Traits, Skills, & Competencies Aligned with Workplace Demands: What Today's Instructional Designers Need to Master
Abstract: What are the traits, skills, and key competencies that instructional designers must have to be successful at finding and attaining employment? Analysis conducted on fifty-nine online instructional design job postings identified key competencies needed by job seekers; specifically, the skills, knowledge, and behaviors that employers communicate to possible candidates that are needed today. Findings from this study include five broad competencies in high demand such as excellent communication and related interpersonal skills and managing multiple instructional design projects, but also specific traits, and skills that may make a candidate more successful within the field such as working collaboratively in teams. This paper further discusses identified technology tools and standards that employers want instructional designers to master. Our study provides findings of interest to instructional design programs by providing supportive evidence of those needed competencies students should attain in a Masters program to ensure a successful transition into the job market upon graduation.
Presider: Pasquina Campanella, University of Bari