How to hire an instructional designer and trainer

How to hire an instructional designer and trainer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step instructional designer and trainer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an instructional designer and trainer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new instructional designer and trainer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an instructional designer and trainer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the instructional designer and trainer you need to hire. Certain instructional designer and trainer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An instructional designer and trainer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, instructional designer and trainers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of instructional designer and trainers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Instructional Designer And Trainer	Description	Hourly rate
   Instructional Designer And Trainer	Instructional coordinators oversee school curriculums and teaching standards. They develop instructional material, coordinate its implementation with teachers and principals, and assess its effectiveness.	$23-41
   Training Consultant	A training consultant's job is to prepare, evaluate, and execute an organization's employee education programs. Their duties and responsibilities may include developing instructional materials, identifying knowledge and skills gaps, and organizing learning activities... Show more	$18-40
   Training Developer	A training developer is responsible for organizing process training and development programs for the employees. Training developers coordinate with the management to identify training criteria and processes that would fit the company's goals and objectives... Show more	$21-42

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Instructional Design
   • Subject Matter Experts
   • Blended Learning
   • Training Programs
   • Training Materials
   • Led Training
   • Training Content
   • Project Management
   • SMEs
   • Learning Objectives
   • Photoshop
   • ELearning
   • Learning Management System
   • Training Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop PowerPoint presentations to support instructor lead courses and other training documentation including job aids, and business process procedures.
   • Work with clients through all ISD phases to ensure customer needs are met.
   • Coordinate and execute changes to existing ISD products using analysis and change criteria.
   • Utilize a variety of communication venues: email, SharePoint web portal pages, and hard copies.
   • Interview SMEs to establish technical specifications for document development.
   • Research instructional technology trends, implement multimedia enhancements, update HTML coding.

   More instructional designer and trainer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your instructional designer and trainer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An instructional designer and trainer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an instructional designer and trainer in Mississippi may be lower than in Connecticut, and an entry-level instructional designer and trainer usually earns less than a senior-level instructional designer and trainer. Additionally, an instructional designer and trainer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average instructional designer and trainer salary

   $65,072yearly

   $31.28 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level instructional designer and trainer salary

   $48,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average instructional designer and trainer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Maryland	$83,526	$40
   2	New York	$80,137	$39
   3	California	$73,742	$35
   4	Virginia	$73,042	$35
   5	Washington	$71,136	$34
   6	Massachusetts	$71,113	$34
   7	Oregon	$68,988	$33
   8	Colorado	$66,048	$32
   9	Michigan	$65,499	$31
   10	Illinois	$63,977	$31
   11	Texas	$63,455	$31
   12	Minnesota	$62,814	$30
   13	Wyoming	$62,219	$30
   14	Georgia	$61,556	$30
   15	North Carolina	$60,011	$29
   16	South Carolina	$57,618	$28
   17	Utah	$57,568	$28
   18	Missouri	$55,947	$27
   19	Florida	$54,338	$26
   20	Ohio	$54,101	$26

   Average instructional designer and trainer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$110,331	$53.04	48
   2	SoCalGas	$92,523	$44.48
   3	Morgan Stanley	$89,091	$42.83	8
   4	Tesla	$86,927	$41.79	4
   5	Oracle	$85,383	$41.05	241
   6	Scantron	$82,493	$39.66
   7	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$82,192	$39.52	8
   8	University of California-Berkeley	$80,961	$38.92	1
   9	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$79,691	$38.31
   10	Safran	$77,215	$37.12	3
   11	Equifax	$73,128	$35.16
   12	SAIC	$72,997	$35.09	16
   13	Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation Inc.	$72,936	$35.07	2
   14	Bell Flight	$72,688	$34.95
   15	Webster University	$72,494	$34.85
   16	University of Massachusetts Boston	$72,315	$34.77
   17	Salsa Labs	$72,004	$34.62
   18	Hackensack Meridian Health	$71,455	$34.35	6
   19	UNC Health Care	$70,889	$34.08	14
   20	University of Mississippi Medical Center	$70,802	$34.04	3

4. Writing an instructional designer and trainer job description

   A good instructional designer and trainer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an instructional designer and trainer job description:

   Instructional designer and trainer job description example

   + 100% Remote position, candidates can be located anywhere in the US, but prefers EST and CST. Candidates must have reliable internet connection. Please specify which location candidates reside on their resume.
   + This role is for a Medicare Training Instructional Designer.
   
   + Consult with management and stakeholders across Client's Medicare org to gain knowledge of work situations that require a learning solution and to better understand how policy changes, procedure changes, and business initiatives may require a learning intervention
   
   + Work on multiple projects concurrently, manage learning tasks, progress, and time related to project development
   
   + Create and implement innovative learning solutions using rapid dev techniques
   
   + Collaborate with business managers, SME, and compliance to identify learning and performance needs
   
   + Provide consultative expertise to the design and dev. of learning solutions
   
   + Create training design docs that clearly communicate learning strategies to address needs, including content outlines, flow diagrams, and resource/reference docs
   
   + Design and develop blended training programs that include dynamic, engaging instructional interactions, with element including instructor-led training, eLearning, simulations, reference guides, on-the-job training, and the use of internal social media working with instructional designers, trainers, subject matter experts, and other business partners
   
   Skills: Expertise in all areas of L&D including learning solutions, design/implementation, instructional design (editing, proofreading and formatting skills), learning technology, and infrastructure, informal/collaborative learning, and evaluation preferable. Excellent presentation skills with the ability to present information in a confident, creative and interactive manner. Ability to develop clear and concise written communication; research, develop and implement new training and development programs; work independently and make effective decisions; coordinate multiple tasks and work effectively as a team member. Proficient with Learning & Development technologies:e-learning development tools (i.e., such as Articulate Storyline, Captivate, Camtasia and Microsoft Office tools),image editing tools (i.e., SnagIt and Photoshop), Online survey tools, Learning Management systems and Web conferencing tools (WebEx) Knowledge of healthcare and/or Medicare a plus Top three skills: Previous Instructional Design Experience, Ability to multitask and meet deadlines, Work with minimal instruction - go getters and be proactive with asking questions

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right instructional designer and trainer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your instructional designer and trainer job on Zippia to find and recruit instructional designer and trainer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting instructional designer and trainers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new instructional designer and trainer

   Once you've found the instructional designer and trainer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new instructional designer and trainer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an instructional designer and trainer?