How do I become a learning and development specialist?

To become a learning and development specialist, you'll need the right educational background, identify any transferable skills, develop your presentation and teaching skills, and look into earning optional certification(s).

How do I start a career in learning and development?

You start a career in learning and developing by gaining the basic educational qualifications to be hired in the field. Training specialists must have at least a bachelor's degree in a related field.

How much do learning specialists get paid?

Learning specialists get paid between $45,000 and $55,000 a year, on average. While the bottom ten percent might only earn $30,000 and the top ten percent over $115,000 per year, the median salary for a learning specialist is $50,000.

How much does a learning and development specialist earn?

A learning and development specialist makes around $65,000 a year, on average. This typically ranges from a low of around $50,000 per year to a high of over $75,000 in a year. The salary for learning and development specialists can vary due to several different factors. These factors include education, experience, industry, company, and location. Combined, these five factors all contribute to the specific salary any given learning and development specialist will make.

How To Become A Learning Development Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a learning development specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Mary Collins,

Maria Salazar Ph.D.

A learning development specialist designs and implements training programs for organizations or individuals. They identify the learning needs of employees and develop strategies to improve performance and productivity. Learning development specialists often collaborate with subject matter experts to create materials such as e-learning modules, videos, and job aids. They may also facilitate training sessions, assess program effectiveness, and make recommendations for improvement. Overall, a learning development specialist helps organizations meet training and development goals.

What general advice would you give to a Learning Development Specialist?

Mary Collins

Professor, Creative Writing/Nonfiction, Program Coordinator, Writing Minors, Career/Internship Advisor, Central Connecticut State University

The main point: your career STARTS IN COLLEGE. The one best place to secure good skills is at the university itself. You can take on tasks at the Student Center that no company would hire you for because you are so inexperienced. So edit the literary journal, write for the newspaper, work for the radio station. Take an internship for course credit. Those that do these things and secure a good faculty mentor do much better when they get out than students who do not. Indeed, national studies show that these factors are more important than the school you go to by far.

ScoreLearning Development SpecialistUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $73,541

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.5

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 6.30%

Black or African American 9.92%

Hispanic or Latino 16.13%

Unknown 6.48%

White 60.66%

Gender

female 67.25%

male 32.75%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.0

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.0

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Learning Development Specialist?

Pros

Ability to work remotely or in a flexible work environment
Competitive salaries and benefits packages
Chance to develop a wide range of skills, including instructional design, project management, and technology skills
Access to the latest learning and development trends and technologies
Opportunities to attend conferences and network with other professionals in the field

Cons

Tight deadlines and high pressure situations
Long hours and irregular schedules
Working with limited budgets or resources can be frustrating
Limited opportunities for creativity if working with rigid corporate guidelines or policies
The potential for burnout due to the demanding nature of the job

Key steps to become a learning development specialist

Explore learning development specialist education requirements

Most common learning development specialist degrees

Bachelor's

67.2 %

Master's

20.0 %

Associate

7.9 %

Start to develop specific learning development specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Training Programs	6.80%
Project Management	6.27%
HR	5.68%
Instructional Design	5.28%
Subject Matter Experts	4.69%

Complete relevant learning development specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New learning development specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a learning development specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real learning development specialist resumes.

Research learning development specialist duties and responsibilities

Work independently and as part of a team to achieve optimal learning retention on EMR systems within the hospital environment.
Lead experiential learning in supervisory skills, conflict management, leadership, team building and organization process effectiveness.
Create and update existing adult learning programs, workbooks, PowerPoint presentations.
Develop standards for job/task analysis, instructor-le training materials, train-the-trainer activities, course maintenance plans, and performance assessment/evaluation tools.

Prepare your learning development specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your learning development specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a learning development specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Learning Development Specialist Resume templates

Build a professional Learning Development Specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Learning Development Specialist resume.

Apply for learning development specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a learning development specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Learning Development Specialist Job

Su M

Learning Development Specialist, ByrneWallace LLP

A Lifelong Passion for Facilitating Growth
My name is Sucheta, and from training geographic information systems (GIS) graduates in India over
15 years ago to my current role as an IT Systems Instructional Designer with ByrneWallace in Dublin
Ireland, empowering others through education has been the unwavering throughline of my
professional journey. In those early training roles, I discovered an inherent drive to share knowledge
and nurture the development of others. This set me on an indelible path that I've followed with
immense passion and poise.
Throughout my diverse career experiences, I've continually gravitated towards positions that
allowed me to uplift my colleagues. Whether coaching data collectors on mapping technologies for
Nokia, onboarding sales professionals at Oracle, crafting growth plans for HP staff, or receiving an
Inspire award for my vision of a cross-departmental knowledge repository – the common
denominator has been my zeal for cultivating growth.
My role with Facebook Ireland as a float resource supporting C-suite executives was enriched by the
parallel opportunity to onboard and train new team members. Similarly at Google, in addition to
managing calendars, I was entrusted to share my training abilities with incoming staff. These
experiences further ignited my passion for accelerating workplace capabilities.
Now as an instructional designer, I get to blend my adoration for learning with the reward of directly
elevating my colleagues' professional journeys every day. The satisfaction of knowing I'm making a
real impact – when training resonates and staff can work smarter – is unparalleled. It's an amazing
process of self-actualization too, constantly evolving my own expertise to effectively create
empowering educational experiences.
Learning is far more than just a career for me; it's a perpetual mindset of growth, curiosity, and
sharing insights that can positively transform each other's work and lives. With boundless knowledge
to explore, I'm continuously reinvigorated by the privilege of both absorbing and imparting valuable
wisdom. Facilitating this elevation of human potential is my life's most rewarding passion.

Average learning development specialist salary

The average Learning Development Specialist salary in the United States is $73,541 per year or $35 per hour. Learning development specialist salaries range between $49,000 and $109,000 per year.

Average Learning Development Specialist Salary

$73,541 Yearly

$35.36 hourly

How do learning development specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Learning Development Specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

First of all, i'll say that i like the routine. I have had amazing health benefits because of waking up early and go to school because i live quite far. In the school, i like the working mechanism and how everyone is committed and dedicated for the job. The most important thing i like is that how i am able to make my place in the room of young, enthusiast children who see me as their mentor. I love being the change maker and i's always love to be a professional learning specialist because this is what angels would do.

Cons

I do not like if any of my students is getting punished by any senior colleague or even his or her parents. I believe the change might occur if we just listen to the concerns of the young lot.