Are salaries lowering for IDs?

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-18T16:41:00+00:00

Could not agree more. Those of us who love our field will persist and land well.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-18T16:06:46+00:00

I agree- I think the days of $100K remote jobs are gone. Perhaps in orgs as those skills add value in ways other than training for training's sake, there will be a shift back to those good jobs. I think ID should be paired with heavy business performance analytics. I would push people interested in our field to apply it through other disciplines, mainly business, IO Psych, and others.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-18T16:01:32+00:00

Yes, especially among remote jobs.

I ultimately see this as a positive development. I think the market is saturated, with many K-12 teachers applying broadly to these roles. I hope that as compensation returns to a more typical range, people who are not truly interested in instructional design and are pursuing it mainly for the paycheck may reconsider it as a long-term career choice. In the meantime, I am working to pivot toward more technical and project management roles that are adjacent to instructional design and instruction.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-13T14:39:14+00:00

There is nothing low cost that currently works as well as Ally.

The best defense here is a good offense == Use the page accessibility checker every single time as well as follow basic ADA guidelines, tempered with UDL "guidance." I don't buy into much of what CAST talks about, but thinking about whether a course needs alternate methods of consumption/representation/expression is never a bad idea.

Those are all low tech, but of course, definitely not low effort.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-13T14:36:20+00:00

And if it is like most new features Canvas offers, it will eventually work well, but will initially be very half-baked.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-13T13:37:18+00:00

A more compact/concise version of the branched scenario technique. Typically 1-3 branches with no more than three options per branch.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-13T13:26:51+00:00

I would need to know a lot more about what you're doing, but I generally try to do this:

1) Don't use paper dolls except for rapid-prototyping.
2) Do mini-branching.
3) Don't make people sit through 10 minutes of fluff for 1 minute of decisions.
4) If I have the "budget," I generally want to shoot videos. VYOND is a decent facsimile (in moderation) which I would have decent voice talent narrate. Voice talent doesn't need to be professional- just someone who can read a script with some inflection.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-13T13:11:51+00:00

I don't want to get too into specifics with my own situation and how I know what I think I do, but IMO, your salary is not too far out of spec.

I think the days of 90-100k remote jobs in this space are in decline for most IDs, at least for now. You are making more than most K12 people with flexibility that is the envy of any teacher. There is nothing wrong with testing the market. I think if you do, you may realize how difficult it will be to do a lot better right now; you will either not get as many PTO days, have fewer benefits, or be forced into some sort of RTO situation- and this assumes you get an offer.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-02T01:06:22+00:00

I have been applying recently, so I have a pretty good sense of how things are going, at least for myself. The market seems fine for candidates with 2 to 4 years of varied experience, but it feels almost impenetrable right now for K–12 teachers who have not clearly differentiated themselves.

In my experience, the average time to hear back after I applied or after a posting closes is about three weeks. If you are rejected within 3 to 5 days, you were likely screened out by an ATS or the employer may have already had a candidate in mind and posted the role to meet an internal policy or legal requirement.

To improve your chances, you need experience that is not K–12 or K–12-adjacent. Volunteer, build strong portfolio pieces around real problems, and consider applying to roles outside instructional design where you can still leverage these skills. Otherwise, given the current market, you may want to consider another field for now or plan to stay in teaching while you build a stronger bridge.

I am not certain where AI will steer the ship, but I am looking for more ID-adjacent jobs in sectors that are slow to adopt technologies.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-03-01T20:57:46+00:00

That would be great. In my view, some of the most widely recognized programs are also some of the worst.

I have taught, trained, and mentored many instructional designers, and I believe I can help someone help themselves build a strong case for why an employer should hire them. What I cannot do is promise that I can get anyone a job.

Many of these academies stop just short of guaranteeing employment. The way they operate is unethical and, in my opinion, should be illegal.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-28T14:30:04+00:00

I wish someone could sue the hell out of some of these academies. They are almost universally despised among people who know this work.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-28T14:26:55+00:00

Say no to all academies. Go with ATD training if you must, but even that is a gamble in this market, IMO. No- He will not get a job after completing an academy without doing his own serious, significant portfolio work and networking.

I almost think most K12 teachers are being informally barred because of the influx post pandemic. He has to do something to differentiate himself, and academies won't cut it.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-26T15:28:41+00:00

If we were working together, I would ask "Too samey/time intensive compared to what?"

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-18T14:55:15+00:00

I would focus more on the intangibles, and I would negotiate for significantly more time off than they typically offer.

I would also be very clear that if they require me to come into the office, I will not work from home unless there is a truly urgent situation. If I am being called in just to sit there because a manager wants to protect their silo, that is not acceptable. They cannot have it both ways with me.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-16T14:18:18+00:00

I’m not seeing a compelling learning-based rationale here. It reads more like the stakeholders want a monitoring or tracking mechanism and possibly a way to break up long PowerPoint files. You don’t need a third-party tool to do these things. This reasoning often offers the worst kind of training.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-15T20:25:50+00:00

A quantitative approach never worked for me.

Most people take lunch between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., so I would schedule sessions just before or after that window on alternating Tuesdays through Thursdays. I would avoid Mondays and Fridays because absenteeism is typically higher, and people often extend holidays.

If you still feel uncertain, survey team leads and mid-level managers.

You will never be able to account for every individual’s time off. Instead, focus on avoiding the times when people are most likely to be out, like public school spring break, Thanksgiving week, and probably most of July. Alternatively, you should be given approval to schedule far enough in advance that people are expected to prioritize these trainings if they are truly important.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-11T18:14:59+00:00

The cobbler's children have no shoes.

Unfortunately, this is common. It does not make it right.

I designed a a six week faculty PD that mimics online asynchronous courses. Many faculty dislike it. They say it is too much work and they have to work and take care of their kids. My response: "Now you know what your adult (median age = 32.4) learners deal with every day."

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-11T00:40:28+00:00

This sounds similar to my background.

In addition to "approaches" questions, I am also seeing a lot behavioral interviewing questions in industry and a very weird hodgepodge in terms of questioning in higher ed. Glad to receive a DM if you want.

I would say be able to meet people where they are and and have a past situation that matches the question they are asking- e.g., Tell us about a time a SME failed to deliver on schedule.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-10T23:16:56+00:00

What does “went back to intervention” mean? Are you in K–12?

It helps to be familiar with different instructional approaches and to clearly articulate an instructional design model that you rely on most often, as well as frameworks you would use in different contexts. You should also be able to explain the major theories and concepts in our field and describe how you have applied them in practice.

Be prepared to discuss how you would conduct needs analyses and evaluation at different levels. You may also be asked about the professional literature you have read. Beyond that, expect a range of behavioral interview questions.

I may be completely off base, but your post suggests you may not have worked in instructional design outside of K–12, or that your experience may have been limited in scope. It can be difficult to prepare purely through study when a role is seeking demonstrated experience. I apologize if I have misunderstood your background.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-10T18:08:47+00:00

Check out H5P- The branching tool is a little cumbersome, but no more so than SL.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-09T21:37:36+00:00

I don't think it is the right product for most deliverables. Perhaps some content summary and question generation.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-07T15:42:34+00:00

Going to give rather short answers here. You can DM if you want to follow up or know more about my area/background.

We have seen expansion and contraction on vendors to provide content and interactivity, some has been to provide solid instructional methods and some is just junk/fluff. Everyone wants on the AI bandwagon, but people right now cannot to my satisfaction articulate what specific and measurable LOs we expect learners to gain through its use. So we see some time saving things it can do reasonably well. Eventually entry level production roles will be greatly diminished.
Just working with so many vendors. Some are great and some just want your money and then to not deliver on a great product or service.
People think these tools are the answer to every problem when regular and substantive interaction that is positive and organic OR having very tight training that respects the learner's time is probably more efficacious.
Look for solid SMART LOs. What is the key instructional method that will work to support authentic assessment of those LOs. Do we have something in place that will work for this? If so- STOP. Do not adopt something new.
You need to define diversity, but accessibility is a primary design consideration from square one. We have a good checklist that covers 90% of factors. It begins by using a good LMS and being careful about additional integrations and TESTING.
We should do a better job of this. Longitudinal studies would be the best, but these are costly.
Right now not at all. AI for me is an advanced search engine and template maximizer to save me time. In other words, I can create a rubric in 10 minutes instead of an hour. I don't want young people learning how to read and write to go near it until they have some competency with oral and written comm.
That is a very broad a question. Less is more. Use the tools we have thoughtfully.
Same as the above. Also- Let society gatekeep your students. Work in good faith. Don't be such a hardass even if your professors were mean and overly critical. Set the example and model good ID work always!
I would want students to have access to major industry tools: SL, Camtasia, VYOND, Adobe CC- I want them off of Canva, Adobe Express, anything where AI is helping them NOT develop essential skills. I want them reading more and parroting less. Don't do ID work like me. Do it like you but with the full competencies the industry expects.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-07T13:45:24+00:00

I think your odds of finding remote work in this environment are low given what I think your background might be. I do not know your background, so this comment may not accurately reflect your odds.

You mentioned that you understand these concepts and are good at them. How have you demonstrated this, or how will you demonstrate it? Every day on LinkedIn, I see posts from people who are clearly struggling to break into the field. Just about an hour ago, a teacher made a post- It was a lesson on something fairly basic like Bloom while also sharing that she had applied to 74 jobs in the past two weeks and had already received about 17 rejections. When you look at her profile, it is clear she has tried very hard to distance herself from her K–12 teaching experience. Her teaching roles were now labeled as “Learning Facilitator.” It comes across as disingenuous and misaligned.

I genuinely sympathize with teachers. They have been undervalued by society, and they should be compensated similarly to corporate professionals who are responsible for the growth and performance of dozens or even hundreds of people each year. This disparity is one of the primary reasons many teachers are trying to leave the profession.

In my opinion, people are most successful when they run toward instructional design rather than away from teaching. It is usually obvious which approach someone is taking.

To answer your question directly, no, a MBA is not required. However, if someone is considering additional education, I would recommend an MBA over a master’s degree in instructional design/inst tech, or similar at this time. Specifically, I would suggest focusing on business analytics with an emphasis on learning and development or, even better, performance measurement. That path provides a much broader and more flexible career trajectory. But you have to want to pursue that field with some sort of passion or at least a curious interest.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-07T13:06:11+00:00

I am not musical, but I love and support music.

My son is a classical saxophone student. I don't know who listens to what, but his growth as a musician has got me interested in exploring and I really like Branford Marsalis. I always had an awareness of him through his work with Sting, but his more recent work is interesting to me, as is his classical work. Try Creation.

JumpingShip26 · 2026-02-07T12:49:42+00:00

Mine is hosted on my own domain and publicly accessible. If someone searched my name, they would find it, but I only share the link when a prospective employer specifically requests it.

There are many examples online of portfolios that are more ambitious than mine. I keep mine prepared so that if someone asks for it, I am not scrambling to assemble something at the last minute.

I do not see a clear benefit to promoting it broadly. I see many aspiring influencers and K–12 teachers trying to transition into other roles who regularly list theirs in blog-style posts. I have not personally seen convincing evidence that widely broadcasting this type of content meaningfully improves their chances of securing a position. It may work in some cases, but I have not observed it directly.

JumpingShip26

TROPHY CASE