5 Benefits to Joining Professional Societies: How Engineers Can Get and Stay Involved – Ep 039

In this episode, we talk to Mary Ellen Bruce Large, P.E., D.GE, Regional Business Development and Client Care Program Manager at Nicholson Construction (formally the Director of Technical Activities for the Deep Foundations Institute) about the value of professional societies. She discuss five great benefits of joining professional societies and how engineers can get and stay involved. Engineering Quotes: Here Are Some of  the Questions We Ask Mary Ellen: What is a Professional Society or Association? How can your involvement in professional societies help to project the corporate image of your company? How can your involvement in societies help to generate business? Can you tell us more about cultivating technical expertise? What are some of the unique development opportunities that engineers can benefit from joining professional societies? The fifth and final benefit is called “The Greater Good.” What does that mean? How can engineers become and stay involved in these professional societies? What final piece of advice would you like to give engineers out there? Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Joining Professional Societies: Professional societies are all different from one another. It is never too early in your career to get involved in a professional society. You will meet many people in a professional society, which is great for your networking. The four main professional societies are DFI, PDCA, ASCE, and ADSC. They all have different ways of doing things and different focuses. Find out what each of them does well, and leverage that. The goal of a professional society is to match the opportunities they have with the people looking for them. If you think you have waited too long for joining professional societies, remember that they too have needs of you. They need your technical expertise, field expertise, mentoring capabilities, and your experience on how to view a document. The answer is always yes, and there is always space for you. For engineers to stay involved in a professional society, they must communicate with them. Life is unpredictable, and things can happen where you cannot do the tasks you said you would do. Contact the professional society and they will gladly give the task to someone else, who will give it back to you when you can take over again. Engineers must not be afraid to say that it will be too much for them. Your door will be wide open when you are ready to come back. If you are uncertain if you want to join a professional society, call someone who can tell you what it is like and what you can expect. Tell them what you want and need and why you are calling. There is always help to guide you. It will be beneficial for you to reach out. The 5 Benefits to Joining Professional Societies 1. Projecting Your Corporate Image Just like professional societies are different, so are companies. There are many corporate images in our industry. You can use your involvement in a professional society to project your corporate image. Corporate image projection is done by the people that you send to meetings, the types of presentations that you make, and your interactions with people at your booths. It will attract people to work for you and the people you can work for because of what you offer. It is a way to project yourself beyond your company's walls and into the industry. 2. Business Development Every interaction you have in a professional society is business development because you are an ambassador for your company. Instead of only listing the technical things you learn, take notes of where other people are working, who they are working for, and what is still coming in the pipeline. Take note of new developments and if you should be participating in them.