Attracting new members and keeping them around for the long-term is an ongoing effort. But you have a powerful tool that you probably could be using more for member recruitment and retention: your career center.
Your career center is an attractive member benefit. In fact, association industry research shows that job opportunities and career advancement are among the top benefits members value most.
Here are two ways to promote your association’s career center as a member benefit to attract and retain more members:
1. Prepare your messaging.
Your career center can offer a wealth of resources and help to advance your members’ careers. Here are some examples of career content and resources you should be promoting – and if your career center doesn’t already offer them, it’s time to add them!
- Job postings – Offer a robust job board in your online career center. Let your members know it’s THE online destination in your industry for them to connect with employers and find their next great job opportunity.
- Career planning tools – Give your members career planning tools to help them research, plan, and develop their careers. Include a career mapping tool to help them map out their career path based on the job they want. Let prospects and members alike know that they can use this helpful tool to view a well-defined path to reach their professional goals, including the skills, learning, and job titles they need.
Also, provide career insights for job seekers and let them know they can learn more about their current career stage and future roles by viewing content for qualifications, education, certification requirements, expected salary, etc. - Career support – Let prospects and members know that as a member, they can receive help in landing their next job, including:
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- Job seeker articles, tips, and recommendations – Promote the availability of articles and other content including résumé writing tips, interview techniques, job search ideas, and tips on social networking.
- Career coaches – Connect members with certified career coaches to help with things like job search strategies, interview tips, and résumé writing.
- Résumé review – Offer free résumé critique through your career center and be sure to let prospects and members know that this is a key benefit that will help them improve their chances of getting their next job.
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2. Get the word out to non-members and members.
Once you have messaging in place about all your career center offers to your association’s members, it’s time to get the word out. In addition to promoting your career center on your association’s website, social media accounts, and member emails, here are some effective approaches:
- Promote your career center in your member recruitment campaigns. You probably promote your annual meeting, learning opportunities, and credentials as member benefits. But do you market your career center as a key benefit in your new member recruitment campaigns? Your career center offers members valuable career planning information and job opportunities they can’t find anywhere else. Call out your career center messaging on the member benefits page on your website and include your career center in any other lists of member benefits.
- Use your online community. Set up a career center discussion group for members in your online member community and one for non-members (if you provide limited access to them in your online community). Make sure a staff member joins in the discussions, and even ask your top members to post in the group to answer questions, promote the resources, and help spotlight your career center offers to members.
- Incorporate your career center in your events. Whether your association’s events are in-person, virtual, or hybrid, be sure to promote your career center at each event. For example, set up a virtual or in-person booth at every event to promote your career center. You can also host a career skills session or résumé review session, sponsored by your career center. The key is to make sure attendees know about your career center and all that it offers for members.
Learn more
Your career center is a valuable member benefit, so make sure prospects and members know about it! Discover more ideas for marketing your career center: Read 101 Ideas to Grow Your Career Center.
