Career Update

[N918KT]

Hello all,

It has been quite awhile since I last posted here, but I got a couple updates about what is going on in my career.

Last month, I finally got my Certified Member certification from the American Association of Airport Executives!

I read and studied the materials intensely beforehand, then took a 5-day intensive on-site review course back in late September. We had an instructor from AAAE come to my airport to teach the review course to PHL airport personnel. I took the exam at the end of the course and a few weeks later, I found I passed with flying colors!

In addition, right after I took the AAAE C.M. review course and exam, I got transferred from Airside Operations into Terminal/Landside Operations as Operations Tower Coordinator! My new office is in the Ramp Tower!

I'm still training right now, there's a lot to take in, but I love my new role!

 

[Arnold]

Congratulations!

 

[frfly172]

Congrats

 

[James331]

Looking to be a airport manager?

 

[N918KT]

Thank you everyone!

 

[midwestpa24]

Congratulations! I started studying for the CM years ago, but got sidetracked with adding more flying certificates to my collection. At one point I had ambitions to go for the full AAE, but I'm not sure how valuable it is to my current career path just yet.

Honestly I studied the modules, and have a good grasp on the information and enough experience to have first hand knowledge. My only apprehension in taking the test is not have any example questions to know just what type of questions they are picking. AAAE does an excellent job keeping their test questions under lock and key, unlike the FAA.

 

[N918KT]

Congratulations! I started studying for the CM years ago, but got sidetracked with adding more flying certificates to my collection. At one point I had ambitions to go for the full AAE, but I'm not sure how valuable it is to my current career path just yet.

Honestly I studied the modules, and have a good grasp on the information and enough experience to have first hand knowledge. My only apprehension in taking the test is not have any example questions to know just what type of questions they are picking. AAAE does an excellent job keeping their test questions under lock and key, unlike the FAA.

Thank you! If you take their review course, it will definitely help prepare you for the exam. They host those review courses a couple or three times a year in various locations in the U.S. but it's expensive. At one point, I was thinking of flying to some place to take their review course, but I was concerned that if I failed, it would be a waste of money, plus I would have to pay the retake fee to take it again. I also considered doing their webinar review course, but I don't know if they still offered it.

PHL started having instructor from AAAE to teach the review course at my airport a few years ago and would pay the review course tuition. I tried get in each year when they started offering it to PHL airport personnel a few years ago, but I didn't have enough seniority at the time. In addition, we still need to have enough airport ops employees staffed for day-to-day operations.

It's definitely worth it if the your airport has an instructor come to teach it to your airport personnel and your tuition is covered.

 

[midwestpa24]

Thank you! If you take their review course, it will definitely help prepare you for the exam. They host those review courses a couple or three times a year in various locations in the U.S. but it's expensive. At one point, I was thinking of flying to some place to take their review course, but I was concerned that if I failed, it would be a waste of money, plus I would have to pay the retake fee to take it again. I also considered doing their webinar review course, but I don't know if they still offered it.

PHL started having instructor from AAAE to teach the review course at my airport a few years ago and would pay the review course tuition. I tried get in each year when they started offering it to PHL airport personnel a few years ago, but I didn't have enough seniority at the time. In addition, we still need to have enough airport ops employees staffed for day-to-day operations.

It's definitely worth it if the your airport has an instructor come to teach it to your airport personnel and your tuition is covered.

My airport is on the small end of the spectrum, so no chance of having a course here. That is why I've stepped back from the CM and AAE. I don't think either will carry much value here, and I don't really have any plans of moving somewhere that it would. I've done far more to help myself by obtaining my CFI/CFII. Plus they were a lot more fun

 

[Daytonabch04]

Definitely interested in the CM certification as well. Any tips if you can’t do the in person review?

 

[N918KT]

Definitely interested in the CM certification as well. Any tips if you can’t do the in person review?

I just read the material at least two or maybe three times over the past couple years.

The first round I just read through the material. The second time I read through again, I highlighted with what might think may be important.

After that, I bought flash cards to write my own test questions, but eventually I used Quizlet to make my own virtual flash cards, because I soon realized I am going to make A LOT of flash cards. I just kept trying to make them for each section of each module a few months beforehand, until I took the review course. I was hoping if I make a bunch of virtual flash cards I would remember the material as I type them. And at the same time, while making them I tried to study the flash cards with sections I am not familiar with ie. Finance stuff of airport management.

If you currently work at an airport, or at work anywhere, just try to study in your free time. Whenever I am not doing anything or on-call, I just studied in the airport ops office. Sometimes you will have a lot of free time in airport ops depending on where you work, so the three months before the review course I wasn't doing anything else other than working and studying at work and sometimes studying at home. Of course as exam time comes closer I wasn't doing anything other than studying whenever I have the chance.

In my best opinion, I think it may be possible to pass the exam using my method without the review course. However, even if you were able to do an in-person review course you could still fail if you do not read or studied the material at least a couple times before hand. A number of students in my course failed because they didn't study at all or didn't study enough before coming to the review course. I did very well in the review course and exam because of the preparation I did beforehand.