The Most Valuable Skills Instructional Designers Should Have
As eLearning continues to grow in popularity, the role of the instructional designer is becoming more important. This is especially the case during the current pandemic, with distance learning being more widely used compared to the classroom model. Talented instructional designers typically combine the skills of a teacher with creativity and technical acumen.
If your company hopes to hire one or more instructional designers, it helps to understand what skills to look for in your candidate pool. After all, making the right hire is a must when considering the costs of the staffing process. With that in mind, here is a list of the most valuable skills for any instructional designer.
Creative Skills are Essential for an ID
Creativity is arguably the most important skill for an instructional designer. They need to be able to craft compelling training programs, using a mixture of graphics, text, and interactive content. These skills definitely come into play when designing an engaging multipart training class. Of course, students need to be engaged and inspired.
Exemplary Writing Skills are Critical
Top instructional designers are also great writers. Even with all their other design responsibilities, the written word makes up a large portion of the classroom content they create. Being able to express complex ideas simply with concise prose is a critical skill.
Being Able to Research the Latest Learning Trends
The process of instruction continues to evolve. The best instructional designers stay aware of these changes and are constantly researching the latest trends in this field to produce more effective content. Additionally, being able to research the audience for their instructional material also helps them craft courses to keep their class focused and attentive.
The Ability to Manage Their Time Wisely
Most instructional designers are tasked with working on multiple projects simultaneously. Juggling these various assignments requires a keen sense of time management. As such, the best IDs have no problem delivering great work on schedule.
Instructional Designers Must Have Top Notch People Skills
Interaction with others lies at the heart of the role of any instructional designer. As such, strong people skills rank with creativity in overall importance for the best practitioners in their field. Being able to connect with and ask the right questions of subject matter experts plays a key role in producing successful training material.
If you need help building a top-notch team at your organization, speak with the knowledgeable group at Digital Prospectors. As one of the leading technical staffing agencies in Boston, we provide great candidates able to make a difference for your company. Schedule some time with us soon!