Section 6

I visited careerbuilder.com. I put in keywords Instructional Design and narrowed my search by education and the location as Dallas, Texas.
I found an opening for an Instructional Designer II. This is an education position. The candidate would perform job task analysis and curriculum design. The candidate must have knowledge of creative application of instructional design and consultation skills on design and development of course materials. I really don't have these skills and truthfully I am not interested in instructional design or curriculum design. This job needs a person with 5-7 years experience.

Instructional Designer : The job type is consulting in a computer software company. The requirements are a bachelor's degree in relevant discipline and 4-5 years experience in an e-learning environment. The candidate should be able to deliver e-learning projects and have strong storyboarding skills. The candidate should have an in-depth knowledge of learning methodologies and experience in Lectora-designed projects would be highly desired. Also, experience in Web Design would be desired but is not essential. Again, I would not be qualified for this position. I think I will keep the one I have.

Instructional Designer. This position is for the Corporate Training Department of a Health care Company. The job requirements are as follows:
-Develop learning experiences utilizing various delivery methods including instructor-led self-study and e-learning including development of metrics to assess training outcomes.
-Conduct pilot classes, rain the trainer sessions, classroom training and leadership workshops as operationally needed.
I wouldn't be qualified for this positioneither, but it sounds like something that I could do after some training.

2. I browsed careeronestop.com. I used the Interest Profiler as a tool for career exploration. I scored the highest in the are of artistic score. I knew that I liked having a career with some creativity. I scored a 12 in the social and enterprising areas. I have always liked jobs where I could talk with and help people such as in retail or counseling. I was originally a psychology major. I also would love to have my own business. Next I scored an 11 on the Investigative area. I like to do some types of research and am a naturally curious person. I scored a 4 in the Conventional area and the lowest was a 1 in the Realistic area. I'm not a hands-on fix-it kind of person. These are not surprising scores as I've had enough jobs to know what my interests are. On the other hand, I was surprised that my Artistic Interest Score was the highest.

3. Chapter 26
Professional Organizations
Academy of Human Resource Development
The mission of AHRD is to lead human resource development through research. The cost of membership is $235 annually. The publications included in the membership are: Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Resource Development, and Human Resource Development Review. Included is the annual research conference with full refereed proceedings. several other meetings are held in different regions of the world. There were some academic programs through Texas A & M and UNT and other professional development opportunities. There are forums and such as well. The organization encourages the incorporation of research results and HRD degree and professional development programs. Included in the membership is an affiliation with two special interest groups.

The American Society for Training & Development
The mission of the organization is to empower professionals to develop knowledge and skills successfully. The cost of a membership is $199 for 12 months. There are two publications included with the membership. These are T & D Magazine and The Buzz. The organization offers several different conferences in different regions of the U. S. such as, "Telling Ain't Training" in Las Vegas in March. They offer quite a few professional development opportunities with a program database of over 30 educational programs across the U.S. onsite and online.

Professional Publications

American Educational Research Journal
According to the site, AERA publishes original empirical and theoretical studies and analysis in education to improve education processes and outcomes.
Publication Standards:
Consult the Standards for Reporting on Empirical Social Science Research in AERA Publicaitons and the Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association.
-APA Style with length Between 20 and 50 pages. There are other elements to consider on a submission preparation checklist.
It is peer reviewed and can be found online.

The American Journal of Distance Education
According to the site, the goals of this journal is disseminating information about research and scholarship in the Americas.
Submissions:
As stated on the website, AJDE, encourages the submission of articles about methods and techniques of teaching at a distance, about learning and about management and administration but also encourages authors to write about policies, theories, and values that drive distance education. The articles should be based on research. Authors should review existing literature. The Chicago Manual of Style should be used as the manuscript style guide. The articles should submitted by e-mail and should not exceed three to four thousand words. The journal is peer reviewed and online.

I found the organizations to be of value especially if I needed training, professional development or was looking for a new job. They also keep one up to date on the latest news and research. The journals were very helpful in providing articles on education, research and distance learning. I had heard of the journals in doing research for other classes.