I have seen quite a few discussions on this topic as of late in the social media arenas, so I figured I would give my input, being that I have always been very involved in professional societies.

I am a firm believer that your career advancement is strongly related to the relationships you build in your industry. I have built many solid business and personal relationships through professional societies. Not only has this helped advance my career, but it has made my career very enjoyable.

Here are some potential benefits to joining AND PARTICIPATING in a society:

-Fostering of professional and personal relationships in the industry,
-Gaining of knowledge through informative seminars,
-Earning professional development credits,
-Giving back to the profession as a volunteer board member,
-Staying more up to date on what’s going on in the industry through discussions and society newsletters,
-Securing new business through professional relationships (I don’t recommend making this your goal in joining a professional society, although it certainly may happen).

Many people complain that they pay dues to be a member of a society; however they get nothing out of it. I have two questions for those people. What kind of effort did you put into it? What were you expecting to get out of it?

For me, the professional societies have not only helped me to meet many good people, but they have allowed me speak with many engineers and help them with their career development, which has been very rewarding.

Please share your experiences with professional societies in regards to how they have affected your career both positively or negatively.

This is a guest post from Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success. Anthony found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com and subscribe to the top 3 resources Anthony has used to become a partner in a firm at the age of 27.