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June 9, 2026

The 9-Week Summer Portfolio Plan for Aspiring IDs

Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career
Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career
The 9-Week Summer Portfolio Plan for Aspiring IDs
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Show Notes

Here’s what to expect from this episode:

Every summer, I hear the same thing: “This is the summer I’m finally going to do it.” And then August comes, and nothing happened. Sound familiar?

In this episode, I’m giving you the exact week-by-week plan I would follow if I were starting my instructional design transition from scratch. We’re talking about a real, structured nine-week plan focused on the heaviest lift: learning Storyline and creating your first portfolio sample the RIGHT way.

Topics covered:

  • Why so many people let summer slip away without making real progress and how to make sure that doesn’t happen to you
  • Why Storyline is the skill you need to focus on this summer and what makes it the heaviest lift
  • The full nine-week breakdown, week-by-week, for learning ID fundamentals, mastering Storyline, and building a polished portfolio sample
  • Why scaffolding your learning matters and why you should NOT try to learn everything at once
  • Why a first draft is never enough, and what it actually takes to create a sample that wows a hiring manager
  • How to use AI as both a productivity tool and an accountability partner throughout the process

Are you committing to the nine-week plan this summer? I’d love to hear about it. Join our Facebook group and let’s discuss!

Resources and Links Mentioned:

Connect with Jill:

Instagram  

Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career Facebook Group  

LinkedIn  

Website  

Thanks for joining us on the Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review to help us reach even more freedom seekers and aspiring instructional designers.

More about Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career Podcast

Thinking about becoming an Instructional Designer (ID) but have no idea how to get started? Instructional Design is a field that is high in demand, very flexible, highly lucrative, and provides you with a great work-life balance (say bye to being overworked and underpaid)!  

Join Jill Davidian, 21-year corporate Instructional Design veteran and host of Jumpstart Your Instructional Design Career! Jill has worked in many different industries, including finance, health care, oil and gas, manufacturing, and even with the United Nations. She has helped over 1200 new Instructional Designers launch their ID careers with corporate giants like Google and Amazon as well as smaller companies.  

Each week she brings real talk, advice and inspiration, and interviews to help budding IDs stand out from the crowd and get that first job. Whether you are trying to figure out if Instructional Design is right for you or you are ready to create a portfolio and rework your resume, you are in the right place to jumpstart your Instructional Design career.

Join the Facebook Group

For New and Aspiring Instructional Designers

One of the most important steps you can make in your career transition is to surround yourself with others who are doing the same thing. Sometimes we just need that reassurance that we are on the right path. 

Join our community of new and aspiring Instructional Designers just like you, and learn more about this transition with FREE community events, practical trainings, Q&As, and mindset videos to get you on the right path.

About the Show

Thinking about a career in Corporate Instructional Design but have no idea how to get started? Wondering if it’s right for you? Trying to figure out how to stand out from the crowd and actually land your ID job? If any of these questions were a “YES”, and you want to get the REAL DEAL from someone with 20 years of Corporate ID experience, check out and subscribe to our podcast below!

Meet the Host

Jill Davidian

Jill is a 20 year veteran in the Instructional Design space, working as an ID/eLearning Developer and hiring them. She is the founder of Learning Strategy and Design, a custom learning solutions firm that designs learning for corporate clients, and she has helped over 500 aspiring Instructional Designers stand out and transition into the field through her 9-month ID career development program, Applied Instructional Design Academy.

She has her ear to the ground on what hiring managers are looking for and her passion is helping YOU create FREEDOM through this field.

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