Success by association: Why joining a professional association can help your career

LinkedIn is a great tool for students and new graduates looking to make connections and start a career in their chosen field, but to be honest, there’s really nothing like the original LinkedIn: professional associations.

Professional associations have been hooking up young professionals with great networking opportunities and jobs way before it was cool to do it online. Membership in an association comes with all sorts of benefits, especially for students wanting to jumpstart their careers.

Here are four ways students can get ahead by joining an association:

Networking

Joining an association can offer you many opportunities to tap into the business circles of some of the most successful, well-connected and well-respected people in any industry. Conferences, local chapter events and volunteering on committees are all great occasions to talk to those who have years of experience. Use these events to learn from them and to start building key relationships, which could help when applying to jobs later.

Education

Many associations provide their members with the latest news and developments in their industry. They can also give you the resources to deal with industry issues and practical advice on how to make the most of the newest innovations. Associations may provide seminars, newsletters and access to online articles, giving student members the tools to grow and improve every day. This is the edge you may need to come out of school with both a diploma and a job.

Mentorship

Harry had Dumbledore, Katniss had Haymitch and Luke had Obi-Wan. If you want to be the best, you need to learn from the best, and that means having a mentor. Both industry veterans and hot up-and-comers may be part of your association. Some might even be eager to help you—the rookie—out by showing you the ropes and giving you all sorts of nuggets of wisdom that they have collected through the years. Participating in your association’s events and initiatives will expose you to these people and give you contacts you can call on when you need some advice.

ResumÉ building

There aren’t many things in life that make you feel as good as tacking on another great experience to your resumé. Associations can help you fill that space under “Volunteer Activities” or “Achievements” pretty fast. Whether it’s volunteering on a co

mmittee, helping to organize an event or writing an article for the quarterly trade magazine, associations give you the chance to pursue your passion and hone your skills in a supportive environment. Having these experiences will look attractive on your resumé, but they also help you grow and improve.

Joining your industry’s professional association as a student or when you are just starting your career is definitely worth the cost of membership and will help you get a great start to the career of your dreams.for more info, check out avant career

We need a liberal arts revolution

A recent report by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) pointed out that of the millions of engineers that India produces, 75 per cent are unemployable because they lack practical, work-related skills and soft skills though they may be theoretically sound. As has been pointed out by several policymakers and thinkers, technical education has been privileged over liberal arts education in India. In the recent debate on the role of higher education in nation-building, liberal arts education has come under attack.   The latest episode at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in the ongoing fracas is an example of this debate. 

Observing the daily chatter on social media and the noise generated by television anchors, one can only be surprised at how this occurred. We do not need more engineers and doctors we need more lawyers and poets. We need more artists and thinkers who will critically challenge the status quo and those in power. All of these arguments are relevant in the face of the political attack on JNU and the recent wave of patriotism that has swept India. The discourse around patriotism, nationalism and education seems to be defined very narrowly and without any consideration for different points of view and the need to accommodate diversity of thought, a hallmark of Indian society.