Members of professional bodies are almost always ‘career-minded’ people who are focused on career advancement. It’s often the single reason they joined a professional body in the first place.
So why are career development resources a bit of an afterthought across the membership sector as a whole?
Career resources are often lightweight or too low-level for more senior professionals, which leaves Members having to source help, advice and services on the open market.
Here we look at some of the hot topics and career services that your Members are currently seeking out, that could be offered internally as a Member benefit. Offering content, resources and services around the following topics is proven to strengthen engagement and retention and help members to move forwards in their career.
Personal Branding
A newish concept, Personal Branding is best summed up by Jeff Bezos (Amazon’s CEO), “Your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room”.
This relates to Members who are seeking a new job, looking to develop their industry profile or even promote themselves internally. How their market place and the people in it see them, is crucial to career and professional development.
Every interaction with the outside world matters, so Members who are embracing personal branding and how that feeds into their professional footprint, CV and LinkedIn profile, are more likely to succeed in their profession and career.
Thought Leadership
Another newer term is Thought Leadership and is best described by thinking of a pyramid - at the bottom you have people who are Generalists, the next layer up are Specialists, then you have people who are Authorities on a certain subject, and then you have the Celebrities.
Now reaching celebrity-status isn’t worth worrying about, but developing a strategy to become an Authority, or put another way, a Thought Leader, is a highly effective strategy for Members to get noticed in their sector and to boost their career prospects.
Members who seek out guidance on thought-leadership are able to garner significant competitive advantage.
CV Writing & Free CV Appraisal Services
Member's chances of securing interviews rely almost exclusively on how compelling their CV is, and the requirements of a good CV have shifted greatly in the last decade. Tactics such as value proposition statements and case studies are now crucial components of a good CV, social proofing is key to gaining credibility, and optimising CVs for recruitment software is absolutely paramount.
Basic ‘top ten tips’ fare isn’t going to provide Members with the tools they need to succeed - a detailed understanding of the requirements of a senior-level CV is, and that poses a challenge for membership organisations who want to give their members the best advice available.
LinkedIn is a hot topic at the moment and rightly so, the platform has over 660M users and it has become the definitive place to network, interact with other professionals and showcase oneself to recruiters and hiring managers.
With over 85% of recruiters using LinkedIn as a key tool in the selection process, having a good LinkedIn profile and a knowledge of how to use LinkedIn is paramount to career development.
Interview Coaching
Another important life skill that Members regularly reach out for. No one gets good at anything without coaching and practice, so it stands to reason that people would take advantage of this kind of service.
Senior jobs are offered to candidates who can do a lot more than speak articulately and there are numerous tactics that can be adopted to improve one’s interview technique.
Professionals at all levels, who invest in interview coaching, are proven to be more successful in securing job offers.
Career Coaching
Many Members are at a crossroads in their career and gaining clarity on which way to navigate is an important decision with significant consequences.
Career coaching is a significant and growing sector, with many professionals working with a highly trained career professional to discuss options and help make these important decisions.
About the Author
Matt Craven is the DCS, who are experts in career development and work with over 20 membership organisations, including leading institutes and associations. They provide a one-stop-shop to all the aforementioned topics and services through a variety of free and paid-for initiatives. They also provide a white-labelled proposition for membership organisations seeking a commercial opportunity.
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