Professional organizations such as the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and others in the public relations field have created opportunities for formal professional credentials. There is the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations for students near graduation time, and for professionals there is Accreditation in Public Relations (APR).
However, perception of and participation in these professional credential opportunities is varied. I conducted surveys of public relations students and professionals to determine why people do or do not seek to attain these professional milestones. In addition, employers were surveyed to determine their awareness and perception of these professional achievements.
My partners in this project were John Forde, PhD, APR, Fellow PRSA, Professor at Mississippi State University, and Sharee Broussard, PhD, APR, Director of Public Affairs and Community Services at Mobile County, Alabama.
Results show students and professionals are more likely to consider practical external value (i.e. getting hired or promoted) than other idealistic personal motivations to pursue professional development achievements. Meanwhile, employers value professional credentials as nice to have but not necessary if candidates have proven experience.
Surveys were completed by 76 public relations students who had applied to take the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations; 68 students who were members of various student public relations organizations but had not applied for the certificate; 387 public relations professionals; and 45 employers who hire public relations employees. (All questions in the surveys were on 5-point scales).
Students who applied for the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations mostly were neutral or agreed that having the certificate would increase their chances of being hired (mean 3.3). However, they mostly disagreed or were neutral on whether their employer valued the certificate in the interview process (mean 2.5).
Their comments reflect the disconnect between their own expectations and experience with actual potential and current employers:
- “I don’t think the certificate added much to my education that my degree didn’t already offer.”
- “The certificate has little value to employers often because they are unaware of the significance.”
- “Most recruiters and employers did not know what my certification was, and therefore did not value it as I would have wished.”
- “The certificate did not capture the attention of potential employers like I had hoped. Employers are more interested in applicable portfolio pieces related to the position you’re applying for.”
- “The employers I interviewed with during my job hunt were either not aware of the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations at all, or did not consider it significant enough to bear an impact on their hiring decisions.”
- “I don’t feel this certification has provided any value. I haven’t received any special consideration after obtaining the certification, nor have any prospective employers commented on it.”
Meanwhile, students who were members of PR groups but had not applied for the certificate were mostly not aware of the certificate—35 of 68 said they were “not at all” aware of it and 14 were only slightly aware (mean 2). Once it was explained to them and they were asked if they would seek the certificate, these students were mostly neutral or agreed (mean 3.3). They also were mostly neutral or agreed on whether the certificate would increase their chance of being hired or promoted (mean 3.67).
Professionals were more mixed with regard to perceptions of Accreditation in Public Relations. As a group they were very familiar with APR (mean 4.64), with 237 of respondents having earned APR and 134 not. Of those who were not yet accredited, they mostly agreed or were neutral about one day earning APR (mean 3.24). They mostly agreed (mean 3.6) that having APR would increase chances of being hired or promoted.
Those with positive attitudes about APR spoke to demonstrating professionalism and commitment to the profession:
- “I earned the APR to increase my PR knowledge and to have a credential that demonstrates my expertise to the world.”
- “I earned it because my employer supported me in my journey, paid for the process and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. The process was a great learning and taught me where I had gaps and also gave me confidence in my capabilities as a professional.”
- “I believe the APR credential is the true sign of a professional PR counselor. Each time I receive the maintenance letter, I’ve submitted it to my boss and received great responses.”
- “I earned the APR to reinforce my knowledge and increase my credibility as a practitioner.”
However, professionals also had negative perceptions of the value and process of accreditation. Comments as to why they would not seek APR included:
- “Do not agree that the title can be taken away from you if you choose not to be a member of a professional organization annually.”
- “Cost, too cumbersome of a process to go through, and my company is not interested in having me earn it.”
- “Not sure if employers or clients recognize the value; is the effort required worth the benefit received?”
- “I met Edward L. Bernays in the 1980s when he was pushing APR. It was useless then and it’s useless today. No one I know in the public relations firm world pays any attention whatsoever to accreditation.”
- “I don’t see a need. I think it works for some, but with 20+ years’ experience and an MA in Communications Management, it feels redundant. I also find that outside of the industry, people don’t really know APR to give it any value/weight.”
Hiring managers were mostly in the public relations field (62%) as opposed to general human resources (22%) or other functions (15%). This may explain why most were aware of the Certificate in Principles of Public Relations (mean 2.9) and APR (mean 4.1). All together the group was likely to consider general non-degree credentials about the same as APR when hiring, (mean 4), but they considered the certificate in particular less valuable (mean 3.5).
While hiring managers said they would consider the certificate and APR, their comments showed they only considered these credentials in the context of other factors:
- “Many PR professionals who do not seem very competent have earned their APR, which dilutes the significance of that accreditation.”
- “Hands-on, day-to-day, client-facing, problem-solving, real-world experience. plus knowing how to think and write tops all else.”
- “The most important traits I look for are intelligence, work ethic and positive attitude. Letters behind the name are great, but it’s not the first thing I look for.”
- “Certificates do not mean the candidate is more qualified. Having the basic knowledge of public relations, experience (even if it’s from an internship) and willingness to learn will determine if they are the right person for the job.”
- “I’m an EVP and have hired communications people here and at two other agencies as well as a top consulting firm and I can say these particular development resources have never once come up as being desirable things for a candidate to have. We look at all kinds of professional development examples not just those prescribed by PRSA. I think it’s largely due to the fact that so few PR practitioners are even in PRSA, and only 10% of them get any of these certificates. It’s just too small a pool of people to put any weight on it.”
It is especially hard to communicate the value of these credentials when PRSA does not promote them to employers and others outside the field. Also, PRSA received considerable criticism from members when they decided not to require APR for members to be representatives to the national assembly at the annual conference.
If there is a bottom line here, it is that students may expect the Certificate to help them get a job, but that employers either don’t agree or see it as just one factor when hiring. As for professionals, APR may have personal or intrinsic value but there is little evidence that it matters to employers.
