By Don Orlando, MBA, CPRW, JCTC, CCM
The Encyclopedia of Associations offers dozens of ways to help you in your job search. That reference work, available in most good libraries, lists nearly 81,000 professional organizations.
Find the short listing for each organization composed of people who hold the job title you would like to have in your next job. Then call each one. Tell them you are thinking of joining (music to their ears) and need five minutes of the executive director’s time to ask some specific questions.
Here’s your first question: “What services do you offer your members?”
You will be amazed by publications and services the organization can offer to help you. Capture that information by requesting an information packet. Then ask the executive director if there is a members-only job site. (Please read my article on the value of those sites.) Finally, find out how you can attend a meeting of the local chapter as a guest.
Be sure to thank the executive director with a quick thank you note. Then contact the local chapter president. Introduce yourself, dropping the name of the executive director early in the conversation, and ask if you can attend a meeting. You most certainly will be invited. Return the favor by volunteering to come in early and pass out the nametags most members wear at these meetings. Imagine the power of eye-to-eye, handshake contact with every successful practitioner in the room. The relaxed social setting of these meetings often helps you to enlist new members on your network.
I can only sketch the value of these organizations in this short article. Once you have their information package, once you meet their members, you’ll uncover a wealth of resources that professional organizations have to help you in your job search. For more information: info@phoenixcareergroup.com.