Annual Report 2007: FY July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007
Membership Career Services Committee
The mission statement of Career Services Committee is to consider, develop, plan, launch, and direct a portfolio of career-oriented services and programs that will establish AAPG as every member’s Career Partner for Life, which is in accordance with our Constitution’s stated purpose to advance the professional well-being of its members.
The Career Services Committee is to develop programs and services in the following core partner areas: (1) Internet accessible member registry of skills, experiences, and competencies; (2) Internet accessible member resume posting service; and (3) Internet accessible job availability/clearinghouse posting service.
Other potential core areas, such as in-house career counseling services, may be considered and adopted for future consideration after these three core areas have been developed and are on-track toward launch. This committee’s programs and services are to be designed to be user-friendly to current members, as well as attractive to potential members, because they should establish a strong commitment of mutual need, by establishing AAPG as every member’s Career Partner for Life.
The committee made significant progress during 2006-07, both in working towards completion of its initial three goals, as well as a subcommittee of the AAPG Membership Committee. CSC participated in the AAPG All-Member Survey that was collected during fall 2006, submitting three questions for the survey, designed to test levels of member interest and awareness of our three primary project goals: Member Registry Service, Resume Posting Service, and Job Registry Service. All three enjoyed strong numerical member support (48–67%) from survey respondents, with even “not sure” outweighing negative responses. This confirmed solid member support for these programs, and also demonstrated the need for a strong education/ marketing strategy, and especially the strategic rollout of an overall campaign to raise awareness and fulfill value expectations of the members.
With the renewed support of AAPG headquarter’s IT team, the CSC entered into full development and translation of the Member Registry design onto the AAPG Web site template, and developmental testing is now under way. Enhancements that include the addition of year ranges of experiences have been developed, and other user-friendly templates are being engineered, with formal introduction of the Member Registry Service targeted for no later than early 2008.
Several education and marketing strategies were considered at the CSC meeting in Long Beach, with primary focus on: (1) member and potential member market definition, (2) a data population strategy, and (3) advertising and communication options; all leading toward a robust service of value to the members and potential members alike.
This year the CSC evaluated external commercial resume posting services and job registry posting services, as well as similar services provided by sister societies, and has concluded that an internally managed service system in these areas is more desirable than redirecting members to scattered outsourced services in these areas.
User access policies are now under preliminary study so as to maximize participation, yet maintain membership as the foundation of access to our services. We want to maximize these services to our existing members, and make this service so desirable that every geoscientist will want to be a member of AAPG, as a result of this career service portfolio.
The CSC continues to explore the eventual need for an HQ staff person to coordinate and maximize the effectiveness of these critical services, as well as be an invaluable in-house career counseling adviser to our greater membership.
It is through the eventual full deployment of this highly valued portfolio of services that AAPG can forever establish itself as every member’s Career Partner for Life.
Dwight "Clint" Moore, Chair
Committee members: Paul Babcock, Paul Britt, Marilyn Cisar, Sherie Cronin, Pat Gordon, Bob Menzie. Dwight “Clint” Moore (chair), Don O’Nesky, Valary Schulz, and Bob Sellars.