As part of the challenge, everyone received a workbook, and every day this week, Robin held a live training session empowering people to take the first steps in creating a hiring manager avatar, identifying their ideal IDOL role, and developing portfolio items for the job hunt. The transition to becoming an instructional designer is a challenge, but it is easier when you are not doing it alone. 

This week has been full of community and working together toward goals, asking questions, and learning more. Strangers formed accountability groups and helped each other on the path to a career in instructional design. This is a significant first step in networking. Networking is an integral part of the job search. In this week's Become an IDOL podcast, Robin talks to Academy member Stanislav Nachev, a former K-12 technology, and accessibility coach that became an IDOL through networking on LinkedIn.

This challenge has solidified some people's desire to become an instructional designer, and for others, they realized the profession was not for them by learning more. One of the statements that resonated with many about instructional design was the job is half research and half artistry. I think people's favorite lesson was yesterday called the course of 1000 faces. Challengers learned how to create multiple assets off one idea to save time in the portfolio creation process.

The challenge helped many people to start their process. Many times, people are not successful because of skill, but because they never get started. If this is you, you need to kick self-doubt to the curb. 

If you are someone who has been looking to do something, whatever it is in your life, get up and just start the process. You need inertia to get you going, but once you start, you will be unstoppable. This is your year to get the ball rolling. I know several of the participants from the Become an IDOL 5 Day Challenge will be joining The Academy to keep that momentum going. The Academy provides further mentorship and skill-building activities to support and grow a person's transferable skills to land their IDOL dream job.

 FYI: Robin said she will do the challenge again, so keep an eye out for another run in the future. She had a fun time interacting and helping people jumpstart 2021.

If you are interested in The Academy, enrollment begins January 11th. Information calls will be available if you have more questions until January 22nd. Click here to schedule a call with Robin or here to speak to an Academy member. Find out if The Academy is the right fit to help you on your Become an IDOL journey.

Written by: Tabatha Dragonberry 

Connect with Tabatha on LinkedIn.

Tabatha is an EdTech entrepreneur, instructional designer, content writer, and educator dedicated to developing interactive and engaging learning ecosystems. She has a passion for gamification, learning experience design, and the integration of social learning to improve learner engagement and knowledge retention. Also, she is a respiratory therapist who hosts The Vent Room podcast providing a little inspiration to respiratory therapists.