I’ve recently been interviewed by talented Daniela Cohen for an article for the Canadian Immigrant Magazine on the benefits of joining a professional association. Everyone needs the help of others to achieve their professional and personal goals! Whatever I’ve accomplished in life so far is because I’ve chosen to surround by mentors, partners, and positive role models.
Join a professional association to learn skills and network with people in your industry
You arrive in Canada already a skilled professional in your home country, but where do you start the path on your professional journey here? One of the most valuable things you can do is join a professional association or network.
Most professions will have one, including associations that oversee the certification of a licensed profession, like engineering. Or a professional group that brings people from the same industry that may be unlicensed, like marketing, together to network. There are also professional networks that cross professions and are instead based on sectors, skills, gender, age or even cultural groups.
Gabriela Medar, a Vancouver-based career development practitioner originally from Romania, says, “The main benefit of joining a professional association is getting to know the system and the people, familiarizing yourself with the language of the industry because in every country it’s different.”
You can find the whole article bellow⇓
