The Surprising Advantages of Attending Professional Conferences and How to Get the Most Out of Them

Alright students, job seekers, those who are looking to advance in your career, or even those of us who are looking to learn or improve upon a career skill—that likely includes every last one of us! I come bearing good news and a great resource.

Let’s ask ourselves: What exactly is my goal or ambition as it relates to my career? What is it that I want?

Maybe your response is to simply and quickly attain a first or subsequent job, or perhaps it’s to

  • enhance your job performance,
  • to learn best practices,
  • to learn a new skill and increase your marketability,
  • to gain mentorship,
  • to share your expertise with others,
  • to become more visible in your field,
  • to meet like-minded individuals,
  • to network, or
  • to get inspired/get out of a work-rut.

I’m here to implore you to consider attending a professional conference in order to conquer your objective. You see, the benefits of attending a professional conference are far-reaching and certainly facilitate attaining the above goals.

If you’re interested in diving deeper, David Ballman shares a number of benefits to attending professional conferences as well as suggestions for how an individual who is blind or visually impaired can get the most out of a conference, in his blog post, "Attending Professional Conferences: How It Can Boost Your Career."

Check it out; recognize a few surprising advantages of making the effort to attend a professional conference; learn how to have a successful, profitable conference experience; and crush that career goal!

Additional Resources

American Foundation for the Blind Leadership Conference 2018

Sow Seeds to Harvest Employment: A Letter to Career-Seeking Individuals Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

Maintaining Your Drive in the Face of Adversity