Benefits to serving on an IEEE Standards Association?

Question

What are the benefits of being a member of IEEE Standards working group?

From my limited knowledge:

1. you get another badge on your cv
2. you get to have a say in outlining a specific IEEE Standard
3. you are contributing to the scientific community

Are there other benefits? For example, would an employer look at a candidate favourably if the candidate was on a IEEE Standards working group etc? What kind of employers or job-positions would specifically look for candidates with such experience?

Answer 1

Jon Custer's comment is spot-on. You will meet (hopefully) smart people across many disciplines and have forced exposure to different areas of expertise. You will also get hands-on experience in negotiation and compromise, which is always handy.

Your question didn't ask about downsides, though, which probably should be mentioned.

1. Writing standards is a very tedious and often frustratingly political endeavor.
2. This can take valuable time from the doing actual research.
3. There is no guarantee that the standards you create will actually be followed in The Real World, which can be kind of depressing.