Cash (and credibility) for your career center…easy source of non-dues revenue

Ask the Coach

By Marshall Brown, CPCC, President, Marshall Brown & Associates, Washington
published in AssociationTRENDS. reprinted with permission.

If your association doesn’t have an online career site for your members, guess what? It’s time. The days of matching paper resumes (job seekers) and hiring managers is over. Online career centers are not only another resource for your members but it can be a nice stream of revenue for you as well. I know, some of you might be thinking “why would we provide this to our members…their bosses will be mad because we give them the tools to look for new jobs”. Well guess again! The job seeker WILL find the resources regardless of whether you provide it or not, so why shouldn’t they turn to their association? Why shouldn’t you provide a career site for those entering the profession…they may just become members too!! Who can argue with increasing membership?

I recently participated in a workshop presented by Boxwood Technology (one of the leading companies providing backend customized systems for career centers) in which 4 association executives responsible for their associations’ job bank spoke. Not one, but all of them said that by far, their job site page was one of the top 3 pages visited. So who can argue with drawing more members (and nonmembers) to your website? Who knows what else they might seek out while being on the site?

Already have a job bank on your site? GREAT! Congrats for providing this service. Career sites today can’t just be job banks anymore though. Now, what else can you provide to the potential job seeker? Several associations, including ASAE offer resume critique, career coaching and career workshops…all as additional sources of non-dues revenue. Yes, many of these services can be found elsewhere. However, if you are like most people today, you have less time to do your search. You want to be sure you are reaching your niche market and the site that will provide you with specific information about your profession. So if you are an association executive, seeking to make a job change, wouldn’t one of the first places you turn to for these resources be the association of association executives? (Association Trends also has a job bank on their website)

And here is another idea for “nondues revenue” through your career center. You can provide many of these services onsite at your annual meetings and conferences. Many of the associations I work with provide (and charge) for resume review and coaching at meetings. Some charge extra for attending “personal development tracks” at their conferences at which time they provide job search strategy programs. The American Water Resources Association provides a career workshop for their student members at their annual meeting. Not only does this help their members but it also shows the member (or potential member) that AWRA is the place to go to for the resources they need.

Conferences and annual meetings are also good opportunities to recruit hiring managers to post their jobs onsite (some times at a discount) to assure that their association gets the job posting vs. another site. Your members will appreciate you providing them with this information, you receive additional revenue… it’s a win-win for all concerned.

Marshall Brown, a certified career and executive coach has always had a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. As a coach, Brown helps individuals to find their passions and encourages them to move ahead in reaching their goals. His book, High Level Resumes, reflects his successful work with hundreds of job candidates. Reach him at marshall@mbrownassociates.com.

Ask the Coach addresses questions and concerns of assn professionals about their careers. Send your questions to marshall@mbrownassociates.com.

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