Certification

Certified Administrative Professional (CAP)

The advanced Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) program was introduced in 2001, and is administered by the Institute for Certification, a department of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

To obtain the CAP rating, an office professional must meet certain education and work experience requirements, and pass a comprehensive four-part examination.

Work Experience

You may take the exam if you are either:
(a) an experienced secretary,
(b) a full-time employed secretary/admin, or
(c) a business educator.

Job content rather than title is used to determine work experience based on the IAAP definition of an administrative professional.

The number of years of work experience varies according to the college or junior college degree you hold:

Education and Experience Required
Education	Years of Experience
No degree	4 years
Associate degree*	3 years
Bachelor's degree	2 years
*Equivalent to approximately 60 college credit hours or a two-year college diploma in Canada.
The CAP exam cannot be written until the experience qualifications are met. Administrative experience must be at least 20 hours per week and each segment must be of at least two months' continuous employment. Total experience submitted must also include 12 months continuous employment with one employer in the past five years. All experience submitted must be within the past 15 years.