It's Not Alphabet Soup1

Doug Chasick, CPM^®, CAPS, CAS, Adv. RAM, CLP, SLE

President, The Fair Housing Institute, Inc.

I’m often asked about the “alphabet soup” after my name: what do all those letters stand for? In the beginning, I would simply decipher them (CAPS = Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor, from NAAEI, etc.) As my career progressed, my answer changed; now when someone asks me what those initials mean, I answer, “They mean:

• More credibility
• More career choices
• More opportunity
• More income

When I stumbled into the multifamily industry, I asked several people what I should do to learn how to be more effective and more successful – and the answer I got was “Education!” There wasn’t a lot available back – no internet so no online courses, not even that many books back then and no local NAA Affiliate, so I became a Certified Property Manager candidate, completed the three week-long courses, got my real estate license and earned my designation from IREM in 1978. I soon discovered that if one designation is good, more is better!

For many potential employers, my designations were a sign that I was committed to being an effective professional and was willing to do that work to achieve that. I’m certain those letters after my name opened doors that might not have opened for me and made the difference in several hiring situations. And as an executive, it demonstrated to my team that I held education and development to be very important for everyone’s career growth.

If you’ve been wondering if you should get a few initials after your name, stop wondering: the answer is yes!