The “Shaping the Future” theme for Administrative Professionals Week 2007 signifies that today’s administrative professionals must take charge of their own career development and be fully aware that the necessary skills to remain key contributors to employers are constantly changing.  In addition to shaping the future of their individual careers, today's career-minded administrative professionals can also shape the future of their profession as a whole by: 

• Leading by example: making a commitment to continuing education and lifelong learning.
• Taking pride in their work and their profession.
• Approaching all projects with a high level of integrity and professionalism.
• Bringing greater value to their employers by building professional networks to exchange ideas, best practices and find workable solutions to problems. 
• Mentoring and training others – working with entry-level administrative support staff and students to show them the advantages of pursuing a career as an administrative professional.
• Educating employers about the value that administrative professionals bring to their organizations.

Celebrated annually during the last full week in April, Administrative Professionals Week (APW) brings together millions of people for community events and seminars, with individual bosses recognizing their support staff in various ways.  As a founder of this observance and sole official sponsor, the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) has the following objectives for APW:

• Educate the public about administrative professionals’ expanding roles and value in the business world.
• Enhance the profession’s image.
• Encourage people to consider administrative careers.
• Promote lifelong learning, certification, and professional development.

IAAP members and staff use Administrative Professionals Week as a powerful opportunity to work toward these objectives—often simply by serving as role models.

You’ll find more information about Administrative Professionals Week and Day, including observance suggestions, news releases, national and local event listings and much more on this page of the IAAP website:
http://www.iaap-hq.org/APW/apwindex.htm