Professional Organizer Anyone?

Professional organizers? I was shocked the first time I met a professional organizer, with business cards and everything. Amazing! As I have been thinking about potential career opportunities for job seekers, I thought Professional Organizers might be one career option to consider. According to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), the professional organizing industry has grown steadily in recent years as Americans and others all over the world attempt to gain better control of their lives. Facing more and more demands with less and less free time, consumers are struggling to manage their days and conquer the clutter and chaos building up in their lives. Increasingly, they are turning to professional organizers for help.

What in the world does a Professional Organizer do?

They can design custom organizing systems and teach organizing skills

They help individuals and businesses take control of their surroundings, their time, their paper piles, their lives

For homeowners, a Professional Organizer can offer room-by-room space planning and reorganization, estate organization, improved management of paperwork and computer file

In business settings, a Professional Organizer can increase productivity and profitability with improvements in paper-filing and storage, electronic organizing, work-flow systems, employee time-management, space design, and more

Key skills and abilities include:

• Ability to ask the right questions to understand what a client wants and needs
• Ability to listen and infer what a client means
• Ability to customize organizational systems to meet client needs
• Ability to teach and transfer basic organizing skills
• Ability to visualize spatially and see the big picture
• Ability to break goals down into manageable steps
• Ability to categorize and plan ahead
• Ability to use technology to support organizing efforts
• Physical and mental endurance
• Compassion
• Responsibility
• Professionalism

There are many ways to enter the field of professional organizing. Many NAPO members operate their own businesses, while others act as independent contractors or are employed by an organizing company. Check out the NAPO website if you are looking for additional information about this career option!

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