Should you become an Instructional Designer?

In the past five years, I’ve seen a transformation take place. Instructional Design, which about a half decade ago, was a relatively unknown discipline in India, has today transformed into a much sought-after skill. The good news (and the bad news for some,) is that in the context of India, instructional design still remains more of a practical discipline than an academic one. For this reason, the ability to apply the instructional design knowledge is more important than merely knowing the concepts theoretically.

This makes me happy. I have no use for any knowledge that doesn’t help me practically. Instructional design, I feel is a discipline quite like management. It is more valuable when pursued after gaining some experience and matured. It then enables the instructional designer to create content that first interests and then enables the learner. However, learning the discipline first and then gaining the experience too could work – provided you learn it with an application-orientation.

Through this short article, I shall attempt to sketch the profile of an ideal instructional designer. If you are planning for a career in instructional design, and I mean a real, lifetime career – high on growth, satisfaction, and self-esteem; then you should ask yourself the following questions and review the answers.

Do you enjoy writing?
If you enjoy writing, being an instructional designer would be fun, and if you find it fun, you’ll automatically experience faster growth. It is important that you review this parameter carefully. If you don’t like to write, don’t become an instructional designer. Each of us has a dominant skill – you should explore your personality to find yours. In the first four to five years of your career in instructional design and content writing, you’d be expected to turn in about 8-10 pages of original content a day. In some cases, this could be more. Are you ready for it? Reflect.

Do you Consider your English Good?
It is important that you answer this question, if you wish for a career with the eLearning or the content development industry of India. Language skills are important, but in my opinion, they come next to your love for writing. Writing good English is more about expressing your ideas clearly than it is about commas and fullstops! If you love to write, then you’ll find ways and means to improve your writing.

I recently visited an online novel site where an Indian novelist had posted a complete novel – the novel for full of language errors, but the writer’s love for writing was evident. He could easily correct his language issues – written language is a cognitive skill while spoken language is a combination of psychomotor and cognitive skills. If you love to write, spend a couple of months learning to write better – then learn instructional design and get going.

Are you Creative, Logical, or Both?
If you think that your temperament blends creativity and logic, you would make an excellent instructional designer. In fact, after progressing beyond the first five years, you’d be writing less and thinking more. Instructional design requires a framework of logic to ensure effectiveness and some degree of creativity to make the content interesting. However, remember that you don’t need to be as creative as a story-writer nor as logical as a programmer – but you shouldn’t be zero on these parameters either.

Note: If you ask me to choose between creativity and logic, I’d choose logic without giving it another thought.

Do you Like Engaging with People?
If that surprises you, let me explain. An instructional designer or a content writer seldom works alone. He or she interacts with different individuals to ensure effective content creation. The prominent people with whom an instructional designer connects on a regular basis are, the Subject Matter Expert, the graphic designer, the programmer, and at times, the client. Though at the beginning of your career your interactions with these individuals would be minimal; you will have to become comfortable with them in the long run. So, if you are completely averse to meeting new people and conversing with them, but you have scored well on the first three questions, consider becoming a Web Content Writer.

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 on the above parameters, and see where you stand.
If you score well on these parameters, consider yourself a rising star in this field. If you are a fresher with a passion for writing, a willingness to improve your language skills, and have a logical way of thinking – you should seriously think of becoming a content writer or an instructional designer.

I hope this helps you decide. My recommendation is – don’t become an instructional designer with a short-term objective. Check how well your personality matches that of the ideal instructional designer. Remember:

• If you don’t love writing, as an instructional designer you’d be miserable for at least the first five years, and because you would’ve spent those five years being miserable, it’d show up in your work – killing your future prospects.
• If you love to write but are unwilling to improve, certain eLearning companies would employ you for one-third the right salary, and you’d be feeling bad all the time.
• If you are hyper-creative (of the novel-writer kind,) Instructional Design’s need for clear, concise logic will suffocate you, and in the long-run, you’d lose your energy.
• Finally, if you don’t like engaging with people at all, you’ll find many stumbling blocks in your career path. People skills are essential for growth – especially in Instructional Design, because your ability to interact with people positively would have a direct bearing upon the quality of your content.

For those who score well on all the above parameters, Instructional Design could be a rewarding career option. If you think you have it in you, forge ahead – you could end up heading the content division of a content organization in less than 10 years!

I wish you clear-headed, practical decision-making. All the best!

Author: Shafali R. Anand

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