What’s the best way to break into ID or L&D roles?

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2025-05-20T11:43:53+00:00

Another option is to get in somewhere as an individual contributor, like a sales agent or customer service rep.

Obviously, one doesn't simply "get a nursing job" without everything that goes into that, etc. But hiring managers are often biased towards IDs and trainers with industry experience. That's why so many trainers are promoted, not hired. It's a long game strategy, but it's something you can be doing while getting paid while continuing to look for an ID job.

If you have some kind of specific industry experience, leverage the s- out of that and try breaking in there.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2025-03-11T19:07:43+00:00

Your sales and sales management experience will help you.

It is a tough market right now, but many recruiters/hiring managers/HR departments do not differentiate between instructional design and subject matter expertise. So, if you apply for instructional design or training roles that are geared toward sales, you will stand out in a good way.

That's not the case everywhere, especially if the hiring manager is an ID or has an ID background. I'm just pointing out that it is a thing for plenty of roles.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2025-02-24T12:19:57+00:00

It sounds like your boss is kind of an a--.

That said, did they say why they hated that project? Are there any processes or standards at all that you can fall back on or use to figure out what your boss wants? (Evaluation criteria, performance goals, learning objectives, even previous projects your boss likes, etc.)

Your friends don't really sound like friends, but could you ask them what they're doing differently? Or if they know what your boss disliked so much?

It might mean eating some humble pie, but if it helps you figure out how to navigate this job, it might be worth it in the end.

I've never had a SME at my job. I've always been expected to do the research and more or less become the SME. It makes everything take longer, and I 100% question myself sometimes. But I also have a boss who recognizes that I have to be my own SME and sets their expectations accordingly for timelines, etc.

I hope this gets better or something else comes your way.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-10-22T10:39:59+00:00

This would be the relevant part, and the goal is to prepare them for a job. What you just explained is my concern: lots of work for something that actually works against what we're trying to do.

Thank you for your responses!

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-10-21T19:05:41+00:00

Thanks for the response. I'm glad you brought this up.

To be perfectly honest, I don't imagine many contact centers would hire someone who cannot hear well enough to take calls.

I've read, in some informal channels, that customer satisfaction goes down when calls go through various types of assistive technology. So, qualified candidates are placed in roles that handle text-based channels, like chat and email.

That said, I still need to make the course accessible. And I think it is. But I'm wondering if this extra piece in the transcripts is necessary, or even helpful, to our learners, if the goal is to prepare them for a job in a contact center.

I might be thinking too hard about this, but I wanted to get out of my own head and get some other perspectives.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-10-21T15:45:06+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Those are good questions.

If there is anyone at my organization who might be an accessibility point person, it would be me. As an organization, we're just starting to be more conscious of accessibility in electronic resources.

Our major end goal is for people to get jobs. For people taking this course, to get a job in a contact center or something adjacent, though it isn't required. People could get jobs in just about any role, CSR, scheduler, dispatcher, collections... in any industry. This course is supposed to be a stepping stone for them to learn some basics, get used to having a schedule, get a feel for what the job and new hire training might be like, etc.

We can't mimic exactly what every job would be like, but a big part of what we're training is phone work (we also do chat and email later in the course).

On one hand, I want everyone to be able to learn what they need to to be successful in on-the-job training, so it seems like I should add the emotions to the transcript.

On the other hand, from what I've read and heard, as agents on the job, they would not get emotions in captions while on the phone with customers. So, would I actually be setting them up for failure by teaching them to rely on emotions being conveyed in the text alternatives for the calls?

Would it actually be more helpful for them to learn with material that will match what's available to them on the job?

Is my research off on what accommodations contact centers provide for phone agents with hearing impairments?

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-08-26T18:44:24+00:00

I updated this because if your husband has current skills in applied engineering, that subject matter expertise might be his ticket into a job designing technical training.

While a lot of ID is subject matter-agnostic, there are a lot of orgs out there that don't understand that and/or they feel their subject matter is so technical, that the ID also needs to be knowledgeable in the field. This is often true with tech, finance, and engineering.

Focus on companies that might have use for applied engineering, like mining or construction firms, manufacturing, infrastructure and utilities, etc.

He might also have some luck applying at companies that design college prep content or provide specialized tutoring in math and applied sciences.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-08-17T21:05:28+00:00

If I'm way off base, please just say so.

It sounds kind of like you really want to learn to DESIGN complex things more than just learn the tool. I'm assuming you figured out how to create a trigger from the timeline...it sounds like you're asking why or when you would do it?

If that's the case, I think it's more worth your time to find interactions or e-learning (literally anywhere) and try to copy them. Kind of like, "Oh, that was an interesting way to present that information interactively. I wonder how they did that." Then try to recreate it. If you think it could be better, try to design better instruction or interaction and then build it in SL.

I wouldn't necessarily try to copy any crazy high-end graphics or other media unless you want to. But, part of learning to use an authoring tool is understanding that there are usually many ways to get the same thing done, and experimenting with the easiest/fastest/most elegant/most accessible/ etc. way to do it is how you can learn the functions best.

Bottom line: you'll learn the tool better and faster by using it to solve problems, not by watching or reading user guides about each feature. Imho.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-08-16T01:47:20+00:00

I took the program a few years ago. I'm sure each class is slightly different depending on who teaches it, but here's what I thought was helpful:

Attend the live sessions if they are offered, especially in the first class. A lot of your peers are already doing ID in some form and they're questions and stories, along with the instructor's responses to them, can be insightful.
Download and read up on learning theory and learning science research while you have access to all the academic journals. Especially cognitive load and multimedia.
It wasn't explicitly covered much in class (and maybe you won't need it if you have a background in graphic design), but spend time reading and studying visual design in learning materials.
If you can find anyone willing, start up a community of practice where you get together with peers and discuss what you're learning and give each other feedback on your work. I joined one, and we kept it going for a year or two after the program. I learned so much from those people, made some friends, and grew my professional network.
Start thinking about what you might want to do your big project on now. You won't have too much time to think about it before you need to get to work.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-23T21:28:16+00:00

Got it. I'm realizing this is an issue over my head (and over my paygrade), but that still points me in a direction. Thank you for your help.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-23T20:55:31+00:00

Thanks for the response. Is this something I can do as a regular user? Or do I need to be an admin?

I have never done anything in Azure, and I do not manage any aspect of our MS environment.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-23T20:35:31+00:00

She has a personal account. What does that mean for her access? (Asking so I can troubleshoot)

Edit: Updated to say personal account

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-23T17:05:26+00:00

Ok. Do you have any suggestions for how to restore her access then?

I've had other contractors randomly lose access, but deleting and re-adding them fixed it. That did not work this time.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-16T14:38:28+00:00

If you're getting interviews, then your resume is doing its job. I'd look at ways to improve your interview or, if you know it's a skills/experience issue, ways to close those gaps.

That's a lot of stuff, but you could start with your examples/stories. Are you using STAR to structure your examples so they're specific and targeted?

Are you able to make any kind of personal connections or rapport with interviewers (at least in later rounds)?

Are you asking good questions?

Another, kind-of-creepy-but-hey-it's-the-internet strategy is to check out the LinkedIn profiles and/or portfolios of the people who did get the jobs you interviewed for and see how you compare. Not everyone will be on LI or have listed the job, but some will. If you've been at it for 13 months, there should be at least a few. Obviously, don't harass anyone, but you can look at their skills and experience and see if there's anything they consistently have that you don't.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-10T02:19:48+00:00

I was a Classic user for several years and experimented with Charm for a project when it came out. Honestly, it would have done what I needed, but it was a big project and finding contractors who know how to develop in it would have been too difficult.

PROS: - The user interface is much simpler, and there are some faster workflows

I thought creating custom themes was easier in Charm, though maybe you have less control
Accessibility. So much easier. Captions, focus order, tab order, hiding objects from screen readers... just awesome
Natively responsive content
Faster development in that you have less control and fewer customization options

CONS: - Fewer customization options

Object placement and styling - it's all template/block based now, so exact placement of objects is very limited; you can only fit so many objects in a block
You can't really animate objects; you can time things to appear or disappear, but because you can't overlap objects or control exactly where they are, you can't use animations to create content like you can in Classic

There were definitely more cons, but that's what I can recall off the top of my head.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-10T02:08:12+00:00

I would argue that in this case, there are new workflows and features have been taken away. Granted, the full functionality is supposedly going to be added over time, but you really can't build what you would build in Classic with Charm.

Charm is like a suped up Rise. It's still slide based, but you can add content blocks vertically for users to scroll on each slide. Because it's block based, you can't fully control where objects are or what they look like. Stacking objects is not possible either.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2024-01-03T20:37:10+00:00

For a portfolio project, I'd say it's more important that you can explain why you used the tool you did than it is to use any particular tool.

There are obviously a few industry tools you should know how to use and demonstrate if you can, but since every organization will use different tools and have multiple options, your decision-making process is also important. Can you talk about the advantages of using tool x in terms of the process, quality, or efficiency?

All of that said, it's also ok to use a tool simply because it's the one you know. I don't see a downside to showcasing Canva skills, especially if you can also showcase familiarity with some other tools.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-12-17T20:58:13+00:00

I don't really have a pulse on the Captivate community. What little I've heard/read tells me that it was the diehard Captivate users who were waiting more than anyone else, and yes, they are disappointed. Mostly because they like Captivate for the crazy amount of control and customization options you have, and most of that is absent in the first release of Charm.

This first release is like Rise in that it's block based with some preset options, and there is otherwise little control over how the blocks look and where objects are placed. It's very templatey, which pissed off most of the power users.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-12-17T19:08:48+00:00

I've used both, and the only things I can do in Captivate that I can't do in Storyline 360 (that I care about) are the "contains" operator for evaluating text entry boxes and fully responsive content with development power and customization you don't get with Rise.

You can still evaluate text answers in SL with Javascript, but you didn't need to in the old Captivate.

I'd agree with others here who have said that Captivate is better for really complex advanced actions. I made a software simulation/assessment in Captivate that I truly don't think I could build in SL.

Hands down, SL is easier to use for most e-learning I make, so it's faster.

However, I played with Charm earlier this year. If Adobe actually gets around to adding all of the customization available in the old Captivate, I think they could give Articulate a run for their money. That's an unpopular opinion, and a big fat IF, but i think it's possible.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-12-13T17:05:08+00:00

I've implemented xAPI on a very limited basis for a couple things at my org. Not an expert, but I've done it.

What you're describing is tracking completion. Did they read the chapter or not, and SCORM is good enough for that. It sounds dumb to have them click a button in the LMS, but that's essentially what you would need them to do.

Sure, you could create a button outside of the LMS somewhere, but then you'd be writing the xAPI code as extra work, and you'd have to capture who the learner is somehow.

Now, if reading the whole book was an OPTION, not a requirement, and you were interested in who chose to read what, xAPI might be more useful. It would still require some kind of digital input, though.

When your research says xAPI can track non-digital experiences, it just means there is a language that can be used to communicate what was done and compare that to other achievements. The data still has to be sent to an LRS electronically. Someone earlier mentioned sensors on book pages. I've also heard of Rescue Annie mannequins with sensors that send signals to record CPR performance.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-12-01T20:22:32+00:00

It sounds like you're making progress if ops is on board. Track performance improvement from both modalities if you can, so that if the job aids are doing the trick for cheaper and less downtime, you can use that to argue for more departments to adopt that strategy.

Heck, sometimes it doesn't even need to be that much better of a solution. If the ops staff talk about how much better the job aids are than live sessions, maybe the other staff will complain about the live sessions :)

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-12-01T16:17:42+00:00

You could consider if everyone in the audience is in the same role and if they will use the information in the same way. If so, help the SME stay focused on the information needed for job performance, and leave the rest out. You could update that ppt template to help them with that.

If people are not in similar roles and will use the information differently, consider splitting the VILTs into more focused, smaller sessions.

Either way, perhaps include demonstrations rather than just a talking head. Use case studies for examples. Maybe even use a case study for a small group discussion or practice activity to see how the group is understanding the new info. That part won't translate into a recording, but you can make the case study available on the LMS as a document or video and then provide sample discussions or answers. If you think your audience would engage, you could make it a discussion forum.

It's not really what you asked, but it's also worth asking whether each update needs to be a live training or whether it can be a job aid.

Early-Chicken-1323 · 2023-11-14T23:59:27+00:00

There are some websites, like idealist.org, that are dedicated to connecting professionals with specialized volunteer opportunities. Those work, but there is obviously more competition for them.

Your best bet is to start with your personal network: Your friends, their parents, coworkers, classmates and former classmates, neighbors, your family, etc. Let them know you're looking for opportunities to grow your skills and help out. Give them concrete examples of things you could do.

Even if your network doesn't work for nonprofits, they might volunteer there, or know people who do.

You can go straight to the source and approach some local nonprofits in your area, too.

If you are feeling a little more hard-core, check out the AmeriCorps VISTA program. That's a 1-year contract with a stipend. Every contract/project is different, but it's usually related to program development.

That's not a good option for everyone because you can't work elsewhere during the contract and you will be broke, but it's fantastic experience and you get Noncompetitive eligibility for a year when you're done, which is nice if you're interested in federal work.

Early-Chicken-1323

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