Getting Laid Off, It's Not Personal, It's Strictly Business

In the movie "The Godfather" (Part I), there is a line where Michael Corleone says to his younger brother "It's not personal Sonny, it's strictly business".

In 2002, I was told by my employer that they had some bad news for me.  Due to the State of Maryland's economic situation, the university had to make budget cuts.  Unfortunately for me, my job was one of them.  I was shocked!  I said to myself "this happens in private business, not in the slow moving world of higher education".  I thought "how could they lay me off?"  I had good evaluations, was a dedicated employee, did all they asked and more.  Boy, was I wrong.   In other words, it's not personal, it's just business.

After the feeling of shock subsided, I had an uneasy feeling of panic.  What was going going to do? How long would I be unemployed?  Had I saved enough money? Who would hire me?  I felt very unprepared.  My resume and references were outdated.  Worse yet, I really had no professional portfolio to speak of.  Oh, I had accomplishments.  But many were undocumented and certainly in no shape to show a prospective employer.

To make a long story short, I survived.  I had a solid work history and an extensive network of professional contacts that proved to be my lifeline.  So what lessons did a I learn? Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned (or re-learned) was that life isn't fair.  If an organization can benefit by cutting their costs (e.g. laying you off), they will.  Accept that as fact and more on.  It's not personal...just business. You should never feel completely secure in your job.  Fear can be a good motivator.  As a former boy scout I should have known to be better prepared.

So what can you do to prevent this, or at least cope with it?  Here's what you can do:

1.  Accept the fact that anyone can get laid off at any time.

2.  Always be open to career opportunities.

3.  Stay on top of what the job market looks like for our field.  Know the changes and trends.

4.  Have your resume up to date.  There is nothing sadder than seeing a great job advertised only to find out you cannot meet the application deadline.

5.  Have your portfolio up to date and ready to share with people.

6.  Get feedback from professional colleagues on your portfolio.

7.  Have a LinkedIn account.  It's the number one digital professional network.  Recruiters rely on it.

8.  Don't forget in-person networking strategies.  In-person networking is not dead!

9.  Stay in touch with your professional references. 

10. Stay positive.  Good thing will happen, but sometimes things take time

Don't make the same mistakes as me.  It was painful learning experience, but it doesn't have to be. Remember, it's not personal, it's strictly business.

If I Show You My Portfolio, I Have to Kill You

It may be similar to a popular line in many movies, but "if I show you my portfolio, I'll have to kill you" is no joke for many people.

In the field of instructional design, eLearning and training, professionals often get jobs or new contracts based on their documented performance.  This means that potential bosses and clients can look at work that you have done for previous clients. This gives prospective employers a very good idea about what you can do for them. 

It is very common now that prospective employers/clients ask to see samples of work.  As professionals in instructional design, eLearning, and training, it is safe to say that we are at a great disadvantage if we cannot share our work samples with others.  

So what do you do if you work for the National Security Agency, or Apple?  They won't let you talk about what you do, much less share your work samples with other companies. This presents quite a dilemma for people who work at places that have policies that forbid employees and contractors to share work samples.  In the government security arena (NSA, CIA, DOD, etc.), it is common that employees can't even talk about work with people outside their work environment.  The main reasons an organization may do this can include confidentiality, proprietary information, trade secrets, or security issues.

The first thing you need to do is check your employer's or client's policy about showing your work. The purpose of this is to find out exactly what you can do and what you cannot do.  If you are unclear you should ask questions. It may be helpful to pose real questions about some work you have already done.  With some smaller employers, be prepared that they may not have a policy on this.  

After finding out what your organizations' policy is here are some possible options:

1. "White out" or redact references to your company name in your work samples.

2. Use approved excerpts as a smaller sample of your work.  For example, you may be able to use 18 pages form a design document that totals 50 pages.

3.  Use work sample that are not confidential or proprietary such a "new employee orientation training" or a compliance training course that you created.

4.  Use approved screenshots from eLearning courses if you cannot provide access to a live course.

5. Revisit older work samples.  We sometimes forget what we've accomplished.  Look at old resumes or employee performance appraisal to find ideas or leads on older work samples that you can use. 

6. Revisit academic work samples.  You may have work samples from classes that you can use. Our Instructional Design program at UMBC requires students to create projects that many use as portfolio samples.

7. Volunteer for an organization to create a new work sample that you will be free for you to share.  It is rare for an organization to turn down a volunteer in our field.  This option will take time, but it may be the only option for some people who work in restrictive environments.

8.  At times, some people may be able to get hired or win contracts based on referrals from former employers or former clients.  While it is not the same thing as using work samples, this can work for some people.

Work samples are very important to our career advancement.  Make sure you are clear about who owns the content and how the work can be shared.  

How A Junk Mail Flyer Changed My Career

Hmmm...Learn to teach online?

Who would have thought that receiving a junk mail flyer in my mailbox would have changed my career?  How was I to know that this one particular flyer would have a significant impact on my professional life?

In 1999 I was living in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.  One day I received a flyer in the U.S. mail from the University of Phoenix (UOP).  They were recruiting potential faculty to teach online for them.  I had wondered about teaching online, but never really did anything about before. From my research, reading and conversations with professional colleagues, it seemed like eLearning was poised to grow.

Like many of you I had heard a number of things about the University of Phoenix.  Many of them were not good.   I tried to keep an open mind.  I was working at Towson University at the time in a staff position.  I mentioned to a faculty member that I was thinking about going through the UOP faculty training program.  To my surprise he said that he knew someone who had gone through the UOP program and thought that it was excellent.

I decided to enroll in the course.  I thought it would be good for my career.  I was right.  Prior to this training course I had never taken an eLearning course myself, nor had I taught one.  I had some limited experience with eLearning, but I never taught a complete online class.

The class required us to be available for 20 hours of class time, homework and studying each week. There were no exceptions for anyone.  If you missed class time or were late on your assignments, you were removed form the class and had to start over again.

The course was modeled after the UOP's regular 5 week format.  We experienced the same thing as students taking our courses.  This helped to develop empathy, as well as to "walk a mile" in the students' shoes.

It was a demanding and challenging experience.  However, I learned a great deal.  It was the foundation for developing my eLearning skills.  Here is some of what I learned.

What I Learned About eLearning 
1. It's not "easy" being an online student.  Online learning is not for everyone.
2. Online students need good time management skills, be motivated and disciplined
3. eLearning is not about the technology.  While online teachers use technology, a successful course is more about their ability to facilitate their learning.
4. Communication is very different.  We know how simple email communication can easily get misunderstood.  That misunderstanding can grow exponentially when it comes to eLearning.
5. Contrary to popular opinion, the University of Phoenix knows how to teach online

Other Lessons Learned
1. Be open to change, it's how we grow
2. You never know where or when opportunities may pop up
3. Use critical thinking and don't believe everything you hear
4. Take some calculated career risks
5. Your career is dynamic, so you need to be dynamic too

Because the flyer, my career would never be the same.  It opened up a number of life-changing opportunities for me.  Maybe you have some opportunities coming your way too.  Would you recognize them?  Be open-minded and give them a chance. Lastly, take a quick glance at your junk mail before you throw it away.

The Top Reasons Trainers and Faculty Don't Like eLearning

Change is tough.  We want progress, but not change.  Change often arrives before growth.  While eLearning may be regarded as a positive change, others may dispute that. What is not in dispute is the growth of eLearning.  The Sloan Consortium has reported that over 7.1 million college students took an eLearning class in 2013.  The Association for Talent Development (formerly American Society for Training and Development) indicates that 39% of the all training for employee in 2013 was technology-based delivery.

While the growth of eLearning presents opportunities for some people, it presents many challenges for others.  Most of these challenges center around the concept of change.  As noted by Harvard business professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, people resist change for a number of reasons.  I have encountered a number of faculty members and trainers that simply hate eLearning.  I believe that most of the issues relate to change.  

Why do some learning professionals really dislike eLearning? Here are the top reasons why:

1. eLearning Is More Work for Me - This may be true, especially at first. It takes time to learn anything.   What many trainers and faculty members realize is that eLearning makes you rethink your whole approach to teaching and learning.  You simply can't lecture.  Effective eLearning means that you have to redesign your course.  Additionally, it may mean that you will need to learn some new technology tools.

2. I Might Look Incompetent - Yes, this may be true as well.  Remember the first time you tried to ride a bike?  You probably weren't very successful.  Now you ride a bike without even thinking about it.  I remember teaching my first online course. It certainly wasn't the best course I've ever taught. What I realized was that investing the time in learning online teaching skills was worth it.

3. The Quality of eLearning is Poor - There are some bad courses out there.  This includes both eLearning courses, as well as in-person courses.  To generalize that the quality of eLearning is inferior is a false assumption.  Usually when I hear this argument it really is a diversionary tactic.  The real issue is that some people fear they would not be good online teachers.  The "poor quality argument" is an attempt to throw people off track, rather than addressing their real issues.

4. My Job May Be Threatened - Some faculty and/or trainers feel that they may lose their job if they have to teach or train online.  I think it is rare that organizations force someone to teach online in a "sink or swim" situation. Most organizations offer training and opportunities for trainers/faculty to shadow some classes.  Additionally, they can co-teach with an experienced faculty member before they teach an online class solo.

5. Technology is Not for Me - This is a legitimate concern. eLearning relies on technology.  Online learning is not for every teacher/trainer, nor is it for every student.  Some people who say this have not given eLearning an honest attempt, or they didn't receive proper training.  It is amazing that when technology benefits an employee, they can learn it pretty quickly (e.g. telecommuting).  Since minimum levels of technology skills are now required by many employers, I don't think that it is unreasonable for organizations to ask trainers or faculty to teach online.

eLearning is not going away anytime soon.  Learning professionals can choose to accept it or reject it. Given the growth of eLearning I believe the wise choice is to embrace it.  Choosing otherwise will limit your career opportunities.  So what will you choose?

What I Wish They Told Me Before I Taught My First eLearning Course

With online learning being so popular now, many trainers and college faculty are learning to teach their first online class.  Today a number of great resources are available to beginning online teachers.  These resources range from blogs and websites dedicated to this to entire books on the subject.  Additionally, there are numerous great courses now that help you learn how to teach online.  I taught my first online graduate level course over ten years ago.  The resources were not as plentiful as they are now.  I was given a syllabus and an empty course shell in Blackboard.  I think someone wished me good luck. That was about it.

Looking back there are a number of things that I wish someone told me before I taught my first online class. Here are some of them:

1. Know Your Students - It is important that you get to know your students (and their motivations). For example, do they need your course to graduate this semester?  Are they working three jobs and taking care of kids?  Are students taking your course because they love the topic?  Or did they register because all their other class choices were filled?  Have they taken online classes before?  Beware the students taking you class because they think that online classes are "easier".

2. Be Deliberate About Communication - Have a plan about how and when you communicate with your students.  For example, I tell my students to expect a response from me in 24-48 hours when they post a question or send me a direct email.  Don't leave them guessing.  Over the years I have received numerous VERY long emails from students.  They have dozens of questions and concerns about their performance in the course.  Rather than respond via email, I usually ask them to talk on the phone with me.  It gets to the point quicker and helps to deal with any issues directly.  Additionally, it may be a good idea to have a course FAQ.

3. All Students Will Not Read the Syllabus - As teachers we are very proud of our course syllabi. Be prepared that a number of students will not read it.  How do you deal with this?  You can structure an assignment that forces them to read the syllabus (scavenger hunt).  Or you can award bonus points if students can answer questions about your syllabus.  Remember that the syllabus is the contractual document between the students and the college.   When there are issues over grades, the courts always refer back to the syllabus.

4. Technology Will Fail You and Your Students - No matter what you do, technology will not work at times for you and your students.  Murphy's law mandates that this failure will happen at the worst possible moment.  Encourage (require?) your students to have access to a backup computer. Additionally, have them save everything in MS Word first before they post it.  It's also a good idea to have them save files online using tools such as Google Drive and others.  This will minimize issues such as "my hard drive died and my assignment is gone".

5. Check Your Course Every Day - I originally thought that checking my course every few days would be more than enough.  Wrong!  What I discovered was that it makes much more sense to check in online every day, even if it is only for 20 minutes or so.  Students constantly want feedback in a timely matter.  Additionally questions may pop up that are time sensitive and need to be addressed quickly.

6. Simple Is Good - My original course design was much more complicated than it is now. I used to think that "more was better".  What I discovered over the years was that I sometimes confused students by giving them too much information. They didn't know what to do or where to go on the course site.  Now I've really scaled my course design back.  The lesson I learned was "it's not about the technology".

7. Students Know How to Take An Online Course - Even though the first online course I taught was in 2004, I really thought that students knew how to take an online course.  Boy, was I wrong! Taking a course online is a completely different experience than taking a face-to-face course. What I've learned is that just because I have a lot of experience teaching and taking online courses, it doesn't mean that my students do. We sometimes forget that everybody does not use a computer every day.

8. Students Will "Disappear" - I was surprised to learn that a handful of students simply "disappeared" from my course.  What I discovered was students simply stopped showing up or stopped participating in the class.  Even worse, they never even told me why.  I had to seek them out myself. What I found out was they had work issues, personal issues, medical issues, etc.  Some stopped participating just because learning online wasn't for them.

Over the years, I've learned that online courses are not for every student, nor are they for every instructor.  As an instructor, it is helpful to keep an open mind and realize that you can always learn and get better.  Ten years from now, who knows what I'll write about this topic.

For more info, check out my video on this topic check out my video at http://www.gregwilliams.net/GregWilliams/Videos.html

Finding the Balance with Design and Development

Design or Development?

What skill are more important in creating a course...design or development?  Are they overlapping skills?  Does one feed off the other?  Confusing?  You bet!

Can you have both?  Absolutely! There are many instructional designers who are also experts with software development tools. Then again there are great authoring tool experts who really don't know that much about instructional design.

Today I see more and more people blurring instructional design and instructional development.  Both are important and both are necessary for creating effective instruction.  Design and development seems to be overlapping now more than ever.  Just take a look at job descriptions for "instructional designers and "eLearning developers".  Some employers seem to want candidates that have it all.

Anyone can claim they are instructional designer. Instructional design is not a profession that is regulated by a professional association such as  certified public accountants (CPA), project management professionals (PMP) or professional engineers (PE). I met someone once who told he was an instructional designer because he knew Dreamweaver.  I asked him if he knew how to write instructional objectives.  He said no, but if instructional objectives were important that he would figure out how to do it.  But that doesn't stop him from saying he is an instructional designer.

There is a current school of thought where some people confuse the use of developing courses with software authoring tools (e.g. Captivate, Articulate, Flash) with instructional design skills.  Someone may be an expert in Articulate's Storyline. That development skill may enable them to create a class. However, that doesn't guarantee that they possess the knowledge, skills and abilities of a well trained instructional designer.

For example, I know how to swing a hammer. Therefore, I can build a house if I wanted to, but how well constructed would the house be? Wouldn't it be better to work with a trained architect to design the house according to the client's specifications?

I imagine that some of this phenomenon can be attributed to the competition for the work itself.
Keeping with the contractor example, I know that some carpenters do masonry work when demand for carpentry work slows down.  Some consulting companies do the same thing.

Several hiring managers have told me that authoring software keeps getting easier and easier to use. Therefore, they contend that they think it's more important that their employees have very strong analysis and design skills.

I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer to this.  What do you think?

How To Choose An Online College Program - Insider Tips

It's Hard to Choose!

A Poor Choice Can Be Costly
The growth of eLearning has exploded.  More students than ever before earn entire degrees online.  But have they made the right choice?   Most people really don't know how to assess eLearning programs.  It is easy to choose the wrong program.

As someone who manages and teaches in an online graduate program I probably have some insight that most people don't. Before you spend a lot of time and money at the wrong school, you should consider these issues.

Your Career Goals

What are your career goals?  Does the program help you to meet them?  Will it help you get a job or a promotion? Identify the type of job you want to have five years from now.  Through your network (or through LinkedIn) find people that are doing this job.  How did they get there? Does anybody have a degree from the school you are investigating?  Ask employers if they hire candidates from that school.

Accreditation 

Is the college or university accredited?  Hopefully, it is accreditation by one the major six regional accreditation associations.  Sorry, but these are the only ones that really count in my opinion.  I had to deny admission to a young lady who graduated from a school that was accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education.  She tearfully told me "they said they were accredited". Unfortunately for her they were accredited, but it wasn't the type of accreditation that really counts. Additionally, accreditation is awarded to the university overall and not to an individual program in most cases.   

Reputation

The reputation of the institution and the program is very important and can cut across many areas.  For example, what do alumni say about the program? Do employers hire their graduates?  What do people say about the faculty? Today with LinkedIn it is fairly easy to find people who maybe graduates of a particular college.  Additionally, if an organization is hiring you can ask them if they have a history of hiring graduates from particular schools. 

Program Design and Format
The format and design of the program can differ greatly in online programs.  As a learner you will be spending a lot of time and money, so you want to make sure the program is a "fit" for you. Does it have synchronous, asynchronous or blended course delivery?  What are the course deliverables for students?  Do yjur ise pares and academic case studies, or more applied projects.  I think project work has many advantages over tests and papers. Do they require a comprehensive exam or portfolio of work samples?  In my opinion professional portfolios are the way to go. They can demonstrate your skills and competencies to potential employers.

Student and Career Services

If you are an adult student you probably are very interested in getting a job.  Does the college have career services oriented toward working adult students?  Do they have connections with employers and professional associations? Who hires their graduates? Can you actually talk to student service reps on the phone, or do they push you to search online for everything?  Do they have so many students that they cannot prove adequate service?

Academic Policies

Can you start the program and/or graduate in any semester? Or do they only accept new students in the Fall semester?  Do they allow you to take any electives, or is it a lock-step program with little choice?  What is their policy concerning transfer of credits?

I've posed a lot of questions. You can find answers to most of them by talking to current students, alumni and employers. Additionally, you can find a number of answers on the college website and using LinkedIn. Of course don't forget the obvious.  You can simply call and ask them. In the end, it is worth the time and effort to research potential schools and programs. Make the right choice. Your career may depend on it.

You Don’t Need a Degree in Instructional Design to Get a Job

This blog article might get me fired!

In my position as the director of a graduate program in instructional design (OK there’s my full disclosure), I often get the question “Will this degree get me a job?” My answer is no. That response may be heresy for a college professor.

In reality, I am not sure that ANY degree guarantees you a job these days. If people truly think that a degree alone will get them a job, then they are wasting their time and their money.

Employers look at a number of things besides your education. That may include your work experience, your skills and competencies (as documented by a professional portfolio), how well you work in groups, how you solve problems, your creativity and much more. You should never overlook the importance of career tools and such as your resume, your references, your relationships within the professional community, how well they interview, etc. They too play a part in getting a job.

My academic colleagues may not like this, but everyone doesn’t need a college degree. If someone really wanted to they could get comparable knowledge on their own. They could do this by reading and studying and practicing on their own, taking appropriate professional development courses, getting feedback and coaching from professional colleagues, working with a mentor, etc. This might give them similar benefits that may compare to the content of a college degree. Are there exceptions to this? Of course there are! The truth is that most people don't have the self-discipline to do this.

The older you get, your degree becomes less critical in getting a job. As you gain experience, employers look more at your accomplishments and your body of professional work, far more than your degrees. There are some employers who use the degree as a screening tool to eliminate candidates from a large pile of applicants. However, in some workplace environments degrees are very important (higher education), while in others they are not (e.g. sales).

It is very possible that you may not need a degree at all. There are a number of people in our field (instructional design & eLearning) who are very accomplished and don’t have a degree. The difference is they have accomplishments and a body of work that showcases their skills.

As with many questions in life, the answer to this question often is “it depends”. Before you spend a lot of time and money on a degree, think about what you will put into it (time and money) compared to what you will get out of it (raise, new job, skills). In the end, you are in charge of your own career, so weigh the pros and cons carefully.

Speaking of careers, I wonder if I still have a job?

eLearning Quality

When I tell people that I am a college professor, they usually ask me what I teach. When I tell them that I teach instructional design and e-learning development, I often get a puzzled look from them. After explaining what instructional design is, the conversation usually turns to eLearning and quality.

Many times people tell me that they think that the quality of e-learning is not good. I ask them what their experience is with e-learning. I asked if they have ever taken an e-learning class or have even taught a class, or part of an online class. The answer is usually no.

What they usually tell me is that they think that e-learning is simply ”not very effective”. As an educator I am interested in how people from their opinions. When I asked them how they formed their opinion about e-learning, I discover that they have very little first-hand experience with it. Often times they will say that “I heard that it is not very good”, or that “my friend took a course and didn't like it”. As a student and as a working professional, I have literally taken hundreds of in-person courses.Guess what? Some of them weren’t very good either. I don’t think that e-learning has a corner on the market on low-quality courses.

Sound critical thinking tells us to try to get objective information about a topic. It tells us to ask questions to get to the heart of the matter. I find it interesting that in higher education some highly educated professionals who embrace the use of critical thinking, throw it out when it comes to eLearning. For some unknown reason anecdotal information seems to be good enough for some people when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of e-learning.

Let’s face it. eLearning is not for every instructor, nor is it for every student. What I do feel confident about is that e-learning will not be going away anytime soon. At some point the “e” will be dropped from the term “e-learning” and we will simply focus on what is important….the "learning" itself.

Without a Career Portfolio, You'll Never Work in This Town Again

Writing Learning Objectives

Dr. Chuck Hodell on "SMEs From the Ground Up"