Where to start in corporate learning
I started my career at the Renaissance Fair. Just like many people I didn’t have a career plan but I’ve been lucky to have a number of wise mentors, lucky breaks and a secret passion for learning.
Some people have come to me lately asking for advice on how to change careers from what they do to some area of corporate education. I always encourage that because it’s a rewarding career with variety and many ways to enter. Here are just a few entry points,
- Be really good at one thing
The route that I took was becoming an expert at insurance. Eventually an opportunity came up to share my expertise by teaching a class on it and I volunteered for a seemingly thankless opportunity. I discovered then that I had a passion for teaching in addition to learning. I didn’t stop there however, I took classes on public speaking, I asked my peers for feedback and I started to read everything about adult education I could get my hands on. My path wasn’t a linear one, I left training and came back and I picked up certifications as I went. This path is great if you’re already good at your job or if you’re not sure if corporate education is for you yet.
2. Get a degree
This takes a good deal of forethought and it’s not a sure bet. I have met plenty of people in the corporate world who taught K-12 or who knew they wanted to work in corporate education early so they got degrees in education before fully entering the corporate workforce. This route has a different problem. Many entry level corporate education jobs require years of work experience before they’ll consider you for a full time role. I’ve spoken to many frustrated people early in their career trying to get their foot in the door. My advice for this predicament is to make a portfolio. How do I make a portfolio when no one will hire me? Volunteer, make your current job an education job or put training out on the web. A hiring manager looks for experience on top of a degree because they want to know that you can do it on top of knowing how to do it. I hired an instructional designer once who had a degree but had also taught soccer and moved their soccer curriculum online and iterated on their design for a few years.
3. Make cool stuff
I’ve known a few graphic designers, software engineers and video editors who got into education because they made a lot of resources for education departments. This is very similar to #1 above except you have an instant portfolio. The trick here is to demonstrate that you know learning sciences or the why behind what you are creating. Usually this comes out during the interview, so being able to talk about the why behind what it is that you make will make you an obvious choice. Talk with instructional designers about why they made certain choices in their design. Quiz facilitators on why they chose certain activities over others. Read books and articles to improve your knowledge base.
However you find yourself in corporate education, lend a hand to the ones coming up. It’s easy to forget how hard it can be early in your career. It’s rewarding to pay it forward.
