Seek roles that match

“When you join an organization, be intentional about your involvement and seek out roles that match your skills and abilities, or ones where you can learn new skills. If you’re not intentional, you may get a volunteer job and then you’ll just check out of participating. Think about what goals you want to accomplish. There’s no reason why benefits shouldn’t go both ways when you volunteer time and talent for an organization. I’ve had business development and career opportunities because people have told me that they liked the way I volunteered in an organization,” Terlemezian said.

Follow your passion

“As long as I’ve had my career, I’ve been interested in associations. In fact, I started my business at an association meeting,” said Peggy Hutcheson, president of the Odyssey Group, an HR consulting firm. She was talking to a friend about wanting to start her own consulting business at an organization meeting, when a corporate project manager passed her his card. “When you decide to do that, call me. I’ve liked what I’ve seen you do here,” he told her. “I had led a couple of volunteer projects and in his mind that validated my skills,” she said.

Hutcheson started with the Greater Atlanta chapter of ASTD while working in internal communications at Rich’s. When the group needed a newsletter, she knew how to do that and volunteered. She took her passion for career development to the national level of ASTD and ended up serving on the board. “I met people that I would never have met otherwise – people whose books and articles I’d read in graduate school, became friends.”

A client suggested that she think outside the box because IEEE, an engineering, technology and telecommunications organization, could use her skills. “As chair of their employment and career services committee, I’ve run conferences and developed a Webinar series. I was also asked to be part of their steering committee on innovation,” she said. Last year she spoke at a global conference in Quebec and led a career fair in London. “As a small business person, I would never have had access to this level of leadership were it not for the association,” she said.

Hutcheson admits to being a “radical” advocate for association membership and involvement. “Let people see what you can do, and as long as you’re learning something you’ll see career growth,” she said. “Start by committing to short-term projects where you can see results and then follow your passion.”

 

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1. How did a membership in a professional association help Elizabeth Wysong to build up her career?
2. What did Terlemezian get out of volunteering for the American Society of Training and Development?
3. Why did Peggy Hutcheson become a “radical” advocate for association membership?
4. What did you learn from their experiences?

Ex. 2. Develop the following statements:

• Membership is an investment in yourself and your career.
• An association is a good place to learn the skills you need.
• A professional association is a great place to get to know people and be known.
• If you want to increase your value, join an association and get involved.

 

LANGUAGE TRAINING

Ex. 1. Learn the following phrasal verbs. Fill in the gaps below.

end up: reach out: check out: get the best/ most out of:

to finish by becoming to try; make an effort to inform or persuade smb to examine to see if it is suitable or good to gain as much as possible from smth/ smb

1. In spite of the people’s opinions, she ………………………… the winner.

2. After ……………………….. several colleges, Karen decided on Iowa State University.

3. You will ………………………. students by respecting their views.

4. ……………………………. our new website!

5. The course was really good – I ……………………………….. it.

6. The publisher is ………………to young people in an effort to convince them that being sexy does not mean being successful.

7. The general began his army life as a soldier and ……………………… as ruler of his country[41].