Instructional Designer Job and How to Find It

Hiring a contract instructional designer or hiring a full-time employee is an issue that learning leaders think about every time a new training need arises.

Additionally, when you hire full-time specialists, you have a team member who has the ability to assist with multiple projects and provide assistance when needed, and ensures that the team cohesion with someone from the organization who works with the same team regularly.

But in situations where you have a major training initiative and need to implement it quickly with a specialist expert, having a contracted instructional designer may be the best solution.

If you are unable to get budgetary approval to bring in a new person working full time at your company, then relying on an outside designer is also a good option. And if you are trying to implement a one-time training program that requires subject matter expertise, which may be beyond the capacity of your in-house team, a consultant may be the solution.

Changes happen all the time, and when you need the flexibility to expand and get started quickly without wasting time and money, working with a learning professional is the best option.

How to find the right educational designer?

Finding the best instructional designer to match your organization's culture, size, industry, and unique needs isn't always easy; When hiring for this role, your internal team needs to understand the nuances involved in the job, and this isn't always possible when the human resources team is busy finding the right employee.

The hiring manager or learning team leaders also need to know what the new instructional designer will do for the project, what key skills are required, and sometimes, it is not easy to dismiss the less qualified during a job interview.

Working with an external training company with experience in the hiring world can greatly assist in your search; Not only can they find the right person, but they usually have a great network that you can take advantage of with one simple point of contact. Moreover, after qualifying the new employee, you don't have to worry about the administrative or qualifying costs involved in hiring full-time employees, which is something to think about.

What is the job of an instructional designer?

After hiring a contracted instructional designer, it's time to ensure that you get exactly what you should expect. Although it is appropriate to note that your instructional designer designs the instructional materials required for your learning initiative, they do much more than that. A good designer helps employees learn more and develop their abilities by helping them understand all the materials and resources that are part of a learning initiative:

• If you find the right person when hiring a contracted instructional designer, they will become an integral part of your learning team. Starting from the first step, they will be able to make a complete training needs assessment for your current training requirements, identify your employees skills gaps and knowledge issues, and through this important process, you will be able to gain important insight into the real problems that the learning process will address.
• If you need a new or powerful electronic-learning tool when it comes to learning and development for your company, an instructional designer can do that too. However, if the goal is to implement micro-learning for an upcoming initiative, and the learners are all uncomfortable with the idea of using technology. This wouldn't be the best option for you.
• The instructional designer will be able to quickly evaluate and recommend another method that is more suitable for learners. Identifying learners and providing real-world experiences through the overall learning experience is essential, and effective learning will depend on the designer's ability to bring it all together.
• The instructional designer will clearly identify your learners and their needs. If you are going to deal with the sales promotion process, think about the timelines for the teams that will need training. If you have to stop the sales team for long-term in-class training, a short in-class training program supported by electronic-learning might be the most appropriate option. These are all aspects that your designer will be able to advise on.
• Then comes the actual training program. The designer will determine what is in your content and how the training will be delivered. The task of the instructional designer is to identify the learners, their learning styles, and the general content that suits them. Hence, they can design the best integration program and the best results.

• Because the right employee is the expert who specializes in the subject of training, learning leaders can take a break while designers focus on delivering training in the best possible way. Whether it's in the classroom or a mixed presentation process - between traditional and electronic methods - or rigorous e-learning, a contracted instructional designer ensures that it is the best option for achieving learning goals.

In conclusion:

After selecting the most appropriate option, a clear process is implemented and ensures that all relevant stakeholders are part of the communication process in the design process. This helps many organizations overcome the fear associated with hiring contract employees.

The final part of the instructional design process involves observing learners through course materials and experiments and tracking their ideas about the course. Evaluating learners' understanding and ability to memorize after a learning event is an important part of the job.