Members look to your association as a resource for industry news and professional resources. According to the 2021 Association Trends Study by Community Brands, association pros underestimate the value that members place on getting help with career advancement. Early careerists especially value opportunities and resources that provide employment prospects and career planning for their professional growth. If your association isn’t currently offering a career mapping resource as a member benefit, it should.
The member benefit your association is missing: a career pathing tool.
With a career pathing tool, members can plan their next career step with confidence to reach their ultimate career goals. With the right software, associations can offer an invaluable member benefit that inspires and empowers members to map out their career paths. Another important insight from the 2021 Association Trends Study is that lapsed members place significantly higher value on job opportunities and career advancement that active members do. This suggests an opportunity for associations to provide more career-related member benefits and win back their lapsed members.
A career pathing tool can:
- Help members find the next steps in their career. Members can plan their next career step with personalized data and have confidence that they will be able to reach their ultimate career goals.
- Allow members to self-assess their skills. Provided with a description of each role and the critical skills needed to be successful in that role, members can evaluate and determine areas of focus.
- Guide members in creating an action plan. Members can design their own personalized career action plans including training and experience required to reach their career goals.
Giving members and early career professionals a tool to map out a clear path to reach their professional goals will make your association a true career growth destination. A career pathing tool integrated with your association’s job board allows members to see current open jobs at all stages of their career path as well.
Benefits of a career pathing tool:
- Increase member retention. Enhance retention and new member acquisition with a strong member benefit.
- Engage industry professionals. Keep professionals engaged in your industry and invested in their fields.
- Generate additional revenue. Enable members with ‘what if’ scenarios to see where their careers could lead them.
- Increase traffic. Drive more traffic to your career center and create an opportunity to convert visitors to members.
- Provide valuable insight. Give members the only tool they’ll ever need to plan their career from start to finish.
- Increase ROI for hiring employers. Boost ROI for employers who post on your job board and they will keep coming back.
Your association can bring together career paths, jobs, required skills, and education that advance your members’ careers. Career Paths® by YM Careers allows you to do everything outlined above – and more.
