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The differences between instructional design consultants and senior instructional designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an instructional design consultant and a senior instructional designer. Additionally, an instructional design consultant has an average salary of $70,045, which is higher than the $68,140 average annual salary of a senior instructional designer.
The top three skills for an instructional design consultant include instructional design, subject matter experts and elearning. The most important skills for a senior instructional designer are instructional design, subject matter experts, and project management.
| Instructional Design Consultant | Senior Instructional Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $70,045 | $68,140 |
| Hourly rate | $33.68 | $32.76 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 47,057 | 47,093 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An instructional design consultant is responsible for assisting, developing, and managing instructional material and plans with other professionals such as programmers, web developers, and teachers in IT. They usually collaborate, coordinate, and interact with the aforementioned professionals to develop a program design to enhance their expertise and learning experiences. Also, they must research electronic learning, run usability tests, find learning objectives for a particular project, and do a content development review and analysis.
A senior instructional designer specializes in developing instructional and educational materials for a specific group of individuals, including children and adults. Their duties involve working together with the clients in identifying project needs and requirements, collaborating with experts, conducting research and assessments, utilizing theories and other studies in developing instructional materials, and subjecting the materials into different inspections to ensure quality and accuracy. Additionally, a senior instructional designer must utilize their expertise and experience by training and supervising junior designers while implementing policies and regulations.
Instructional design consultants and senior instructional designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instructional Design Consultant | Senior Instructional Designer | |
| Average salary | $70,045 | $68,140 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $95,000 | Between $49,000 And $93,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Newtown, CT |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Qualtrics | Algolia |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between an instructional design consultant and a senior instructional designer in terms of educational background:
| Instructional Design Consultant | Senior Instructional Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between instructional design consultants' and senior instructional designers' demographics:
| Instructional Design Consultant | Senior Instructional Designer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 45.7% Female, 54.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 5.4% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 5.5% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |