Advantages and Disadvantages of Joining a Professional Association - Essay Example

The advantages of joining the professional organization are that they are informative, advocate for their members, improve the public relations of their members and expand the job opportunities of their members and also offer professional development for its members (Harvey et al., 2003). Professional organizations also offer great networking opportunities for their affiliates to share thoughts and brainstorm, to voice and commiserate, and to provide affiliates a feeling that they are never alone in the hurdles opened by their profession in general (Kjellberg, 2013).

Opportunities to discover new techniques, job options, among others, are priceless advantages to group members (Kjellberg, 2013).The disadvantages, on the other hand, of joining these organizations are needless fees, consumes a lot of time, needless expenses, socializing takes the attention away from career development and also they create a lot of pressure to achieve highly among its members (Harvey et al., 2003). Most professional organizations need reimbursement or yearly fees. There might also be the first application fee (Kjellberg, 2013).

Whereas $100 does not appear to be much, it accumulates when the individuals join the national and state associations of numerous professional organizations (Harvey, 2004). Apart from the membership fees and applications, people also spend money on association lunches, breakfasts and dinners and gas expenses or transportation costs (Harvey, 2004).