In recognizing the experienced organizer, BCPO^® seeks to inspire organizers to provide superior client services and to continue to develop expertise in the transfer of higher-level organizing skills.

At the base of the BCPO^® certification is the expectation that we will all stay competent by continuing to learn. In preparing for the examination, remember that learning is primary and the testing secondary. In other words, learning is not in the service of the test, but the test is in the service of the learning.

Ours is not a static industry. It is of the utmost importance that we continue to increase our knowledge base, to understand concepts and language beyond those of the beginning organizers’ toolkit.

Any test measures two things: your knowledge of the subject matter, and your ability to take an examination. The first depends on your preparation and experience in your chosen field of professional organizing. You can improve in this area through study. The second area depends on self-confidence and your experience with multiple-choice questions. It also depends upon your ability to recognize related information or solutions to problem situations.

Your preparation should include a reading program. Suggested Reference Sources are provided on this site. In addition to a self-study reading program, there are other refresher activities in which you may participate and benefit. These include attending professional meetings and workshops, joining a study group, listening to tapes of presentations made at professional meetings, and taking academic or noncredit courses.

If you have recently graduated or are still completing your baccalaureate degree, review your course outlines, notes and other materials that relate to the content of the examination. Read for the broad perspective, then go back and identify logical divisions into categories or units, noting both the trends and the relationships between ideas and between units, and listing major points, ideas, and conclusions.

BCPO^® does not intend that candidates purchase and read all of the materials listed in the Suggested Reference Sources. The list may include more than one reference that covers a content area, but one such reference may be enough. The candidate may also have resources available that are not on the list but which will adequately cover the content area.

The list does not represent the only body of information to be used as study material, nor is the list intended to be all-inclusive. It is, rather, a list of references used to develop the test questions. Questions in the examination are also developed from information gained through practical experience and pertain to a common body of knowledge (generic to the practice of professional organizing). The suggested references represent additional information that serves only to supplement one's understanding of basic knowledge.

The reference list is also intended to allow flexibility. The candidate is encouraged to supplement his or her education and experience by reviewing other resources and finding information in areas that he or she may consider himself or herself not as skilled or experienced.