Advance Your Career
Our communities bring industry and academia together to give Students, engineers, technicians, and scientists around the world a platform to network, learn, and collaborate online or face to face.
Whether you’re in the early, middle, or late stages of your career, if you want to stay up to date with current technology and industry, require access to continuing professional development, looking for a peer to peer networking opportunities, or perhaps volunteer roles then start making real connections in the science community. Building and maintaining a robust professional network is one of the best ways to advance your career—whether you’re just starting out, are thinking of switching careers, or are already a leader in the field. Your professional network can include current and past work colleagues, friends, and even family members.
But one of the best sources of professional network members is a professional association. Attend networking events. We offer monthly or similarly scheduled social events, often rotating after-work gatherings between various local meeting spots such as restaurants or conference centers. Bring business cards and exchange as many as you can to help build your network. This is also a great time to practice and perfect your elevator speech.
Become a full member. When you do find IES association seems like a good fit, it can be worth it to become a full member—even if the membership fee seems steep at first glance. We offer state or local chapters that are less expensive than a national membership but offer many tailored benefits such as local events, relevant workshops, email updates and more. If you’re employed in the field, check with your employer to see if they will cover any membership fees.
Get job search leads. We offer a range of career services and even host their own job banks, which can be invaluable sources for job postings. You’ll also find that the members you meet through an organization can be great sources for job leads—employees of different companies will often know about openings in their departments before they’re posted online.
Attend regional or national conferences or workshops. We will promote these events on our websites. They are excellent opportunities for expanding your professional network, hearing about best practices in other regions or businesses, and learning new skills. Have a particular skill that might be of interest to your colleagues? You can often submit a proposal to present a workshop at a conference—you’ll boost your exposure to others in your field and you might even get some or all of your expenses paid.
