Author: msautter

Your SIG runs a competition twice yearly to award students with a complimentary membership and bring in fresh new perspectives on the world of Instructional Design. Help us attract a wide range of entrants by publicizing the competition at your workplace, local STC chapter, library, or university.

You could be published before you graduate!

The Society for Technical Communication’s IDL SIG invites undergraduate- and graduate-level students to submit articles related to instructional design to the Student Outreach Article Competition for a chance to be published in our quarterly newsletter IDeaL: Design for Learning.

Winning the Student Outreach Article Competition and having your article published can help you increase your chances of being hired after graduation. It might be just the edge you need to land a great job in technical communication or instructional design!

By having your article published, you will:

• Get your article in front of hundreds of practicing professionals.
• One-year complimentary STC student membership.
• Membership in the IDL SIG.
• Link your article to your resume and LinkedIn.

And that’s not all!

Judges in our competition also recommend whether you should submit your article to the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (TCBOK). If the TCBOK publishes your article, you earn an additional one-year STC/IDL student membership (or its equivalent value)!

You can also insert another link to your article in the TCBOK in your résumé or online portfolio, which is available for reference by thousands of professional technical communicators.

One winner said, “I printed the published article and showed it as I interviewed for a new position as a technical publications writer just last month. I got the job and definitely feel that the published article helped me.” (Read the full article at http://www.stcidlsig.org/engaging-the-reluctant-learner/.)

How to enter the Student Outreach Article Competition

1. Download the complete Entry Package 2021-11 from this page. (Navigate to stcidlsig.org/students if you are reading this in hard copy.) The package contains:
   • Contributor Guidelines.
   • List of topics in Instructional Design. Note: if you choose a topic not listed, you need pre-approval of your topic.
   • Frequently Asked Questions. If the FAQs do not answer your question, email us at StudentOutreach@stcidlsig.org.
   • A final checklist to help ensure your article meets all the requirements.
2. Write an article between 1,000 and 2,500 words. Use the final checklist in the entry package to ensure your article adheres to all guidelines, improving your chances for success.
3. Complete the 2022 Submission Form before submitting your article.
4. Send your article, the submission form, and any graphic files to StudentOutreach@stcidlsig.org by Friday, February 18, 2022.