I already identified as a quiet quitter. When I took a break from IDOL, was I also quitting on myself?

When I started the IDOL journey, I thought “I’ve got so many transferable skills. I’m already qualified for many of these jobs!”  I dutifully created a website, crafted an ID resume, and refreshed my LinkedIn profile. I knew I faced hard work to upskill and learn about the ID field, but I had time to invest and a big IDOL goal that seemed reasonable to me. But five months later, no job offers. Not even a single interview! “What gives?” I wondered. I already identified as a quiet quitter from my day job - that’s why I became an IDOL! Was I now also quitting on my career transition? 

Sometime in 2019, my long-time enthusiasm for teaching began wearing thin. Twenty years of teaching freshman composition will do that to you, I reasoned. So I jumped into innovative teaching practices in an effort to continue learning and challenge...

Do you know what perfection paralysis is?

A defense mechanism. It protects you from being seen as less than or not seen as entirely perfect. Feelings are complex, and perfectionism paralysis could be similar to the fear of rejection. Don't expect to win the first prize trophy the first time you do something. Practice doesn't make you perfect. Practice makes you better. Better than you were the first day you started. The work you produce the first year you are an instructional designer will probably be a little embarrassing the fifth year in your career (keep a copy to compare). This is called growth, and it's the best part of life.

Perfectionism paralysis comes in many forms for instructional designers:

1. Primarily the Inability to start
2. Fear of putting your work...

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. ...

This was me. And this could be you. But you’ll get there!

Making a career change can be overwhelming. Thinking about all the new things you will need to learn in order to get a job can produce a lot of anxiety and imposter syndrome. 

When I first decided to change careers from a special education teacher to an Instructional Designer, I was excited to learn more. Then it hit me. The more I learned, the more I got overwhelmed with all of the tools, theories, and practices I needed to know to be successful and confident. I learned several things along the way to help calm down that overwhelm to focus on my goals and learning. Here are my tips:

1. Analyze job descriptions - There are so many tools out there, and when I first joined the IDOL courses Academy and...

 I left public education for the corporate world. Once I updated my LinkedIn page and toggled on the switch “open for opportunities,” I was inundated with messages from recruiters who thought I would be the “perfect fit” for their opportunity. I was so excited! They were already knocking down my door to offer me a job. I will land my coveted IDOL role in no time I thought.  I quickly learned that was not the case. I had become part of the very competitive world of recruiting.  The recruiting process is more about helping the hiring company and recruiting firm than it is about helping a candidate land her dream job. 

Companies often hire external recruiters to find viable candidates to fill open positions. Recruiters search for those candidates in places such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job...

After a few phone interviews with recruiters, I finally received an invitation to have an in-person interview. Immediately, I went from excitement to shock. Well, my thoughts were, “How am I going to convince the interview panel that my previous teaching experience is transferable? How do I NOT talk about my teaching experience? Will my instructional design experience in the school district even matter? I placed my fears aside and sent Dr. Robin Sargent an email, informing her that I had an upcoming interview. She reminded me to use the resources in the IDOL Academy and provided me with a few interview questions to ask.

During the interview, I was able to speak confidently about how my teaching experience, graduate and specialist...