Transition Tip #2: Run Towards Something

I’ve written about the importance of career focus on LinkedIn, and many experts have as well.

I’m going to back up from your needs assessment and gap analysis to that focus step: So you say you want to be an instructional designer, but do you? Are you excited about it? Or does it just sound like “the most straightforward transition” (I have heard teachers say this line directly, and I have to say I think it’s actually not the most straightforward plan for many educators).

There are tons of things teachers can do.

I personally know teachers who pivoted into:

• Sales (Edtech and others)

• Corporate Training

• Project/Program Management

• Scrum Master

• L&D Coordination

• LMS Administration

• Training Operations

• Customer Success (Edtech and others)

• Edtech Content Writing

• Recruiting

• HR Generalists

• UX Research

• UX Design

• Web Design

• Marketing

• Social Media Management

• Salesforce Administration

• and more!

So, don’t pick “instructional design” because it seems like a good teacher transition. It’s not any “easier” than anything on that list. What’s best for you and what will be easiest for you is the career you want to run towards. Just wanting “something new” isn’t enough to get anywhere new. You have to figure out what new thing you want or this process will be much harder!

Alt Text: Decorative image that shows a dart board. It is zoomed into the bulls eye, where the dart has pinned in a scrap of notebook paper that says “new career”.

Let’s look at a few more misconceptions that may help you better understand Instructional Design and select a focus:

Misconception #1: “L&D or instructional design”

I see a lot of confusion out there on the relationship between Learning and Development (L&D) and Instructional Design. Some people think the terms are the same thing, and others write as though they are 2 separate job titles. In reality, instructional design is a role that often falls within the L&D function of a company, which includes trainers and other roles as well! L&D may be its own department or it may live somewhere else (or be spread across multiple departments), though companies may organize themselves in so many different departmental ways, it’s not worth speculating on.

Think of it as the rectangle and the square: Instructional Design is the square, and every square (ID role) is also a rectangle (L&D role) but not every rectangle (L&D role) is a square (ID role).

Misconception #2: Trainers vs. Instructional Designers

This is very much not “neat” because some corporate trainers, especially in small operations, may also design their own training. They may even be trained IDs. I even know some IDs who have moved back and forth between L&D roles and been trainers, training managers, LMS admin, and all kinds of roles, so we can’t pretend this is always “neat”. Also, as an ID, I have been asked to step in and sub for a trainer in a pinch because I happened to have a background where I could help. It was made very clear it was not actually my role, but it was also appreciated that I could help. IDs and trainers have an interrelated purpose, we work together, and there are sometimes fuzzy lines in any job. BUT generally, anyone seeking an ID job should understand that the day-to-day will usually not involve direct training and work with learners and that training/facilitation is a separate role in most organizations.

A hybrid role with some ID and some training functions can be a great way for teachers to break in, though it can also be a tough role sometimes (a lot of hats) because teachers may have transferrable skills that support both functions!

Alt Text: Decorative image shows a man’s hands on his laptop, which says “eLearning”. He is typing with one hand and has coffee in the other.

Misconception #3: Instructional Design Is About eLearning

Actually, instructional design isn’t about the medium at all, and eLearning is just a medium of training delivery. Not all Instructional Designers focus on eLearning — often, there is a mix-up here. Personally, my team and I are more focused on eLearning, but designing facilitator guides, slide decks, and participant guides for live in-person training is still instructional design (and I have done that a bit too). Some instructional designers spend quite a bit of time working with trainers (train the trainer) on these programs and do absolutely no eLearning design, though you’ll see less jobs with no eLearning at all these days. You absolutely might see a mix though! You also might see eLearning that is widely variant. Though Storyline is the most common tool I see in job ads, I know tons of people who have never had Storyline in their workplace. I know some who don’t use that or any other rapid eLearning authoring tool like Captivate or Lectora yet still create eLearning that is directly in the LMS, through Camtasia, in iSpring, in H5P, etc. There are lots of programs and tools.

Misconception #4: Titles Are Not Neat

This is less a misconception and more a tip to add onto the above: Read the job ad carefully for the duties, what the role actually DOES day in and day out! You can’t always go directly by title (a Training Specialist might do ID, but they might do more coordination or direct training, I have no idea from the title). Titles aren’t neat. I felt like this was not a surprise to me, because what I did as a teacher was so variable from setting to setting, year to year as I moved into different courses or programs, and so different from what people say teachers do/don’t do. I don’t find “teacher” to be a “neat” title either. There are lots of things other people have done that I’ve never needed to do, and there are lots of things people say “teachers don’t do X” that I am taken aback by because… well, I did that, and it seemed normal to me!

Some titles are more clear than others, but in general, you will have to dig into the requirements and get a sense of what you want to do day to day vs. what the jobs you’re seeing need. I won’t even get into the LXD (Learning Experience Designer) vs. ID (Instructional Designer) debate here and if the title difference is meaningful!

Let’s just say: Language is not consistent between separate organizations in L&D, including ID. You’ll have to start reading job ads until they make more and more sense over time — this will happen if you keep at it and learn more about the fields you’re investigating and the roles you think you might like. All the information is out there, and you can find it, but it will take time and there aren’t really any “shortcuts” I would recommend!