Career Research Reflection

From the researching process, I have discovered the gap between what we have learned and the real world situation. Those techniques we focus are more general, and the real-world situation focuses on design and development.

Obviously, instructional technology and human performance technology are separate in the work place. They belong to different types of firms. HPT plays the role of consulting, and IT is more like developing training materials such as job aids, instructional materials, etc. Instructional technologists think they have dealt with human performance, but not too much. I speculate if working in the HR department of general companies instead of instructional design firms, IT needs to be involved with HPT field

I start to think about what kinds of jobs I can do if I am planning to work in USA. Technical writing is an important task for instructional designer. If I want to become an instructional designer in USA, it will be hard for me to be qualified unless the subject deals with Chinese. This makes me to reconsider my career preparation regarding abilities and working locations.

I don’t think salary is not too competitive comparing with other jobs. Does it mean “say goodbye to big money”? I don’t know about the answer. It depends on how good we are. Even though most instructional designers are not satisfied with the pay, they still feel comfortable with it. They enjoy the ongoing learning process and stay in the edge technology. Therefore, I guess salary is just on indicator to help get satisfaction. The most important thing is “happiness”, isn’t it? Be happy with what you do.