Technical writing plays a crucial role in our daily lives. From software manuals to business reports, we use technical writing every day to get information. As a result, technical writing is a huge industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs. Although coding and programming are also crucial parts of most technical writing jobs, you won’t necessarily have to write code to produce instructional design media. That is a very versatile skill set, which makes it much easier to find a job in this area.
What is Instructional Design?
Instructional design (ID) is all about creating learning materials that will help people learn the skills you are teaching. If you are unfamiliar, instructional design media includes things like video guides, webinars, app tutorials, FAQs, How-to-guides, and much more. The design of these mediums can be considered ‘instructional’ because they are meant to instruct — to teach somebody how to do something new or how to do something better.
Nowadays, a lot of companies specialize in content creation for corporate and educational clients. If you have previous experience as a teacher or lecturer, you can probably find work as an instructional designer. Although you might not always need a formal education in instructional design, having a degree will definitely make your resume stand out. Additionally, if you have a web design background, you will be able to bring your talent to bear on creating websites for businesses and non-profit organizations.
Where Do I Start?
If you are looking for a job in instructional design, your first stop should be a content creator website, like Creative Cow to see what jobs are available. Once you have found a suitable position, you can begin applying for it. If you have a specific skill that you believe will make you stand out above the competition, add that to your resume, and begin a search for the finest instructional designers who can teach you how to use it.