Sara Stevick is a former teacher, current instructional designer, and the founder of an incredible community that helps teachers navigate their Path to L&D. We talk about the misplaced guilt associated with leaving a teaching job (especially midyear), how Sara taught herself instructional design for free to find her first role, and what kinds of teachers are best suited for similar careers.
But first: what is instructional design? In a nutshell, it’s the design, development, and delivery of learning experiences. So… it’s what you already do as a teacher, with a different set of tools and for different types of learners. L&D (which stands for Learning & Development, the typical name for the department that employs instructional designers) is not specific to EdTech; large companies in all industries hire instructional designers to create training courses for employees!
What initially drew you to teaching?
I took an American Sign Language (ASL) class in High School. On the first day, we walked in and the teacher did not say a single word. She signed to us and pointed around the room; we were totally clueless at first, but by the end of the class, we knew how to introduce ourselves and ask basic questions. It was learning through immersion, and it was so beautiful. It made me want to be a teacher.
My first three years, I taught at a residential school for the deaf, and I really taught everything: Personal Finance, Functional Reading/Writing, English 9–12, Ecology, and Chemistry. All in sign language, all to high school students who were reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. I had to do it all because the population of deaf educators is so small. This was fun because I love to learn. I woke up in the morning and was like, I’m going to learn something new today!
What were the hardest parts of teaching for you?
After my time at the residential school, I moved into itinerant teaching for the deaf, which meant I had very limited time to work on life skills with each of my students. It wasn’t enough time to meet their needs, which broke my heart because I didn’t feel like I was able to make enough of a difference. I moved into GenEd and taught High School Biology and Anatomy. Over time, I realized I love learning and creating new things, and there wasn’t much opportunity for that after a few years. The role was starting to feel repetitive; I was starting to feel like I needed a different challenge.
Is that why you decided to leave?
Actually, no. My last teaching situation was unfortunately a very bad fit. When I came back from medical leave, I came back to an unstable environment, where I knew I couldn’t guarantee my safety or the safety of my students. The administration’s answer when I asked for help mostly boiled down to “call the parents” (which I exhausted with no change) — there were no consequences, and the students knew they could just do whatever they wanted.
I left in the middle of the school year, which is something I never thought I would do. I had already gone to great lengths to finish out the previous school year after returning from maternity leave, because I wanted to give that continuity to my kids.
I also quit teaching in March of my last school year. Part of me wanted to stick it out because I thought I was “supposed to,” but I was struggling emotionally. Years later, I still have feelings of shame about this, but it was also one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Isn’t that interesting? We feel that guilt and we feel that shame, but we don’t have regret. You have to wonder why. Back to the dating analogy… what it really boils down to is that we were in a relationship with a narcissistic, gaslighting entity. On the one hand, we were told we were respected and appreciated, but if we expressed we needed additional support in order to maintain control over the situation we were in, then we were horrible people because “good teachers” martyr themselves and are humble. When in actuality, that’s not what makes a good teacher! It’s just what society puts on us.
Teachers chalk up these complex experiences to burnout, but it’s really something more than that. It’s demoralization. You originally started doing the job because you wanted to help kids. And when you realize all of the factors that stand in the way of you doing your job, then what’s left? Not much of a monetary motivator, or a respect motivator.
Plus, you can only help kids if you’re in a good place yourself. And if you are to the point of exhausting all your options, left with little to no support when it really matters, and you’re feeling yourself sacrificing your mental, emotional, and physical health like I was, then despite your best intentions and the fact you continue to show up everyday…it’s just not what’s best for you or your students at that time. And that’s not because you didn’t try — it’s because of circumstances that are outside of your control.
I totally relate to all of that. It took time (& therapy!) for me to unpack how teaching affected my perception of myself. I wasn’t betraying anyone by leaving — I was just looking out for my wellbeing!
Exactly. I was 16 when I decided I wanted to be a teacher. Why is that a life sentence? People change jobs all the time, and teaching is one of the only paths that makes you feel guilty about it (and even threatens you not to do it during most times of the year).
How did you navigate the job search after you left the classroom?
I left teaching with no plan and no job. I hadn’t heard of L&D or Instructional Design and didn’t know what I was going to do next, but I was like, “I’m going to make it, because I’ll be damned if this ruins me!”
I first heard about L&D in passing, once I got on LinkedIn and started exploring different options. There were SO many programs that said things like, “I’ll help you for the low, low price of $1500.” And it’s like, I just lost my job. I have no savings, and I’m desperate. What do I do with that? Do I pay for the program I’m seeing on LinkedIn? Do I go it alone?
I’m thankful for my background because I wasn’t afraid of learning. I taught myself Instructional Design, just like I taught myself the subjects that I taught, and I treated it like a full-time job. I set up a schedule: In the mornings I listened to my podcast, then did an eLearning on LinkedIn (which has a free trial of Premium). In the afternoons, I would practice in Articulate Storyline. Eventually I moved into tailoring my application documents and meaningfully applying to positions I was actually interested in, versus blanket applying.
I thought I was ready in the beginning, but I wasn’t. Looking back, I realize how much I learned and grew during those few months.
Tell me about what it was like to eventually land your first position outside of the classroom.
One day, the recruiter at a large financial institution called and said they wanted to make me an offer for an Instructional Design position after I had completed a rather rigorous interview process. But the next day, she called and said they were on a hiring freeze because of Covid: the position dissolved. This was hard. I ate a lot of Ben & Jerry’s, and I had a few glasses of wine over the next month.
Finally, I saw a new post for a role in a different team at the same company. This one was in the audit department, which was not exactly what I would call my cup of tea at the time!l! I applied anyway, and had to start all over: I did several interview rounds and made a new demo. But guess what? I still got the job. And guess what else? I actually really liked the audit department!
One big thing I want to put out there for teachers who are exploring instructional design — you don’t have to go for something you know. First of all, this isn’t like teaching where you set up shop and stay forever. If you don’t like it, you can move. And second of all, you’re not expected to be the content expert! You’re expected to meet with experts who know the content, and then you put that information in a deliverable package: maybe a newsletter, an activity, a slide deck. All those awesome things you worked on as a teacher but thought, “if only I had 8 more days to do this…”
How did you know L&D was a good fit for you? Who might not be a good fit for this path?
I knew this was right for me because it checked off the boxes I loved as a teacher: I got to learn new tech tools that I loved. I got to do a ton of sleuthing to really get to the bottom of problems. Who is the audience? What’s most important? What can I leave out? You get to ask lots of questions. If you love to learn and create and talk to people about how things work, if you’re tech-savvy and constantly looking for “the next thing” in education… this could be a good fit.
On the other hand, Instructional Design might not be for you if you don’t want to sit at a computer for hours (there’s a lot of that). Another thing that may be hard for some teachers is that as an instructional designer, you rarely get to see the “aha” moment: if we make a course, a trainer or facilitator actually delivers that course.
Lastly, if you feel the need to be in constant control of your content, L&D is hard. You do have a client; you can tell them best practices, but at the end of the day you’re getting paid, and sometimes they’re going to want to use their color scheme or change the activity. Also, you’re not the subject matter expert! I have learned a lot about auditing, but I still work with someone to make sure I know what I’m talking about. If you feel the need to be the expert, you might get frustrated.
Tell me about your online community: “Teaching: A Path to L&D.” What motivated you to start this project?
I started this in October 2020 accidentally. I was loving my new job but I knew something was missing — it didn’t fill something inside me the way teaching did. We became teachers because we want to help people, to contribute to our society and our community. It’s important to find ways to continue to do that regardless of your job, whether it’s mentoring or coaching or tutoring. For me, it was starting this community.
I was still hanging out in teacher groups on Facebook. I saw someone post on there and ask what other opportunities were out there for former teachers. I offered to talk to teachers about L&D, and was suddenly inundated with messages. I realized that I needed to get all these people in one room to talk about this because I wouldn’t have a life otherwise.
I thought I could do a Zoom call, so I built a slide deck… and then I realized there was too much content to fit in one meeting, which led to my eight-webinar series. At first it was super informal: I made everything myself. Then others like Heidi Kirby reached out to help, and we set up the LinkedIn group. This grew over time, and now we have a website and offer free office hours to help with portfolios and resume writing.
It’s really important to us that everything we do is for free; it’s upsetting to see people bottling air and trying to sell it for outrageous amounts of money. I understand making some profit on something you built and curated, but there is a difference between fair market price and taking advantage of a population due to poor circumstances.
We don’t encourage or discourage the use of any program, but we do highly encourage teachers to do their research: read testimonials, compare and contrast. Really what we’re saying is: make sure that if you invest in a program, you know exactly why you are doing it, exactly what you will get out of it, and exactly what leverage that will give you. Many times, you can skip buying some of these courses, as you can find it online for free, or for a very reasonable price! That’s why I loved this course I found last week: a five week, free program on the foundations of learning experience design from NovoEd. You can also use LinkedIn Learning and Udemy — they provide you with the same base knowledge as many of the pop-up shops for learning Instructional Design.
You’ve created and curated tons of resources on resume writing. Where do you tell teachers to start?
I did a mini webinar series for resume writing for teachers moving into L&D, and then a video with a broader scope that might make sense to watch first, all of which can be found on our YouTube Channel.
Something to keep in mind is that you can’t use a canned resume for every job you apply to. When I first applied, I sent out the same resume to every job and didn’t hear back. I didn’t realize it, but I was indirectly saying, “I’m a teacher, but I can do your job.” That messaging indicates that I hadn’t upskilled yet. I hadn’t taken the time to tailor my abilities to the job description or personalized my application. Every time you are applying for a role, you should order your key achievements in the same order they are listed in the job description!
In addition, Jobscan.co has a wealth of information about ATS systems and what they do, and how to leverage all parts of your application.
What do you mean by “all parts of your application?”
If I asked you what your “application document” is, you’d probably say your resume. But in actuality, your application also includes your cover letter (which I highly recommend writing because only 20% of applicants take the time to do this!)
Then you have your resume, and then you have your LinkedIn profile, which is an extension of your resume that is tangible and living. And don’t forget your portfolio of work samples. These parts work together — they each demonstrate unique pieces of you.
I talked to some hiring managers who mention they don’t even look at resumes, and prefer LinkedIn profiles!
Your professional presence on LinkedIn is very important. You should post once or twice a week, and your posts should be relevant to your job or volunteer work: “this week I learned about x, here are my top three takeaways,” and then maybe a call to action to boost your visibility on people’s feeds. That way, your profile becomes a living example of what you would bring to a company.
That’s super interesting! A strong LinkedIn presence could tell a prospective employer that you’re creative, that you’re a good writer, that you have initiative…
Or some undesirable traits too! Do you give actionable, respectful feedback? Do you work to bring more people into the community, or are you exclusive? Employers notice these things, because they show how you would act in a workplace.
One tricky thing is that every role is different, and every hiring manager is different. It’s important to think about how you come across in various parts of your application — but it’s also important to be authentic and genuine! Can you imagine how exhausting it would be to pretend to be something you’re not for 40 hours a week? That’s the line you walk. You have to be professional, but you also have to be honest about what you want, because not every shoe is going to fit.
When I was a teacher, I thought that generally a school is a school, kids are kids, I would have control over my classroom and could make it what I wanted. In corporate land, companies are very different from each other. There will be workplaces that value outspoken employees, or workplaces that are super formal. You have to ask yourself: do I align with this company? If they don’t like what I’m about, is that somewhere I want to work?
If L&D sounds like a good fit…
- Check out Sara’s webinar to kickoff your instructional design journey.
- Join her incredibly supportive community on LinkedIn for daily free resource shares and a place to share and collaborate!
- Check out Teaching: A Path to L&D’s website for more free resources and updates.