Professional Development, thy name might be Cindy O’Reilly. Thirty years into her career with Community Electric Cooperative, the much-accomplished administrative assistant recently added another education achievement to a resume that features five professional certifications since 2008.
In April, O’Reilly completed an eight-week Records Management course that is part of the CAPstone education program administered by the International Association of Administrative Professionals. IAAP is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping office and administrative professionals advance their careers. O’Reilly earned her initial Certified Administrative Professional Rating from IAAP 16 years ago, and she has been recertified with the required amount of continuing education credits four times since then.
The CAPstone program is a relatively new IAAP learning innovation. The program offers courses in seven areas for various administrative functions to build skills and competencies. To earn her Records Management Certificate, O’Reilly participated for eight Fridays in online instruction sessions with two instructors who taught and tested the participants, as well as required them to take part in a daily discussion board with other students.
She credits former CEC Chief Executive James Reynolds for coaxing her and many other cooperative employees to continue their educations.
“Mr. Reynolds is the one who talked me into going back to school. He was very focused on everybody getting a good education. He’s the one who encouraged me, and now I can’t stop,” she laughs.
Joking aside, O’Reilly indeed is registered to take a second CAPstone course – Project Management – starting in September, and she quickly replies “Why not?” when asked if she has her sights set on completing all seven courses.
“I do still have those career goals,” she says. “I feel like I can still make a difference in continuing my education and bringing it back for my team. Right now, I’m training someone to do what I normally do so I can move on to something else.”
For the past several years, O’Reilly has worked primarily in the Operations and Maintenance Division, scheduling service calls, managing equipment inventory and warehouse purchasing, and related duties.
“I love being in the administrative role organizing and managing tasks efficiently while learning new applications and technology. I get to support my team by encouraging and teaching them to grow so everyone feels important and empowered. It is so good to be part of a team’s successes while creating a positive work environment.”
O’Reilly notes that co-worker Annette Dickey, another active IAAP member, is the person who first advised her to take advantage of the association’s offerings. She describes Community Electric as a “family company” where colleagues are quick to assist one another in pursuit of the cooperative’s main mission of providing member-owners electricity safely, reliably, and affordably.
While technology advances pose challenges for the cooperative work force to keep current, O’Reilly says they also provide great opportunities for employees to gain real-time insights into electricity consumption, equipment functionality, and ways they can help members lower their monthly bills.