate with stake holders, evaluate results, rethink workflows, research trends, and other similar skills are far more valuable.

The only exception to this, in my opinion, is if you do find an elearning jobs that revolves around authoring tools. And hey, if you love tools and tech and that’s what excites you, those jobs do exist!

You Must Do X to Become an Instructional Designer

There is no “right” way to become an instructional designer. Ask 50 instructional designers how they got to where they are today, and you’ll get 50 different options. This is something that baffles aspiring IDs and hey, I completely get that. But that’s reality. You can either become an instructional designer on a shoestring budget while learning everything on your own time or you can pursue an academic calling and earn your Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate.

The Instructional design field is becoming what the graphic design field used to be like. Let me explain about this for a second. Much like instructional design, graphic design has been around for quite some time. While most people think graphic design is new because of technology and tools, the term was first coined in 1922. Everything changed in the 1950s because of the work of Paul Rand. Paul is the founding father of graphic design in the corporate world and primarily, was self-taught. He developed the logos and branding for companies such as ABC, IBM, Westinghouse, Ford, UPS, and many more. The buzz of graphic design only grew and then this dramatically changed with the 90s and 2000s because of products like Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash. As this field became more popular, more jobs began to flood the market, and wouldn’t you know it, all of these new ways to learn about graphic design popped up.

And this is all that I can think about when learning about instructional design. I have a degree in graphic design, but I know of many amazing graphic designers who never went to school for graphic design or majored in a similar field and switched over. And no, I don’t have a degree in instructional design. Instructional design degrees weren’t a thing when I first heard about instructional design and I pursued my EdD instead. The blend of graphic design and education paved the way for me to become an ID though. And once again, I know of many, many accidental instructional designers. Times have changed and there are far more intentional instructional designers than accidental ones.

This is all to say, that one way does not guarantee success as an ID. If you want to focus on being self-taught, volunteering, creating a rock star portfolio, then go for it. If you want to pursue the academic path instead with a degree, you absolutely can. You also have more options than ever before with individual courses, certificate programs, bootcamps, memberships, and more. You should follow the path that’s best for you.

If you want my exact guide on how to do this, you can read my ebook on my website called so you want to become an instructional designer. That should help to point you in the right direction. And of course, if you have any questions, you can always ping me.

Stay nerdy out there,

Luke

A tremendous thank you to our sponsors! By supporting them, you support this show.