Today's office professional does a lot more than type and file. To get ahead, an administrative professional requires a wide variety of skills including project management, computer applications, organization, scheduling, communications, research, filing and electronic record keeping, customer service and event planning. The role of the admin is changing so rapidly it's hard to keep pace these days.
With administrative assistants handling a wider variety of duties, it's essential to learn the latest in office trends, culture and technology. That's where IAAP comes in. We offer industry-recognized certification and up-to-date training to give today's administrative assistant / executive assistant a competitive edge. The Institute for Certification, a department of IAAP, offers the Certified Administrative Professional® (CAP®) and the Certified Administrative Professional-Organizational Management® (CAP-OM®) ratings, which are the recognized standards of proficiency for office professionals.
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To help our members prepare to sit the certification exams, the IAAP-Aggieland Chapter has dedicated a page of their website to all the review materials. This is a tremendous resource for all candidates for certification and we encourage you to visit their website. If you use the Aggieland materials, please don't forget to let them know how much you appreciated this resource!
Mary Boles of the IAAP Vancouver Chapter, has created a study plan for our chapter members.
And here are two on-line courses offered by Regents On-Line Campus Collaborative (ROCC): CPS Review Course and CAP Review Course. The benefit of these courses is that you receive Continuing Education Units, which IAAP is no longer offering, upon completion of the courses.
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Certification
The Institute has two major goals: (1) to prepare and administer the semi-annual examination; and (2) to promote the certification programs. These goals stem from the objective to upgrade the office profession by encouraging candidates to raise their standards of professionalism.
Although advantageous, membership in IAAP is not required to become a CAP or CAP-OM holder. Since the Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) exam - the precursor to the CAP - was first administered in 1951, over 53,000 administrative professionals have achieved the CPS rating. The CAP exam was launched in May 2001. The CAP-OM designation was introduced in November, 2011. And IAAP recently introduced the CAP-TA (Technology Applications) designation as well.
Full-time office professionals, students and business educators are eligible to apply to take the certification exams. Preparation for the exam is through self-study. Please review:
Certification Application Packet (PDF)
Certification Review Guide (PDF)
Job Function & Employers Statement (PDF)
Review Materials and Courses (PDF)
CPS/CAP Study Guide Schedule (MSWord 97-03)
Exam Centres
For more information about the CAP and CAP-OM designations, exam dates and deadlines, to reserve study materials, or to discuss the advantages of gaining certification, please contact the Vancouver Chapter Certification/Education Chair Laureen Daily, CAP-OM.