While the field of Instructional Design and Technology is growing, finding a job can be difficult (in part because jobs are posted all over the place). It is important to know the right places to look. The following are some of the top job boards to check when looking for a job as a instructional designer, instructional technologist or basically any job related to the field of Instructional Design and Technology (IDT). I recommend searching using key words (e.g., “instructional design” “educational technology” “instructional developer”) as well as searching by position/type or category (if available).
Higheredjobs.com
http://www.higheredjobs.com/
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/section/Jobs/61/
Inside HigherEd
http://www.insidehighered.com/career/seekers
AECT
http://www.jobtarget.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=136
AACE
http://jobs.aace.org/home/index.cfm?site_id=3855
Sloan-C
http://sloanconsortium.org/jobline
ISPI
http://www.jobtarget.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=2637
SALT
http://www.salt.org/salt.asp?ss=l&pn=joblistall
Indiana University Job Board
http://www.indiana.edu/~ist/students/jobs/joblink.html
Indeed
http://www.indeed.com/q-Instructional-Technology-jobs.html
The eLearning Guild
http://www.elearningguild.com/job_board/jobs/index.cfm?action=viewcats&selection=doc.25
Society of Technical Communication*
http://www.stc.org
Are there other places you look? If so, let me know.
*Added based on comments
I would add the Society of Technical Communication (www.stc.org) to that list.
It also doesn’t hurt to have a personal website or at least an interactive portfolio that you can leave on a memory stick or CD-ROM for job interviewers. My portfolio was largely responsible for me landing my current position.
Thanks for the tip on http://www.stc.org. I added it to the list. I plan to follow up this post with a post on “getting” an Instructional Design job — which will address some of the good ideas you mention above (i.e., having a personal website and a portfolio). Thanks, Patrick
Also interested in any resources you may have on ID online portfolios. I’ve started mine at the above address and would welcome input.
@M. Robert Turnage: do you have an online portfolio? I’ve found your 3 blogs but would love to see your interactive portfolio.
Hi Jan. Your link was stripped so I might need you to mail it to me to check it out. Patrick
Hi Jan
I checked out your portfolio. It looks like it is coming together. There are though some pages that look like a work in progress. Often the strongest part of a portfolio is where you demonstrate what you have done. I would focus on that moving forward.
Patrick