Career benefits of joining professional associations
Western culture loves the myth of the lone achiever trailblazing a path alone and unfettered by social and group connections. In reality, teamwork is effective in endeavors ranging from science to entrepreneurship to sports. In career development, joining a professional association offers opportunities for networking, inside knowledge of job opportunities, continuing education, and career advancement.
Many people know their careers would benefit from increased interaction with colleagues, but they aren’t sure how to make it happen. Let’s examine the steps involved in joining and participating in a professional association.
Research
You may already know which professional associations are key to your career field, but if you don’t, these resources can help. When you search, look at variations of the keyword for your field. For example, in my field, the keywords “psychology,” “psychological,” and “career development” bring up different results to explore.
Career One Stop Professional Association Finder
It can also be useful to run a Google search using keywords for your professional specialty and adding +association or +organization or +society. This is one of the best ways to search if you are looking for professional associations focused on specific technologies.
If you live in Houston, I created this resource: Directory of Houston Professional Associations.
Attend a conference
Once you join a professional association, consider attending a conference. You can accomplish the same amount of career-building networking in three days at a conference as in a significantly greater amount of time on your own. If your budget is tight, look for local regional conferences rather than national or international ones.
When you meet people at an event, evaluate which ones seem positive about the profession and are excited to participate in the camaraderie of being there. Extraverts are likely to be more talkative, but introverts can also be quietly enthusiastic. Either style is fine. The goal is to associate with people with good energy since it will make a difference for your own motivation and engagement.
Participate in online groups
Online participation can be useful, too, especially for people whose family situations make travel to conferences or other events more challenging. LinkedIn groups can be fantastic for making and building professional connections. Look for ones that prohibit excessive self-promotion because if the entire group just feels like spam, engagement drops to zero and it might feel like everyone is shouting into the wind.
When you join a new group, lurk for a while before you post anything or comment on other people’s posts. Groups have cultural norms and until you understand them, it is better to proceed slowly.
Volunteer
Volunteer for a leadership role that enables you to interact more with experienced professionals in your field. For many people, completing an assigned task is an easier way to build relationships than to do so by making small talk with professional acquaintances. Try to volunteer for roles that either leverage your existing strengths or give you a chance to build new skills in areas that interest you.
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I first published this article on 2018-02-04 at VocationVillage.com. I updated this version.
