The job growth rate for instructional designers is about 6% from 2018-2028. There are 50,000 active job openings in the U.S. and nearly 100,000 eLearning developers on the market. Therefore, you have a pool of qualified designers from which to choose, but as businesses demand more from employee performance, the need for instructional designers will also increase.
These designers create educational training materials. Their positions are essential for businesses in every industry. “Every company needs an instructional designer on their staff,” says Justin Ferriman, an eLearning consultant. Knowing how to hire instructional designers requires a thorough comprehension of the industry and your company's needs. According to Neovation, 74% of employees feel they have untapped potential, and 57% of employees would take advantage of eLearning opportunities to help them improve their industry skills.
Poorly executed corporate instructional programs are a common cause of reduced productivity. The solution is strategic learning material addressing training deficiencies. This guide offers tips to help you hire an instructional designer whose work can improve employee engagement rates and help you meet learning performance goals. We cover the skills to look for during the search, the associated costs, tips for writing a job listing, and interview questions to streamline your vetting process.
What Instructional Designers Do
An instructional designer helps your organization create engaging and effective learning experiences. That often starts with developing a course curriculum that meets your training objectives.
This professional also locates appropriate instructional materials and courseware. If the right solution does not exist, your instructional designer develops these assets.
Developing good courses requires more than knowing a subject well. Internal subject matter experts may lack the time or communication skills to train others effectively and efficiently. For that reason, companies seek instructional designers for hire.
Effective courses capture learners’ attention and make the lessons memorable. That way employees understand how to apply the information in the real world.
Such courses go beyond just explaining topics or giving workers information to read. Instructional designers often focus on interactive education and engaging visual design.
As Tom Kuhlmann, Chief Learning Architect of Articulate, says about instructional design: “What are learners supposed to do after learning the course? Figure that out and build the appropriate interactive elements.”
The need to hire dedicated instructional designers is even more important for businesses with a remote or hybrid work model. Keeping learners engaged without in-person interaction can prove challenging. This is especially true for extensive and long-term courses.
Consequently, instructional designers apply advanced educational theories and strategies to enhance outcomes. This includes structuring courses in a way that promotes knowledge retention. They also choose appropriate formats and technologies for delivering content.
What does an instructional designer do to ensure the effectiveness of training? Top instructional designers also evaluate the effectiveness of training with data and feedback. Then, the instructional designer helps you improve the training to meet your goals.
Obviously, an instructional designer will be a capable teacher and trainer. Additionally, the individual needs competency in design principles. That is because they usually create physical or digital instructional materials. Some even have programming skills for making interactive online courses.
Seek instructional designers for hire when you recognize the need to create or update training. This can be particularly important when a course requires specialized skills. Also, consider hiring instructional designers when you require rapid course development.
Justin Ferriman, eLearning consultant, goes so far as to say: “Every company needs an instructional designer on their staff.”
Roles an Instructional Designer Can Fill
Advisor/Consultant | Creator | Project Manager | Quality Assurance | Advocate |
Determine organizational needs Set learning objectives Determine teaching and assessment strategies Recommend tools and resources
| Storyboard or blueprint course and material ideas Create content and media Test material for efficacy Assimilate materials into programs
| Leads design teams for creating course projects Defines objectives and deadlines and keeps team on target Estimates time for completion and budget Communicates with stakeholders
| Analyzes data to verify strength of course Ensures legal compliance Follows tech and accessibility standards Performs needs assessments for organization
| Leads by example in company best practices Promotes projects and company initiatives Seeks opportunities for innovation Supports colleagues as a mentor or counselor
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What an Instructional Designer Can Do for Your Business
Careers in instructional design are thriving. One reason is that they can make a real difference in the strength of your organization. All businesses want quality employees. Well-designed training is key to reaching that objective.
When you hire instructional designers, you generate a more satisfied and engaged workforce. Your team members gain satisfaction from upskilling. Additionally, group training can build camaraderie and encourage future collaboration.
In fact, surveys show that employees are 45% more likely to stay in a role if they get more training. That is why it is smart to hire instructional designers. They apply various skills to help you advance your business with effective techniques.
Learning Theory Application and Instructional Strategy Development
Top instructional designers utilize applied learning theories. These involve educational psychology for designing more effective learning experiences.
The professionals consider the needs and abilities of a learner group and training staff. Then, they apply appropriate strategies that meet everyone’s needs.
Storyboarding Process
Storyboarding helps you efficiently design and improve courses. The visual outline is easy for stakeholders to understand. This streamlines creating a logical layout and getting actionable feedback from others.
It also lays the foundation for building courses in the future. With collaborative storyboarding, your training process will not need an overhaul often.
Content Authoring Tools Proficiency
Hire instructional designers when you need instructional content development. Tailored content ensures that educational materials align with your mission, vision, strategy, and goals.
The instructional designer uses authoring tools to create interactive documents, modules, and videos. Such tools could include products like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Captivate.
Data Analysis, Learner Feedback Interpretation, and Evaluation Design
The instructional designer also has tools and processes to measure learner comprehension and application. Data also helps you to determine the effectiveness of the course.
Metrics give you information for calculating the return on investment of the training. You also have valuable data for evaluating employees.
Hiring a freelance instructional designer
There is more than one avenue for hiring eLearning experts. Instructional design agencies are often a full-time commitment and partnership. They can be useful for startups that need to build training programs from scratch and have little understanding of the process. However, when you hire a freelance instructional designer, you can access specialized expertise more flexibly and cost-effectively. Companies across an array of industries and every size recognize the demand for freelance instructional designers.
Customizing course content with the benefits to employees in mind, making it easier for workers to adapt to company culture
Communicating company goals and objectives clearly to eliminate obstacles in evaluating the results of training
Creating a more comfortable setting for employees to engage in learning courses
Ensuring all training is relevant to industry standards
Creating easily replicated training processes for other teams to use
Proactive companies hire instructional designers as full-time or contract employees to help them create programs aligned with the expectations of the younger generations moving into the workforce. Many recognize that the old training videos and lack of interactive instruction could be more productive and need eLearning experts to help them revamp their programs. They hire dedicated instructional designers to create platforms using industry and cultural trends for more effective learner retention.
Why hire instructional designers for your business? Consider their common responsibilities to assess how they may benefit your company:
Design learning programs from the ground up
Identifying and implementing new eLearning materials as they enter the market
Revamping established learning models for companies with existing training programs that need a lift
Evaluating program reviews to collect useable feedback
Training others to use the programs that created and delivered
With the help of instructional designers, you can create microlearning essentials to make learning quick and easy for employees. Create gamified learning to make training more engaging and interactive and overcome common learning obstacles, like trouble with information retention and monotony. A skilled instructional designer can use their training materials to collect data and help you improve overall operations.
What skills to look for when hiring instructional designers
Soft and technical instructional designer skills needed can vary from project to project. However, the essential technical skills every eLearning designer/developer needs include:
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An understanding of learning models, the frameworks for learning, relevant to your business and industry
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Familiarity with learning technologies, such as learning management systems, authoring tools, mobile applications, and video management and conferencing
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Project management and organizational skills to help them juggle several projects at once
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Graphic design skills to create appealing, interactive programs
When you hire instructional designers, they must work well with other employees. Soft skills, such as communication and collaboration, indicate how well a designer will implement training programs. They must create relatable content that will captivate and educate people of varying backgrounds and sensibilities. With people skills, instructional designers can communicate their programs to users and help them navigate to process.
In a survey of 1,381 respondents in the instructional design industry, eLearning Infographics found that 98% of designers collaborate with stakeholders and conduct a needs assessment before beginning the creative process. Without the ability to read people and understand their needs, a designer’s final product could be a miss for the company, wasting resources and time.
They also need artistic ability. Some have a degree in the arts, and others may not, but they should have demonstrable creativity. Without a creative approach, training programs can become too linear. You need data visualization with simulations, animations, and flowcharts. The artistic element is as important as their technical capabilities.
How To Hire Instructional Designers
Start your hiring process by identifying your needs. Ask: What type of training does your team require and how extensive will it be? Is this an assignment only one person can handle? Or do you need to hire an instructional designer with a team?
Then, isolate what skills and education your freelance instructional designer needs. For example, determine the essential certifications or industry experience.
If your field is highly technical, you may need to figure out how to hire instructional designers who hold a master’s degree. However, this would be a senior-level instructional designer who fetches top dollar. For less technical training in practical skills, you can find a junior or mid-level professional.
Pay close attention to soft skills in the hiring process. Most people can remember a teacher in school or on the job who was not good at explaining complex matters in a clear and engaging way. Carefully vet instructional designers with an interview. Then, you can find someone who understands how to make courses interesting and easy to grasp.
Top instructional designers also have experience in various teaching techniques. New or junior-level professionals may only have a handful of strategies to turn to.
Therefore, find a highly skilled instructional designer for extended, deep-dive courses. Such education may involve hours of classroom and hands-on instruction. These professionals can employ a variety of tactics to keep learners’ attention.
Likewise, turn to someone with more experience to serve as an advisor or consultant. They can perform detailed course evaluations and reviews.
For a simpler project, you can hire an instructional designer with less experience. This may save time in the hiring process. It may also be easier on your budget.
How much does it cost to hire instructional designers?
Most educational experts charge hourly rates for their services. The average hourly rate for a freelance instructional designer is between $35 and $90. On the high end are master-level experienced and specialized designers, such as executive eLearning consultants. Speed is a critical factor in assessments because slow designers cost significantly more, even when their hourly rates are lower.
Tips for writing an instructional designer job description
Writing a job description for your listing should be as detailed as possible to ensure you hire instructional designers with all the skills and experience you need. More soft skills to consider include critical thinking ability, excellent written and oral communication skills, the ability to take in and use constructive criticism, and the ability to prioritize tasks efficiently. Your description of technical skills should be more thorough as well. You need some general job responsibilities:
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Developing courses and curriculum
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Creating learning environments and experiences
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Collaborating with subject experts
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Managing online content
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Facilitating training programs to onboard new hires
You should also address your interview methodologies. For example, if you require demonstrable skills, you need technical assessments. Your job listing should discuss how you handle testing and what skills you need to see. Given the need for collaboration, you also want to cover methods for addressing behavior analysis. How will you ensure your new hire is the right fit for the company? Avoid using vague criteria, such as “good communication skills,” for the risk of creating inconsistent evaluations. Instead, be as specific as possible, asking for certain proficiency levels or experience.
Common interview questions to ask when you are looking to hire
An interview is an opportunity to learn more about candidates personally while assessing their design skills. Some instructional design-specific questions to ask include:
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Can you think of a recent instructional design project you completed and explain your process from the first ideas to the final implementation?
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Tell me about a time during your process when you used technology to solve an issue.
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Think of a time when you had a specific design in mind, and a stakeholder or team member overruled you. How did you handle it, and what was the outcome?
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Think of a time when you completed an organizational analysis. What did you discover, and how did you use it in your work?
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Walk me through how you prioritize your work when you have multiple active projects at once.
More general questions that will help you get to know the person are just as important. Ask about personal and professional goals. A candidate with a detailed plan for the future may be more self-driven and able to work independently, essential qualities for a freelancer or remote worker. Soft questions allow you to measure their integrity, open-mindedness, adaptability, creativity, and empathy.
How to find freelance instructional designers for hire
Freelance marketplaces, job boards, and outsourcing agencies are readily available for businesses that want to find instructional designers full-time or part-time. Our list of sites to hire instructional designers provides options for you to compare. For example, Toptal allows you to access world-class designers quickly and requires almost zero work on your end. You can also leverage professional networks and attend industry events to find talent you can trust.
Finding instructional designers is easy. However, hiring one with expertise, people skills, and proven creative talent can take time and effort. Use our list of top sites as your guide to well-vetted designers with experience in your industry.