Steven Chea

Before I joined Devlin’s bootcamp, I was hunting for work in the instructional design field with little luck, and I had only a vague idea of what a portfolio should contain. What I came up with was essentially a picture gallery of my work that provided little explanation of my process or impact.

I recognized quickly that this wouldn’t get me far, and I began searching for advice on how to improve it. I stumbled across Devlin’s website and began reading the articles there. These articles were more relevant to the specific challenges faced by transitioning instructional designers than most other resources I encountered. 

Because his work resonated with me, I jumped on the opportunity to join Devlin’s bootcamp as soon as it was available. I entered expecting a typical online course comprised of weekly webinars, but I’m happy to report that it ended up being much more. 

The content itself was clear and backed up by strong examples, and everyone had the chance to get direct feedback on their work from peers and Devlin himself. The community of like-minded people made the bootcamp a great place to network and share ideas.

After weeks of hard work driven by loads of valuable input, I finally created a portfolio that I felt proud of. Not only did it provide a much more detailed showcase of my abilities, but it also allowed my personality to shine through. 

Even better, my portfolio got me noticed! I recently landed a role as an instructional designer with a training provider in Dublin, Ireland (and yes, they did specifically highlight my portfolio during the interview). I’m truly grateful for all that I learned and the relationships I built from participating in the bootcamp, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone else looking to gain an edge on breaking into the field.