Certified Association Executive Exam: Strategies for Study & Success

By D. A. Abrams, CAE

There are over 90,000 trade, membership, and professional associations in the United States, and more than 1 million charitable or philanthropic organizations, each managed by association executives and professionals that are dedicated to the mission, services, and social good provided by each institution. Perhaps you are one of these executives, or are considering a career in this important field. You may be surprised to learn that there are, in fact, only 3,000 Certified Association Executives, a mere 2% of all professionals managing associations and non-profit organizations. The CAE certificate is one of the most selective and unique credentials in business today.

My process of preparing for the CAE examination and for meeting the application requirements was somewhat self-taught. I did participate in one of the American Society for Association Executives’ immersion study courses that are held twice each year in Washington, D.C., and found it to be helpful. But I recognized that a great deal of additional information could serve the community of executives that aspire to take this exam every year. And that not all qualified applicants could travel and stay in Washington, D.C. for three days in order to prepare in that fashion.

This book is designed to do three things. First, it seeks to explain the CAE certification and its many benefits, in the hopes that you will join me in preparing for and attaining this credential. Second, it will provide a step-by-step process for preparing for the CAE examination, strategically and comprehensively. Third, it sets out to explain how to ready yourself for the test itself, and to offer specific recommendations and solid tactics for approaching it, so that you achieve your objective and complete it, successfully and with ease.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781626755598

Book preview

AUTHOR

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS THE CAE?

For over fifty years, the Certified Association Executive credential has served to recognize the high professional standards, individual executive performance, and significant management knowledge of those professionals engaged in the management of American and international associations. It is accorded only by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) – the Center for Association Leadership. You may already be a member of the ASAE, which represents more than 21,000 association executives who work in over 10,000 organizations. Its members manage leading trade associations, individual professional membership societies, and volunteer organizations across the United States, primarily organized under Section 501-c-6 of the Federal tax code, and philanthropic organizations that have been organized under section 501-c-3, although the ASAE has members all over the world.

The ASAE was founded in order to advance, improve, promote and protect the profession of association management and those professionals who manage business, trade, professional, philanthropic, scientific, educational, technical, social welfare, agricultural, and other nonprofit organizations; provide opportunities for the exchange of expertise, experiences and opinions through meetings, communications, education, research, and publications for nonprofit organization management professionals; and assist and encourage nonprofit organizations to reach the highest levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and achievement for their constituencies and society. As part of its efforts to develop and encourage high standards of professional conduct among nonprofit organization management professionals, it instituted the qualifications and examination for the CAE™. To date, over 3,000 executives have achieved this credential. They represent some of the very most effective association leaders, and the most qualified executives managing non-profit institutions.

There is a body called the CAE Commission that is comprised of ASAE members; it is responsible for overseeing the entire CAE certification program and credentialing process. This committee establishes and enforces the policies and standards for the certification which are then implemented by the staff at the ASAE. It is the CAE Commission that will issue your credential, once you complete the qualification, application, and examination process. When you receive confirmation that you have met all of the criteria established by the Commission, you, too, will be considered a certified association executive!

CAE Benefits

The CAE is a significant undertaking, but one that offers a C-suite executive or aspirant considerable benefits. First, you have the opportunity to verify all that you know and can do through an organization independent of your employer or professional field. When applying for a new position or promotion, you will be able to point beyond your immediate supervisor or references to this respected outside source as confirmation that you are capable, knowledgeable, and prepared to undertake new or expanded responsibilities.

Second, just preparing for the CAE alone offers you a unique opportunity for personal professional development, and allows you to deepen your mastery of various aspects of association management that you may not yet have been taught or assigned. You are certain to garner new knowledge and understanding through the reading, review, and networking required to study for this exam. As a side benefit, you’ll be able to implement new best practices and strategies in your current position, and enhance your decision-making abilities just through the process of applying to be a CAE candidate.

Third, this prestigious credential will qualify you for new professional situations or positions that may offer you increased responsibilities or enhanced compensation as you advance in your career. More and more, we need new and expanded professional credentials in order to make our resume or profile stand out to executive search firms and in professional social media. The CAE certificate is respected, quantifiable, and distinguished. So, a fourth and additional benefit of the CAE credential is the pride that you’ll be able to take in a goal achieved, and the self-confidence that comes from recognizing a job well done.

Many times you will be supported in your undertaking of the CAE examination by your current employer. They, too, reap considerable benefits from having a Certified Association Executive on their staff. The ASAE has shown how executives with this credential can be counted on for greater productivity than many of their peers, for example. Your employer can use your certification as part of the competitive advantage that they offer their board of directors, members, funders, or others that evaluate the capacity of your organization to realize its mission.

If you are being considered for a position with a new association, being a Certified Association Executive may assure your future employer that you will need far less management and training time to integrate smoothly into your new environment. The CAE credential speaks for the wide base of skills and understanding that you bring with you to an institution or organization.

Prerequisites for the CAE

The ASAE and its CAE Commission identify the requirements for your becoming eligible to take the bi-annual test to become a CAE. These are modified and enhanced from time to time, so I recommend that you check in at the ASAE Center as you begin your journey, just to confirm that you meet or are preparing to meet the most current prerequisites for becoming a Certified Association Executive.

You must meet all of the ASAE’s requirements before you are eligible to register for the bi-annual examination. You must:

Be employed, or have been employed within the past five years, by a qualifying non-profit organization, or by an association management company.

Hold a BA, or meet the CAE Commission’s definition of qualifying work experience which is generally an additional eight years’ work in the field; partial credit is given for undergraduate years of study completed.

Have at least 3 years of professional experience as the CEO of an organization, or 5 years’ as a staff member, plus have a Bachelor’s degree.

Complete 100 hours of broad-based qualifying experience during the past five years, spread over the various domains that the CAE exam covers (the domains and their relative percentages are discussed in the chapters below).

Attest to uphold the ASAE’s Standards of Conduct that are available at their website; with your signed confirmation, you also commit to disclose any felony convictions, and confirm that you have no felony convictions related to practicing association management.

So, in order to sit for the exam, you need to complete all of the above, then submit your application along with a non-refundable fee of $150. There are additional fees of $350-$550 (depending on whether you are an ASAE member); these must be submitted concurrent with your application before the CAE Commission can review your materials and verify that you qualify to take the test. This part of the fee is refunded if you don’t meet all of the prerequisites or withdraw your application, and includes the entrance fee to take the exam one time.

Again, be certain to check all of the application details and deadlines here, as fees and requirements may change.

CHAPTER 2: THE CAE EXAM--AN OVERVIEW

The CAE examination is designed to test your knowledge in the nine areas that encompass the skills and expertise expected of any Chief Staff Executive (CSE) at associations of various types or sizes. It is given twice each year, on the first Fridays of May and December, in a number of regional testing centers around the United States. The ASAE works with you if your organization has a number of executives (more than 3) that qualify to take it at the same time, and makes provisions for candidates that need to travel long distances to the testing center or have other special requirements.

The test is four hours long, and has 200 multiple-choice questions about the day-to-day practice of American association professionals. Unlike the SATs and GREs of your earlier academic career, your scoring for the CAE test is not relative to others that sit for the examination that day. There is a passing score established by the CAE Commission’s panel of experts who determine the thresholds of basic competence in these nine aspects or areas of association management. Your test will be graded within six to eight weeks, and you will learn only whether you pass or fail, unless you don’t meet the minimum passing score, in which case you’ll be offered a report that explains where you succeeded and failed in each domain.

You may retake the test as many times as you choose, although there is a $250 retake fee each time that you do. If you do not pass the exam within a year of submitting your application materials, you will need to renew them and re-qualify as an ACE candidate. Information about hand grading and the appeals process is available in the CAE Program Candidate Handbook available free, online, at the Center website.

The ambition of this book, however, is to prepare you for the exam, and to give you study and test-taking strategies so that you are successful the very first time!

First, let’s review the domains or content areas that the exam covers, and how much