Instructional Design Jobs in the Philippines: From Unicorns to Hotcakes

Once upon a time, in the BPO industry of the Philippines, instructional design jobs were rare, if not non-existent. As a trainer and training leader, course development was baked into our responsibilities.

I first landed an official ID (Instructional Design) role 15 years ago. I was a Senior Lead for Content Design and Development, supporting the training needs of non-operations teams (e.g., HR and IT). We were the only team that offered ID services to the entire organization. Lectora was our authoring tool, and we were slowly migrating to the CourseMill LMS platform while painfully dealing with Moodle withdrawal. We lived in simpler times; everything was linear, and the use of negative space was unheard of. And branching? What branching? We worked from home and were only required to report onsite when course requestors preferred face-to-face meetings over virtual ones. It was the perfect job for a woman  transitioning to motherhood. I was constantly in a state of creative bliss.

Fast forward to the pandemic. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. With a series of lockdowns and businesses to run, companies turned to the scalable powers of digital learning solutions and virtual classes. Everyone loved the results.

Today, instructional design jobs are selling like hotcakes. It's a slow and steady journey to hypergrowth. ID teams have become their own units, so valuable that in some BPOs, ID services are even outsourced to high-profile clients. This demand has created a steady supply of ID jobs that are evolving at the speed of light. It's no longer enough for an instructional designer to know ADDIE. Some job postings now require proficiency in graphic design, video creation, and video editing. The ability to leverage AI (artificial intelligence) - whatever that means to the hiring manager - has become a preferred skill.

Instructional Designers are writers, educators, art directors, layout artists, multimedia artists, learning experience designers, scriptwriters, and project managers. While ID jobs may be selling like hotcakes, those who want to build a career in this field are expected to be unicorns (a tall but fair expectation?). After all, Instructional Designers make the learning world a more magical place, one frame at a time.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

BPO Training Teams circa 2000

 I started my L&D career in a department called PeopleSupport University. Process and Product Trainers, Onboarding Trainers, Communication Coaches, Corporate Development Trainers, Leadership Development Trainers, Content and Design Developers, and Training Resource Administrators cohabitated in a special place that always smelled like whiteboard markers, photocopier ink, training principles, and organizational high peformance. We were our own unit, with our own voice, striving to satisfy the needs of the business in the merry web known as dotted lines.

L&D mattered. It was solid.

As BPOs evolved, the L&D function turned into liquid or gas, taking the shape of its container. I've seen it adopted by HR, Process Excellence, Consumer Insights, and fairly recently --- Operations. You could almost taste the transformation when it happened. I will be posting some variations in organizational structure soon.

We are insoluble and intrinsically colloidal. We will mix where poured but we will always do things, where and when we can, for the discipline.

Where does your team sit in your organization's structure?

Certified Learning and Development Professional... After 20 years!

A couple of years ago, toward the tail end of the pandemic, I applied for a leadership training role in the BPO industry. I performed well at every stage of the application process, or so I was told. All my interviewers had wonderful things to say about my work experience. My prayers—along with those of my loved ones—my stamina, and a bit of good luck brought me to the offer stage.

The thoughtful recruitment officer did her best to meet my expected compensation package. She asked if I could enhance my profile with any training certifications or post-graduate degrees. Of course, the answer was a polite no. I took a pay cut for the love of L&D.

It’s not that I don’t believe in certifications; I simply don’t possess the shiny credentials that meet the demands of the new economy. I love learning and exploring concepts, both old and new. If there were a top badge for Google searches, I would surely rank way above super platinum. My L&D knowledge treasure troves include LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Coursera, YouTube, TED Talks, and good old-fashioned books. I have a diverse army of mentors, friends, and family members who engage me in fun, fruitful, controversial, and progressive conversations about L&D.

A Professional Epiphany

I recently worked on an instructional design project on the subject of "Executive Presence". This project prompted an intense introspection regarding my own hesitant journey to build and cultivate my personal brand. Is my definition of my personal brand reflected in my online presence? I decided to initiate the post-training activities I had drafted for the course participants, particularly focusing on the Personal Brand domain of expertise.

First Step: Find an affordable yet industry-recognized certification program. I'm very happy to report that after 20 years in L&D, I am now a Certified Learning and Development Professional.

Photo posted by our amazing trainer, Jeff Garcia.

Second Step: This blog. I envision this platform as an accessible time capsule of my experiences and learnings from this industry that I love unconditionally. I aspire for new and seasoned L&D practitioners to find a community in this virtual parking lot (trainer speak!).

There are more steps in the drawing board and hundreds of topics to write about. Wherever you are in your own personal journey, I wish you all the best.

Have an enriching week ahead!