When I meet new people and they ask me what I do, I tell them I’m an Instructional Designer, and it’s usually met with very confused looks. Very few people I’ve encountered know what Instructional Design is – heck, I didn’t even know what Instructional Design was at one point!
Most Instructional Designers I know still don’t have a concise explanation for what it is that they do. When I was working on military contracts, I used to say “I develop aircraft maintenance training.”…and when people found out that I didn’t have a military or aircraft maintenance background, they were immediately concerned.
Now, my typical jokey response is “I make training suck less.” My realistic response is “I use instructional design principles and theories to develop and deliver effective training.” The jokey response is typically better understood from those outside of the industry.
Tags: Instructional Design