Hi!  My name is Janet and I have been a legal secretary for over 25 years, 18 ½ years in my current position.

 

I originally started off in the banking industry, working my way up from teller to branch assistant manager while working my way through college to earn a B.S. in Business Management. Unfortunately, there are safety risks when working in a bank. After becoming a victim myself, I changed professions entirely and have not looked back. One of my earlier bosses in the legal profession suggested that I return to school to earn a paralegal certificate to compliment my secretarial skills. Since I had already earned one degree, I opted to take a few additional classes which earned me a second B.S. in Paralegal Studies.

 

My current firm announced 2 years ago that it will be restructuring the staffing positions and eliminating the position “legal secretary.” Required skills for these new positions have not yet been announced, but not wanting to be shoehorned into a position I don’t want to be in, I opted to take a hard look at my skills in an attempt to shore up skills and knowledge I may be lacking. My firm does offer and encourage in-house training; however, much their required training has been a constant rehash of basic Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Recently, I read a statement – and I wish I could attribute the source – that with Excel being the industry standard for about the past 30 years, that we should all be experts in it by now. I was struck by the profound truth of this statement which combined with the uncertainty of my future, has left me hungry to learn and think outside my firm’s corporate box.

 

My journey actually started last year when I earned a PACE Certificate from the ASAP.  Their PACE program recently changed and instead of opting for a redo, I am opting instead to take the CAP exam this fall, followed by the OM in the spring and eventually concentrating on an MOS afterwards. To me, this seems to be the harder, yet more comprehensive path. And since joining IAAP last fall, I love being able to network and learn from my peers in my area – something which has been greatly lacking in my professional career.

 

Wishing all of my fellow classmates in the Marie Herman class the best of wishes as we journey together down the path to earning our CAP!

Well how awesome that you took a hard look at your skillset and identified areas to enhance! That's exactly how one should be prepared should a "lucky" opportunity arise! You are taking control of your career, which is the very best way to do it. I'm so proud of you!