Guidelines to Hiring the Right Instructional Designer

First, let’s define the role and some of the typical responsibilities of an Instructional Designer:

An Instructional Designer is responsible for consulting with identified stakeholders to conduct learning needs analysis for an identified target audience, complete low/high and detail level design documents to address knowledge and/or performance gaps, and to develop training materials to support learning that will foster accelerated change, drive improved performance and enable more effective decision making.

Typical Responsibilities Could Include:

• Managing the total learning experience by partnering closely to develop and deploy learning strategies and initiatives that support the accomplishment of the business unit’s goals and objectives

• Assessing the internal clients training needs and identifying corresponding performance gaps

• Developing training solutions that support the client’s strategic goals and leverages appropriate resources to design and implement the strategies

• Consulting and coaching senior leaders on learning applications. Uses systematic thinking to connect all components of learning and performance management

• Developing strategies, full program curriculums, learning architectures, learning plans and competencies

• Developing learning that offers more strategic solutions to a wide range of issues that are broad in scope and require regular use of ingenuity and creativity

• Evaluating the impact of recommended solutions

• Provides a toolkit of methodologies, tools, templates for client adaptability

Second, let’s define the experience you are looking for:

• Previous experience working with your line of business

• In-depth knowledge in subject matter

• Advanced Industry Accreditation

• Advanced level proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite – where the tools were used to develop/design content

• Proven experience developing learning strategies, full program curriculums and learning plans

• Designed modules previously for senior level employees

• Graduate Level Degree or Instructional Design Certification Equivalent

• Additional certifications/experience such as ISO or Six Sigma

• Direct and indirect people management

Thirdly, these tools will be important for an Instructional Designer to be able to work with or own if they are contractor:

• Captivate

• Camtasia

• Lectora

• Articulate Storyline

• Articulate Studio

• RoboHelp

• Adobe Connect

• WebEx

• Articulate Studio

• SmartBuilder

• Adobe Flash

Learn more about authoring tools that Instructional Designers use -  “Top 5 Custom eLearning Development Programs/Authoring Tools”

Lastly, download our “Top 5 Interview Questions when hiring an Instructional Designer” to ensure your next project is a successful one:

At TrainingFolks, we are the experts in placing Instructional Designers for a multitude of industries – across the globe. Contact us today for more information to help you find the right candidate for your instructional design needs.