How To Become An Instructional Systems Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an instructional systems designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Anthony Piña Ed.D.

An instructional designer is an educational professional who is responsible for designing and redesigning courses. They develop specific curriculums and courses and create training materials, student guides, and teaching manuals.

These professionals specialize in developing training solutions required by an organization or a company as required by a program or a project. An instructional system designer identifies the needs of educational programs, and performing research and analysis to identify particular strengths and weaknesses of an educational program. These individuals also analyze student and client feedback and use this feedback to further streamline courses and to improve instructional quality.

Many instructional systems designers have a bachelor's and a master's degree in education, engineering, instructional design, or a related field, and should have a professional grasp of teaching methodologies and course design. These individuals must possess strong communication, organization, and interpersonal skills, and should be adept at maintaining open lines of communication with members of instructional systems teams. An instructional systems designer can make up to $59,000 per year, and the job field is expected to grow 6% in the next 10 years.

What general advice would you give to an Instructional Systems Designer?

Anthony Piña Ed.D.

Chief Online Learning Officer/Director of Online Education, Illinois State University

If you have not done so already, become active in professional associations that align to your career interests. Attend (and consider presenting at) their professional conferences. This will be a source of professional development, networking, and future employment opportunities. Look for opportunities to gain practical experience-even as a volunteer. For example, if you have an interest in instructional design, you may check out Designers for Learning (designersforlearning.org), which can match you with service-learning opportunities. You should become familiar with the instructional designer competencies from the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (ibstpi.org) and work on those in which you might have less training or experience.

ScoreInstructional Systems DesignerUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,907

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.7

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 5.35%

Black or African American 12.43%

Hispanic or Latino 16.02%

Unknown 3.82%

White 61.71%

Gender

female 35.45%

male 64.55%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.3

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an instructional systems designer

Explore instructional systems designer education requirements

Most common instructional systems designer degrees

Bachelor's

55.2 %

Master's

21.5 %

Associate

18.0 %

Start to develop specific instructional systems designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Subject Matter Experts	7.50%
Instructional Design	6.68%
SMEs	5.66%
Instructional Systems	4.52%
ISD	4.22%

Complete relevant instructional systems designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New instructional systems designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an instructional systems designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real instructional systems designer resumes.

Research instructional systems designer duties and responsibilities

Manage the company SharePoint and information distribution program.
Develop PowerPoint presentations, instructor and student guides, and job aids using ISD methodologies and strategies.
Utilize the ADDIE model to design and develop instructional material for training courses according to adult learning principles.
Collaborate with SMEs to organize instructional content to support desire learning outcomes.

Prepare your instructional systems designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your instructional systems designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an instructional systems designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Instructional Systems Designer Resume templates

Build a professional Instructional Systems Designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Instructional Systems Designer resume.

Apply for instructional systems designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an instructional systems designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average instructional systems designer salary

The average Instructional Systems Designer salary in the United States is $65,907 per year or $32 per hour. Instructional systems designer salaries range between $46,000 and $93,000 per year.

Average Instructional Systems Designer Salary

$65,907 Yearly

$31.69 hourly

How do instructional systems designers rate their job?