Hello fellow members! My story begins in 1984 when I graduated from Secretarial school with an Associate Degree in Business Management from MacCormac College. I sat for the Certified Professional Secretary exam in 1994 and became a CPS. In 1995, I chose to leave the workforce to raise my boys. I volunteered and took a part time job at the local school to keep my skills up while I raised my sons. In 2012, I returned to the workplace full time. I was inspired by the caliber of Administrative Assistants I was surrounded by but was crippled by self- doubt of my own abilities. In 2013, I returned to college part time. In June of 2016, I received my Bachelor in Management and was promoted to the Executive Assistant to the CFO. In 2017, I rejoined IAAP, and will sit for the Spring 2018 exam. I am currently in Marie Herman's class and God willing, I WILL pass this exam once again. I will be attending, for the first time, the IAAP Summit this coming July in Austin TX and cannot wait to meet some of you. As you can see, I am a life-long learner and believe that you are never too old to better yourself. With kind regards, Jacqueline Leib

Jacqueline, Welcome back to IAAP and the Western Great Lakes Branch! Best wishes for your CAP studies and exam!

Hi Jackie, congratulations on taking the next steps in your personal and professional development. Yours is a very inspiring story and I hope you'll share your thoughts about the changes in the exam between the first time you took it and the exam you'll take in April. Best wishes with your studies. We can't wait to celebrate your success with you when you pass this exam again! 

Thank you, Linda.

Ann,
It is funny you mentioned sharing my thoughts about the changes. I was talking about it this morning with some of my co-workers. In skimming over the study guide, it is obvious that this exam, as well as our profession, moved from "following" to "managing". We have gone from taking directions to truly being strategic partners with our Executives.

Concentration for the CPS exam was on how many returns to put in a letter before the date and then how many returns for the address. The concentration for this exam is on us actually writing the communication and deciding whether to choose direct or indirect strategies. What a fantastic profession we are in!!!!

I am very nervous, but exhilarated at the same time. This is a huge undertaking and I hope I am up to the task.

Thank you, Ann, for this little trip down memory lane. And thank you to Marie Herman for giving me the confidence to dream that I can do this.

Congrats on taking the leap towards your Certification.  You can do this.

Thank you for your confidence, Jean!!! It is fuel for my fire.

You go girl!

Jacqueline, thanks for sharing your observations on the progression of our profession!

Jacqueline - Thanks for rejoining IAAP; we are glad to have you back. Good luck with your pursuit of the CAP designation.

Linda L. Rolfe, CAP (Ret.), OM