Part 1: Transitioning from a classroom to a corporate meeting room
Attractive salaries, friendly hours, and interesting colleagues — these are just a few of the perks of moving from the teaching slog to corporate life in either L&D or Education Services. However, take heed. Your inherent altruism, and idealistic vision for education will be at risk, so weigh your options carefully as you evolve your career. There are many rewards to making this switch, but some things about traditional teaching can never be replaced in the corporate workplace.
When I finished my advanced degree in 2012, I had spent five years in front of freshman and sophomore college students as both a sole instructor and a graduate teaching assistant. My favorite aspects of teaching were:
- Getting to know different students from varied populations
- Learning about student motivations and interests
- Learning more about my field during prep
- Gaining daily insight into learning behaviors through the practice of teaching
- Considering creative alternatives to traditional pencil/paper exams to evaluate learning
Of course, like any teacher, I have a list of “unfavorite” bullet points from teaching. The ratio of pay to invested hours was most salient for me, particularly when it came to grading.
I applied to several jobs online and thanks to my technical skills from previous jobs, I landed an interview with a software company near my home. The position was to support their curriculum. The official role was “Curriculum Developer.” I would not be teaching, but I would be writing.
I applied to that company because the core values of the company, not the domain area, spoke to me.
This is an important tip — just as you would research a school where you might teach, research the company, including its culture, its leadership, and get familiar with employee postings on LinkedIn to see if you might be a good fit.
Luck continued to be on my side in that the team liked me and I had the technical prowess to pass their screening interview, as well as the in-person interviews and coding exercise.
But enough about me. I want to really get to the guts of this transition for anyone reading this article.
- What job title should I be considering as I make this switch?
This depends on what your teaching focus is or was. If you were, for example, teaching grade school and have limited technical experience (you preferred to call the HelpDesk before trying to fix it yourself, for example), then consider applying for roles in HR and L&D (Learning and Development). These roles often require a degree in psychology, teaching, social science, or humanities. Here are a few job titles that might be a good match:
L & D Instructional Designer, eLearning Developer, Presentation Designer, Learning Solutions Consultant
If you have a specific skill set or domain knowledge, or a degree in a science or technical discipline (in my case, this was true), then your opportunities may broaden more. You can apply for positions in technical training, or even apply to be a trainer. Here are a few more titles, in addition to those above, that might be worth pursuing:
Learning Experience Designer, Technical Trainer, Curriculum Developer
If you want to be in front of students, then apply for trainer positions. If you are ok not interfacing with students and people as much, then opt for the content writing. Some positions ask you to do both. Choose based on what you are interested in, if you have that luxury.
2. What do I need to know to be successful as an instructional designer?
To start, you must be able to write well, research and document efficiently, run action-oriented meetings, and working meetings. You also need great people skills, because you will have to extract information from people. You have to be the kind of person whom people trust and want to talk to.
Additionally, I recommend learning how to storyboard and how to apply graphic design principles to content. Be sure to review the principles of adult learning, including ADDIE, SAM, and Bloom’s Taxonomy (applicable to all learning). It is good to have the following samples available for potential employers to review: a storyboard, a writing sample, a summary of your approach to developing content, and original multimedia assets, if you have them. Finally, focus on what you know, and what you would like to learn in the future. Demonstrating that you are articulate and curious can go a long way when it comes to entering corporate learning.
Some tips about important tools to try out, perhaps with trial versions include Articulate Storyline, Articulate Rise, WellSaid (audio), Camtasia, Captivate, Adobe Illustrator, G-Suite, MS PowerPoint. I would also throw in a few design tools such as Miro and Figma. Additionally, get familiar with Agile processes, and project management tools such as Coda, or Trello. Larger companies may have a project management tool in place already. Finally, learn a little bit about these fun acronyms: LMS, CMS, SCORM, YOY, ARR, ROI.
Question 3: Do I need to create a portfolio?
Yes. Asking for a recent sample of work is very common among potential employers. You should be able to answer questions about the decisions you made and why, and how long it took you to complete. Be prepared to share challenges and successes you encountered during the project. This is probably one of the biggest shocks you will have during the transition. You will be evaluated based on speed frequently, not quality. Remember that.
Question 4: How can I get an interview?
I am going to be honest with you: luck does play a role when it comes to landing an interview. Let’s assume you have luck on your side. Here are a few actionable steps about how to land an interview.
- Have a portfolio online and accessible from your LinkedIn profile — you may have to invest a little bit of money to have something reliable, but it is worth it. I use this product. You can also try WordPress!
- Research companies including their values and leadership, and find good matches.
- Write a clear goal statement and have an elevator pitch (< 1 minute) of what you want to do at the company.
- Join a professional society such as CustomerEducation.org, ATD, or the eLearningGuild to connect with other instructional designers.
Finally, there is a handbook out there, courtesy of eLearning Industry, if you’d like to read more. To be honest, it is more glossy than what I have written here, and it is harder to get (you need a work email to get it!).
Resource List/Links: PortfolioBox, WordPress, Instructional Design Basics, Miro, Figma, Graphic Design
