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Changing jobs, I traded my former beautiful office, my growing
connections, and lots of relevant experience...all that comfort...
I now had a rickety old desk with an even older chair, and sat
awkwardly piled into in a shared mixed-use space with a few admin
people from the garbage company. There was a four person sales
team, and we were blowing through cash!
The entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities continue, of
course, but I am happy to report that we’ve grown and become
stronger each year. I’ve been very blessed to have employed great
people. We successfully operate Shred Northwest, LLC today with a
fleet of seven trucks serving the greater Portland, OR area.
Q. How long have you been a CSDS?
A. I was part of the first, original, class of graduating exam
candidates. I have also been (to my memory) serving continuously
on the CSDS Board of Regents since its inception.
Q. What made you decide to become a CSDS?
A. Having the challenge to build a new shredding company from
NOTHING, with NO EXPERIENCE, I decided that a great way
for me to compete in the marketplace was to become the most
certified, best trained company so we could authentically say that
we “locally provide world-class excellence”. I knew I could never
have the size, and the years of experience were impossible to
compare against, but I could get the same, or more, credentials
and certifications.
Becoming a CSDS meant that I would have something that other
competitors would not have… initially.
Q. How has being a CSDS impacted you as you do your job?
A. As a CSDS I feel confident. As the leader of our organization I
can help make sure that our organization is educated, aware, and
not making mistakes from ignorance. I have used the CSDS exam
as a training tool for salespeople, and it’s fantastic to help them
eliminate misnomers and using bad, or inaccurate “angles”.
Q. Do you think being a CSDS has directly correlated to
winning more business?
A. Absolutely.
Q. How hard is it to obtain the CEUs required to maintain your
CSDS credentials year-over-year?
A. I am active serving within NAID, I attend the annual NAID
conference, and I also belong to several networking groups where
I speak occasionally. Getting the CEU’s over the years has been
pretty straight forward for me. NAID and the CSDS Board of
Regents are really reasonable to help and support people to be
successful.
“What I very quickly realized
was how much the association
helps our industry.”
CSDS Study Resources
NAID offers several resources to assist
individuals in studying for the CSDS Exam.
Information Disposition Textbook
NAID has published the first comprehensive
digest covering the wide range of issues
related to protecting information at its most
vulnerable point – the end of its life cycle.
Information Disposition: A Practical Guide to
the Secure, Compliant Disposal of Records,
Media and IT Assets contains everything one
needs to know, including policies and templates,
to create a state-of-the-art, compliant and
secure information destruction program. This
book should be considered the primary source
material of study for the exam.
Study Guide & Webinars
NAID offers a study guide with sample
questions from the exam that sources pages
from the textbook to assist individuals in their
studies. If one can master these questions, they
will be well prepared for the exam. To assist
in this preparation, NAID also offers a series
of webinars, wherein NAID CEO and author of
Information Disposition dissects sample study
questions along with the correct answers to
best equip learns in their trade.
Find CSDS Study Materials:
www.NAIDonline.org
