Hire Instructional Designers

So you think you want to hire an instructional designer. Great choice. Instructional designers are eLearning industry superheroes. They create learning experiences and develop instructional materials to make learning accessible. Whether you’re creating training modules for your employees or building online courses for students, an instructional designer is an essential member of your eLearning team.?

But What Do Instructional Designers Do, Really??

Instructional designers plan and oversee creation of the learning experience. They assess learning outcomes to make decisions about content, activities and assessments. They may be the one who builds the course in the Learning Management System or they may work with Learning Technologists on this step.?

The titles Learning Experience Designer and Instructional Systems Designer are sometimes used in place of Instructional Designer (IDs), their central goal is the same — to create materials and systems that support learning. However, many instructional designers do have areas of specialization.?

You might find IDs who specialize by industry or field. The core industries typically include; corporate learning and development, non-profit, government, and education. Or they may be focused on specific fields such as healthcare, finance, automotive, IT, higher education or K-12.??

Other instructional designers specialize by function. For example, you ID may be an expert in needs analysis and learning strategy design but need to partner with another professional that specializes in content writing to create a publish-ready deliverable. It’s often helpful to understand your team members strengths and gaps to be able to hire a team that complements one another or to contract out for specific areas.??

Strategically hiring an instructional designer who specializes in your industry, field, or within a specific function can be a smart decision for optimizing your team’s results.?

Benefits of Hiring Instructional Designers

Hiring an instructional designer is a brilliant decision with a multitude of benefits.?If you’re thinking about hiring an instructional designer, you probably already have some idea of what they can do. But are you aware of all the benefits instructional designers can bring to your team??

Introducing the benefits of hiring an instructional designer:?

• Seamless Transition to Online Learning: Instructional designers excel at converting in-person classes into effective online experiences.
• Teaching and Learning Best Practices: They ensure that your courses align with the latest educational standards, enhancing the learning journey.
• In-House Course Development: By bringing expertise in-house, you reduce reliance on external vendors and gain more control.
• Alignment with Organizational Goals: Instructional designers bridge the gap between organizational objectives and the unique needs of your employees.
• Enhanced Learning Experiences: They create dynamic, engaging materials that elevate the quality of your courses, modules, and lessons, regardless of the delivery format.

Basically, if you’re creating courses, modules, lessons or other remote, hybrid or in-person learning opportunities, you need an instructional designer. Here’s everything you need to know to hire instructional designers for your team.?

How to Attract the Best Instructional Designers

If you want to attract and hire the best instructional designers, your organization needs to be aware of what these candidates are looking for. Pay and benefits are always at the top of any candidate’s wish list. Make sure you’re offering a competitive rate whether you’re hiring employees or contractors. For employees, remember to consider your benefits package as part of the total compensation.

Then, consider flexibility. More candidates are looking for remote, hybrid, and flexible work arrangements. When writing job postings, highlight opportunities for flexibility.?

Finally, candidates are considering how this role will help them grow and advance their careers. In the job posting and during the interview process, look for ways to show the candidate how this role can help them grow and develop.?

What to Budget for an Instructional Design Salary

To get the best instructional designers on your team, you want to pay competitive rates. In the U.S. full-time instructional designers make about $78,094 per year on average.?

Your industry and their experience level will determine how much instructional designers will expect to be paid. In general, corporate instructional designers tend to make the most while academic IDs tend to have the lowest salaries.?

Of course, instructional designers with valuable specialities or greater experience are likely to command the highest salaries. Senior instructional designers may make up to $10,000 more per year than their more junior colleagues. Keep in mind that job salaries are growing across the board. Make sure your job postings offer enough to be competitive.

Also, many candidates are choosing to avoid roles without posted salary requirements. So if you can include a range in your job postings, you may get a more diverse and qualified group of candidates to choose from. Keep an eye on your state laws as well, since more states and large cities are enacting salary range disclosure regulations.

Find the Right Instructional Designer

Finding the right instructional designer can help your organization achieve its goals. Whatever your industry and needs, Teamed can help you build a pipeline of qualified candidates for your open instructional design roles. From our specialized job board to our fully done-for-you recruitment packages, we offer the hiring services you need to find qualified professionals in instructional design, eLearning, and learning technology. Find your next employee, contractor, or expert consultant with Teamed. Explore our hiring services or contact us to get started.?