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Q&A with an Author - Dr. Foxon

As an instructional designer, what led you to pursue a career in the design of instruction for business and industry?

I was an admin in training and putting courses together, I thought there had to be a better way to do it. My manager told me to go ahead and try. I began to look for "help" and discovered things like learning objectives etc. eventually stumbled upon IDD and got more and more involved. So I rather fell into my career.

What areas of Instructional Design and Development should a student concentrate on (e.g. courses, internships, research projects) in order to be best prepared for an IDD career in business and industry?

Students should definitely do some research work, even of a low level, as it transfers well to work in the job environment. Internships are good provided you are going to get good experience - do meaningful stuff.  I believe if you are going into business and industry you should be doing at least one or two subjects from the business school.

What is the most rewarding thing, for you, working as an instructional designer in business and industry?

The opportunity to use my instructional design skills in a variety of ways other than straight design work (which I rarely do now) is very rewarding. IDD taught me good analysis skills, which have proven to be very useful, and opened up lots of opportunities

The University of South Alabama (USA) has master (MS) and doctoral (Ph.D.) Programs in Instructional Design and Development. What advice would you give to USA students wanting to pursue careers in the design of instruction for use in the business and industry settings?

Get good experience before going for a job - work for a non-profit for example as a volunteer and do some id or performance analysis; get a good internship, etc.  Get a solid understanding of how a business works - you cannot go into biz and industry and expect to move up the ladder quickly if you do not understand how businesses work. That did not use to be the case but it is now.

Are there any drawbacks that an IDD student should be aware of preparing for a career in instructional design in business and industry?

Yes, with the downsizing of human resources and learning groups there are fewer and fewer opportunities at least in the big companies for id people.  Much of it is outsourced to contract designers and the id people end up doing a lot of project management of contract designers. You need a broad range of skills, not just narrow design skill. Definitely need ability to design learning interventions using technologies (not just learning but knowledge management, and other technology-based forms of delivery).

If students reading your chapter, Instructional Design in Business and Industry only remember one thing about the chapter at the end of their semesters, what do you hope they would remember?

That the field is changing and whereas a few years ago you could be sure of a good job and design away to your heart's content it’s no longer that cut and dried.