Greetings, ISD community! As a new Masters graduate (April 2000) from the ISD department, I am honored to share my new experiences with you all.
I am currently working as a Course Developer in Account Services at the Sears National Curriculum Center in Atlanta, Georgia. My responsibilities are to design and develop skills training and performance support tools for Sears Credit Call Center Associates.
I view myself as a Performance Technologist, although it is often difficult to practice. I try to take the steps necessary to stay focused in the right direction. My goal is to define performance results first, and work backward to create learning objectives and activities that will support the desired performance. It is important to ask how one would perform a task (or how it should look while it is being performed) rather than how one would "train" a task. This keeps the focus on the actual performance rather than on training for the sake of training. This also provides an opportunity to consider alternative solutions.
There are many important skills that I am using in the field right now; however, many "real world" skills could not be learned in an educational setting.
I really think that having a strong background in project management is helpful, especially in the position I am in. I am beginning to see that many Instructional Designers act as project managers as well, because we often have a team working with us (writers, web developers, programmers, etc.) that are directly responsible for creating the content, while we design and develop the instructional solutions.
The Project Management class that is offered during the spring semester provides some very useful skills that I use in the field. I have referenced the course materials from this class (Jim Fuller, 1997: Managing Performance Improvement Projects and Michael Greer, 1992: ID Project Management) a number of times since I began my position.
The other class that was very helpful was Performance Systems Analysis, taught by Dr. Dick and others in the field. This class was beneficial not only because of the opportunity to conduct a complete front-end analysis, but also because of the chance to work one-on-one with a business and see how it really works. In a classroom setting, the impression you get of the business world can be unrealistic. We learn the ideal, but the environment we work in is not always conducive to implementing the ideal practice.
Be prepared to be challenged in what you believe and have learned. People have strong opinions and most people think their view is the right one. Lots of businesses are set in their ways, and change is a fight every step of the way. (I think I have heard the phrase "Don't reinvent the wheel" about once a week since I started my job!) A lot of skills/practices that are common knowledge to us ISD grads are foreign to people that have been in business for years and years. I encourage graduates to speak their mind, even if they think it won't count. I have already been in a situation where I challenged a high executive's view during an office meeting…and there were people in there that actually appreciated my speaking up! We are really on the cutting edge when we come out of the FSU program, and we have to work hard to show what we know!
Another secret is to find out what you want to do or where your interests lie. Our field encompasses many different areas of interest, and all are available out in the field. If you want to work with training and development, know whether you want to develop instructor led training, or if you want to create web-based or computer-based design. If you want to do performance consulting, know which role you want to play. Don't settle for a company that you aren't completely happy with, hoping they will change. Set your standards high, and don't be afraid to be picky. Don't take the 'best of the worst.' It takes time, but the calls will eventually come (as I am finding out now). Be patient and stay motivated….
Florida State's Instructional Design program is excellent, and highly respected as one of the top programs in the country. Good luck to all of you who are currently struggling through classes and other activities, and have confidence in the fact that you will be well prepared to enter the job market upon graduation (you will actually be ahead of many of your colleagues). Feel free to contact me via e-mail (brittany_horner@hotmail.com) if I can be of any assistance as you prepare to start your careers.