Category Archives: Career Development

Instructional Designer Profile – Oma Singh

The field of Instructional Design (ID) is still relatively new and professionals enter this work in a variety of ways. The possible projects, work settings, methods, job titles and descriptions are many. The goal of this planned series of posts is to introduce you to practicing instructional designers so that you can learn more about their perspectives and work.

Meet Oma Singh!

Oma is currently the Assistant Director for Assessment for a faculty support center at a large public university. Oma received her Ph.D. in Instructional Technology with a cognate in Adult Education from the University of South Florida. She has extensive experience and education in the field of Management Information Systems, and has held positions as a computer programmer, instructional designer, and instructor to name a few. Oma believes in putting theory into practice and is committed to lifelong learning and helping others learn through innovative use of technology.

Q: How did you enter the field of instructional design/technology?

A: I wanted to move from a business perspective of technology use to an educational perspective of technology use. I have found that an educational perspective is personally more rewarding for me.

Q: What is the most rewarding part of your work?

A: Actually seeing the course you developed up and running smoothly online. It felt good.

Q: What is the most challenging part of your work?

A: Getting the Subject Matter Experts (SME) to provide accurate content on time. Guiding the SMEs to avoid plagiarism and to keep their content authentic, to the point, and original, while avoiding fluff and fillers. This is especially true for online learning.

Q: What do you wish you knew more about?

A: I would like to learn more about different content development tools.

Q: Are you currently involved in professional development activities?

A: I attend and present at various conferences and teach myself tools that IDs are using currently. I subscribe to instructional design related blogs and journals.

Q: What advice do you have for someone entering the instructional design field?

A: Develop a set of skills that are considered valuable in the instructional design field – going beyond PowerPoint! Subscribe to ID blogs. Download free trials and create your own online course or a mini-course. Create an ePortfolio, putting your examples online, and make it professional for job hunting. Volunteer to develop courses or online interactions for school, home, church, community – anything that will get you some experience. If you are in school, get a part-time ID job!

Q: If you had to name/predict the most important trends for the future, what would they be?

A: More learning interventions that are similar to apps developed for the iPad. More 3D type simulations. Interactive eBooks.

Oma’s responses provide us with a quick look at the work of an instructional designer in higher education administration supporting faculty with the development of online educational experiences. Did any of her responses surprise you? What else would you like to know?

Photo credit: Stock.Xchng

Jobs in Instructional Design and Technology

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Months before finishing graduate school I set up several email search agents on job search/career sites in higher education and industry. That was over three years ago and I never shut them down. While I did find a job after graduation I like seeing what comes up each week. The fields of instructional design and technology are still pretty young, undefined, and evolving. This evolution comes through when you read these announcements over time. Setting up a search agent or alert allows you to set the parameters of the searches to meet your needs: location, salary range, etc. You can also usually add a list of keywords.

Are you looking? Here are a few sites you might want to consider adding to your search:

Instructional Design Central – As promised in the name, a central site for all things instructional design. In addition to a jobs board, this site also provides info on conferences and organizations.
Chronicle of Higher Education – Jobs – For those interested in working specifically in a college or university setting, although there are a few industry and non-profit listings as well.
HigherEdJobs.com – Another good site for college/university positions – user friendly search agent feature.

Professional association job boards:

Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT)
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)
The eLearning Guild – Job Board

Some of the big job search sites – search specifically for instructional design. You can also set up advanced search filters.

If you like Twitter…consider following:

@InstrDesignJobs – This account posts multiple jobs daily. Most seem to be industry focused, but you’ll see other settings, too.

Not looking? Consider setting up a search or two to stay current – know what employers are looking for now in terms of experience, education, and skills. If you are thinking about continuing your education and training, check these posts first to see what is in demand.

Other recommendations? Please let me know your suggestions and I’ll add to the list. By the way, this post was inspired by Deb Ng’s post: 25 Places to Find Social Media Jobs. Interested in the use of social media in education? You might find her list interesting, too.

Photo credit: everything.in.blue, Flickr

Breaking into the Business

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Earlier this week a friend-of-a-friend contacted me with this question:

What are some tips that you have for someone who would like to get experience with curriculum design and development and eventually pursue a position in this field?

This new friend is currently working in student services, has some experience as an instructor, and is taking graduate courses in higher education. My response included the following:

Assemble a portfolio – Establish a website, blog, or use an online portfolio tool (like VisualCV) to collect examples of your work. This could include brief descriptions of the projects you’ve worked on in the past, screenshots of items you’ve designed and/or built, materials you developed when you were an instructor, a writing sample. As you plan and complete your course assignments, do so with your portfolio in mind.

Find your niche – What part of the process do you enjoy the most? What are your strongest skills? Designers and developers often wear a lot of hats – graphic design, technical writing, project management, programming, multimedia, editing, testing. Do you prefer working on face-to-face courses, blended courses, or all online? Do you want to work in higher ed, K-12, industry? From your coursework and previous experience you can probably also list areas where you need more practice.

Seek out opportunities to practice – Instructional designers get better with each project. Are there projects in your area, where you could assist, that would help you gain experience (creating user’s guides, training materials, etc)? Are there opportunities for you to volunteer your design and development services in exchange for the experience and additional portfolio items? For example, another friend is building a website for a community youth organization.

Emphasize related skills – You already have some very valuable experience. Curriculum designers and developers are almost always working as part of a team. Faculty members are usually on that team. Students are the reason for building the courses in the first pace, so your experience working directly with students – as an instructor and as an advisor – gives you a level of familiarity that will be an asset.

Network – Keep talking with professionals in the field and asking questions. Consider joining a professional organization (AECT, AACE, ISTE, ASTD, Sloan-C are a few – but there are a LOT more). Set up a profile on a professional networking system (such as LinkedIn), join instructional design groups, and participate in the discussions.

Look for a position – While you may not be ready to apply, you might be closer than you think. Register for job search ‘alerts’ related to curriculum design and development and read through the vacancy announcements as they arrive via email. What are they looking for in terms of experience, computer skills, etc? These announcements can be helpful in identifying areas where you need practice and items you might include in your portfolio.

What else would you recommend to someone trying to get their first job in instructional design? Other sources of experience or education? Do you think a degree in instructional design is required?

Photo credit: NotMicroButSoft, Flickr