Part 2: How to find Instructional Design jobs

Part 2: How to find Instructional Design jobs

It actually goes by a bunch of names because the job skills overlap so much. There is a difference between design and development (overly-simplistic example: design is creating lesson plans and storyboards using adult learning theory, while development is creating facilitator guides, eLearning modules, and job aids using software).

However, most of the job descriptions I've read treat the two as interchangeable (even though they're not). Read the job description carefully, but you're looking for job titles like:

training coordinator

L&D assistant

instructional designer

Instructional systems designer

learning designer

training specialist

curriculum developer

eLearning developer

learning experience designer

L&D specialist

Sometimes these roles have different levels of experience required (for example, a training specialist should require less experience than an instructional designer). But read the job description because they actually list the number of years of experience they're looking for, and it varies by company.

Instructional Design jobs are super competitive, and a lot of people apply for the same roles. That being said, you can skip the line in two ways:

1. If a (real!) recruiter contacts you first. Watch out for scams, emails from email addresses that don't match the real company's domain name, and too-good-to-be-true offers. If you're not sure, or if the conversation doesn't feel right, reach out to the real company's HR department and ask them to verify. (One thing to note: I don't know about international hiring, but recruiters recruiting for roles in the US usually do have to ask for your date of birth (month and year) and the last 4 digits of your social. It's legit. Just a heads-up!)

2. If you spot a role on LinkedIn that just opened up, apply and then reach out to whoever posted it with a friendly, professional note to say you applied and are interested, and attach your resume and contact info. You're more likely to get a call back before they're swamped with applications. (Which sounds discouraging, I know, but I believe in you!)

Stay tuned for Part 3: how to get and leverage experience!