Angie Johnson was planning sales and customer events at a previous job as well as being the event chair for her local Relay For Life when she decided to go back to school.

In fact, she decided to build on her skills and become a meeting and event planner. She entered College of DuPage’s Office Technology Information program and ended up earning three associate’s degrees – Executive Assistant, Administrative Assistant, and Administrative Assistant with Meeting and Event Planning.

It was while taking “Meetings, Conventions and Trade Show” taught by instructor Marianne McNulty that led Johnson to a job at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I have been strongly suggesting starting out at COD for all the reasons I decided to attend -- for financial reasons, proximity to where I live, and their degree program offerings.

Angie Johnson

“During my phone interview, I was able to speak directly to the job requirements not only from my own experience, but from the curriculum of that course which I had just completed,” she said. “The interviewer was very impressed that there was a course at COD which teaches students about developing meetings and conferences that may include opportunity for Continued Professional Education credits. In fact, when I was offered the job, one of the first people I told was Marianne McNulty.”

Johnson currently is at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a National Learner Experience Senior Associate in the Learning and Development department, where she assists in the development and delivery of national conferences for the client-facing staff to maintain their CPE (Continued Professional Education) credits for all lines of service – advisory, assurance and tax. She also monitors the courses in both the virtual and real classroom environments for National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) compliance, and she passed the exam from the Project Management Institute to become a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Although she initially returned to school for meeting and event planning, Johnson would like to return to COD and complete the 3+1 Management program with Benedictine University and receive her bachelor’s degree.

In fact, she’s suggesting to friends whose children are reaching college-age that COD is the best choice.

“I have been strongly suggesting starting out at COD for all the reasons I decided to attend -- for financial reasons, proximity to where I live, and their degree program offerings,” she said. “I’ve explained how the courses I took, particularly in the OFTI program, have immediate practical application. Before I began working at PwC, I went through a job search and the skills the OFTI courses provide are all requirements in any job listing. You MUST have the MS Office Suite skills. The OFTI program more than prepares students for real-world application of these lessons.

“At PwC, I became the go-to person for my expertise in MS Word, MS Powerpoint and MS Excel. I credit the Office Technology Information program for that. Kay Gerken, Wendy Felder (who is now retired) and Nancy Stanko (who is also retired) did such a phenomenal job with that curriculum. I enjoyed those courses and credit them every time someone else reaches out to me to ask for my assistance with formatting documents in any of those applications.

“Personally, I finished school, which is something my mother always wanted me to do. She passed away in 2005, but I know she is proud of my accomplishment.”

Learn more about the Office Technology Information program at College of DuPage