E-Learning Design - How did you get started?

Really? I was a tennis coach. Seems a long time ago now.

Martin, putting the tennis stuff aside, I'd always played around with computers and other technology so I ended up working in the field. Then I took a career break as I wanted to do something that made more of a difference to people. Trained as a CTI coach and did some career/personal coaching for a couple of years. Ended up wanting to mix in the technology angle and ended up in an elearning role. That was 7 years ago. And although that role began in sales n marketing, I used my own time to learn about the design aspects by playing with software, talking to people, getting a feel for the challenges / what works / what doesn't work etc.

Depending on what you need to earn right now, I'd recommend playing with as much software as you can (including Storyline) while contacting NGOs etc like William says.

Good luck.