How do you know and prove that you are “legit” as a public relations professional? How do you know a PR person you want to hire as a consultant or employee knows what they’re doing?
One way is street “cred.” Another is professional accreditation.
Yesterday I spoke about Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) at the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) International Conference. It was to be in Nashville, but as everything else this year, it was virtual. Check out the conference program description of the session: “The Why, How, and What of APR.”
As co-chair of the PRSA APR Marketing Committee this year, I discussed why professionals would want to seek accreditation, which is the emphasis of this post. My colleague and co-chair Elyse Hammett, APR of the Atlanta Community Foundation went over the what, or process. You can also find more about that on the accreditation page of the PRSA website. Finally, two chapter APR chairs–Dan McFadden, APR, Strategic Communications Director of Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, and Denver Peacock, JD, APR, ABC and Principal, the Peacock Group in Little Rock–shared a chapter program to encourage professionals seeking accreditation. (Email me if you want a copy of the full presentation).
Motivations from Altruistic to Practical
In 2019, there were 196 PR professionals who passed their APR exam, joining a growing number of accredited public relations professionals. This includes those who earned APR+M, a special accreditation for those who work in military public affairs. The question is, why?
It turns out, there are multiple motivators for pursuing APR. Yours may be among the ones I mention.
In 2015, I co-authored an article about these motivations for accreditation. We took data from a survey of those who took the APR exam and analyzed it for some insights. One general insight is that by far the majority of people seek the APR for altruistic reasons, such as simple personal satisfaction (82%), to be a better professional (80%), or to gain confidence in their own competence in strategic management (72%). Respondents obviously could answer all that apply.
Others were more practical in their desire to be accredited. The most common answers in this category was to get a promotion (33%) or to obtain a new job (26%).
Other motivations had to do with individual characteristics or where in the vast public relations arena a person practiced:
- Younger professionals were more likely to seek the APR because of the added potential for a job promotion;
- Men were more likely than women to see the APR as a way to earn respect from an employer or client;
- Professionals who had been in public relations their entire careers were more likely to see the APR as a means to leverage a salary increase and promotion as a primary motivator;
- Those in a tactical role were more likely to seek APR to position themselves when interviewing for a new job;
- Those in a manager role saw the APR as a boost to get them a higher salary;
- Those working in agency, nonprofit and government/military PR thought accreditation would help them gain respect from employers or clients.
You may see your own motivation to put APR behind your name on that list. Or you may have your own reasons. One thing is important to stress for everyone: there is an excellent ROI on the APR. The return on investment, relative to a master’s degree or a professional certificate program, is quite good. The APR process is less costly and time consuming than a master’s degree.
And, compared to professional certifications, which often certify in specific skills, the APR is a designation that a professional has an understanding of the field that is deep and broad. Anyone who earns APR has proven that they understand not just how to do tactics, but the theory, history, strategy and process of the field across all segments.
There’s one final motivator–to enhance the profession. Not only is that the sixth provision of the PRSA Code of Ethics, it’s a reality with regard to the APR. The more professionals who are accredited, the more the public at large will recognize with respect the hallmarks of an accredited professional and a profession worthy of credit.
