How To Create Job Offers To Secure Top Instructional Designers
Recruitment is a high-stakes game where only the company smart enough to make the right offer to the right professional comes out as the winner. Once the hiring team has met with suitable candidates and selected one who could be the next best talent to complete corporate goals, it’s time to make a formal job offer. But here is when too many companies fall short of the finish line. They either don’t offer an opportunity that resonates with their prime candidates, or they fail to do their homework and offer something that will deflect any offers from competing companies.
The key to securing top Instructional Designers is in the job offer itself. Sure, we can spend a great deal of time talking about corporate culture, the clients, and how wonderful it is to work here, blah blah blah… A job offer should be a glimpse of what the candidate needs in the next phase of his or her career. It must speak directly to these desires.
How Can A Company Deliver The Best Job Offers To Hire Top Performing Instructional Designers?
By following these steps, any company can provide an outstanding job offer to attract and retain the best Instructional Designers.
1. Research The Current Job Market And Salary Surveys
Instructional Design is evolving as a career and, therefore, what may have been a good job offer 6 months ago may not be as good today. Take the time to research the current job market to find out what skills are most desired from L&D candidates. Tap into free salary surveys to determine an accurate range of salary and benefits that Instructional Designers will expect in a job offer.
2. Connect With Industry-Leading Job Boards To Review Competing Offers
When developing a solid job offer for an Instructional Design candidate, it’s important to note what other firms are offering in terms of compensation. A great place to find more specific information about current job offers is within a community of learning professionals on an industry-leading job board. eLearning Industry has a growing job board which provides not only a place to post a job offer in front of an eager group of skilled candidates, but it can also give recruiters a chance to see what current L&D talent is looking for.
3. Understand The Changing Demands Of Instructional Design
While the eLearning market is just coming into its maturity phase, there are still many new aspects of the work that Instructional Designers must keep up with. This is a very challenging job, and L&D pros must be able to adapt and maintain sharp skills as technology and learning behavior changes. When designing a job offer for Instructional Designers, consider that the role you may be hiring them, for now, may change over time, and therefore it needs to be flexible and generous enough that talent can see themselves there in a few years.
4. Consider The Life Status Of The Candidate
One of the areas that many recruiters overlook is where the candidate is in his or her life. This is important because an early career candidate with dependents will have a different set of needs than a more mature candidate who has worked on big projects. The younger candidate may be looking for flexibility and great benefits, while the mature candidate may be looking for better projects and retirement benefits. During the interview stage, ask the candidate to describe the kind of job offer he or she desires. Use this as the basis of your job offer.
5. Offer A Structured And Supported Career Path
No matter what evel an Instructional Designer may be, there is always room to grow. The market has become skills-based and knowledge is power. As you craft a job offer for an Instructional Design hire, think about the next 12-month period, and how you can develop a structured professional development plan. This can be discussed during the interview phase, and a custom plan can be created. Think additional certifications, opportunities to hone professional skills, work with the video production team, attend industry conferences, and more.
6. Highlight The Unique And Positive Organizational Culture
Companies have a lot of competition, therefore the only way they can stand out in a job offer, besides the above factors, is by highlighting the uniqueness of the corporate culture. Instructional Designers are looking for a great experience, so if your company is known for having strong values of respect, listening to employee ideas, having fun, and using modern systems of getting things done—any one of these cultural aspects could influence the candidate to choose you over another company.
Consider the above steps as you design a thoughtful job offer for your ideal Instructional Design candidate. Use the eLearning Industry job boards to post your job, and search through hundreds of resumes for the right fit for your company.