For many of us we want to transition into an instructional design and online learning (IDOL) role because we are passionate about the field. An IDOL role could mean a better overall career including better compensation and work life balance. Once the steady interview requests come in you will start to get excited and possibly overwhelmed. During this process there will be ups and downs and probably a few rejections that can be discouraging.  Sometimes when we get in a down period during the interview process we can get anxious which could lead to us making a hasty decision. Obviously the ultimate goal is to land that IDOL role and join the...

Maybe you did or didn’t read Building Your Brand: Part 1 in July. Here is a quick recap:

• Branding is about the value you give to clients.
• Branding is about the problems you are skilled at solving.
• You want to focus your brand around something.
• You need to be a life-long learner to keep up with changing technologies.

If you are in the brand-building or revamping your brand, I suggest the book Digital You by William Arruda. The book is a great guide to help your brand building process.

Using LinkedIn in Building Your Brand

LinkedIn is a repeatable way professionals connect across various industries around the world. Your LinkedIn profile provides a first impression, especially when you can’t be there in person to meet. Whether you are on the job hunt or not, you can leverage LinkedIn to build relationships to make business connections.

Keywords

Did you know the words you use in your profiles make a difference? You want to use the right keywords...

Why do people always say you should bounce back from failure? 

Get back up on the horse.  
Get back on track. 
Get back in the game.

But I disagree. After defeat, we need to sit in our failure and soak in the growth and learning that can come from it. Otherwise the same failures will repeat. Your failure should reap a reward that helps you grow stronger and better. 

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” 
- Robert F. Kennedy

However, it is important to remember that failure is not final. While we may experience frustrating failure at regular intervals, failure does not mean the end of the road. In fact, it usually means you are at the beginning of something new.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” 
- Winston Churchill

Failure is, in fact, good for us and our personal and professional growth.  It means you are pushing yourself...

In an unfortunate era where Arts programs in schools are losing funding and shutting down rapidly, creating opportunities and advocating became my most valuable skill set as a public school teacher. One of the best pieces of advice ever given to me as an Arts teacher was, “You have to create a program that is too visible and concrete for them to silently take away.” This meant creating community outreach...

We Have the Technology Skills

Setting up assignments and grading papers online felt like more of a chore than anything else back when I was teaching. ...

Month one is when the job starts to get real. You are expected to start producing and moving past the “I’m new here” stage. 

Based on what we have learned this first month, here are the main take-aways for how to prepare yourself for the first month as a new IDOL.

Feedback is Hard.

As a teacher, I got used to kids being brutally honest with how they felt about my lessons so I thought I was prepared for feedback in the ID process. I did not know what I had coming. Receiving and processing difficult feedback is something that comes with the territory. However, I was not prepared for how personally I would take the feedback I was given. I need to work on this!

Follow the ID Process.

There is a reason there are so many models of ID processes. And they all begin with Analysis. I decided I could skip this step on one of my first projects and learned the hard way that following the process is important.  

Be Creative in How You Get Creative.

Working for...

When I decided to leave teaching, I had a mix of emotions. What else could I really do? Teaching had been my life for seven years. I knew teaching like I knew how to take care of my children or like I knew how to drive. I could do it really well with minimal effort, and I loved it. I loved the excitement my students had for learning, and I loved creating lesson plans. Lesson plans gave me the opportunity to bring learning to life, whether I was teaching financial literacy or marketing concepts. 

There came a time I became mentally exhausted. Professionals call it "teacher burnout," and it is real. Teacher burnout usually happens around year five, but I made it to year seven. So, wasn't that an accomplishment? I asked myself often to justify staying. But what I realized is once my heart wasn’t there anymore, I had to leave because I’d lost my passion. When you lose your passion, everyone suffers, from your family to your students, the community and the parents....

 Have you ever gone through a long interview process, then been turned down for the job?

I have. And honestly, it felt like a bad breakup.

Job searching sucks. But with the right mindset and tools, you can find yourself in a winning relationship with the perfect match for you!

I think looking for a job is a lot like dating life. 

Each job is like a relationship. Depending on the length of the relationship, you can feel a variety of emotions when it is over. The end of a long, committed relationship may leave you feeling devastated like you don’t know what your next steps will be. Leaving a toxic relationship can make you feel relieved, yet undeserving of anything better. 

Then you are thrown back into the dating pool (the job search) to seek out something new and hopefully better. 

I have found that the rules of dating apply to the interview process.

1. Be Confident

If you are unsure of yourself, it will translate in the interview and...

Published: October 5, 2020

Episode: 25

Monica Cornetti, CEO and Founder of Sententia Gamification

In this episode, I’ll be chatting with Monica Cornetti about her journey to become an IDOL and all of her great tips for gamifying workplace learning. If you're into gamification or you think you might want to add some game elements to your next design don't miss this episode. 

Monica is the Founder and CEO of Sententia Gamification, Gamemaster of GamiCon, and the author of the book "Totally Awesome Training Activity Guide: Put Gamification to Work for You." Monica is hired for her skill as a gamification speaker and is considered at the top of her field in gamification design for corporate learning.

If you are a new listener to Become an IDOL, we would love to hear from you.  Please visit our Contact Page and let us know how we can help you today!

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Now navigating the Interviewing process for ID roles can become a slippery slope, but before you interview, know what you want: What salary are you looking for? What about the people you will be working with? Is the position remote? Do you need health benefits or PTO? 

I use a backwards design model to Interview for ID roles. Backward design is starting with the goal then working backward to achieve it. I look at the interviews with the end in mind. It's not enough to know you want a job in ID, but know precisely what you want in that job. At first, I didn't know...