April is designated APR Month by the Public Relations Society of America.
In the fall of 2024, I decided to pursue my APR after thinking about it for several years. I am so glad I went through the process because the learnings have helped me in the communication side of my role.
For me, this was less about advancing or earning more money and more about shoring up a skill set I found myself increasingly using. Additionally, I wanted to set an example for my team that learning can look lots of different ways.
However, not everyone saw the value in it. In fact, when I mentioned it to someone on my campus, they were surprised I wanted to go through it because I was already “clearly qualified for my role.”
I share that context because, despite all of those things, I found it valuable, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone in a senior position working through the certification if it can be beneficial. Consider this a sign to dig further if you are considering it.
About the Process
The process starts by signing up through PRSA and then answering a questionnaire. Once the questionnaire is submitted, you can schedule a panel presentation. For that presentation, you bring a PR plan that you have completed (with all the evidence) and also your questionnaire. You walk the panelists through your work, and they ask you questions about it.
You will find out if you passed the panel about a week later. Assuming you did, you are then cleared to sit for the exam. It’s about 80-100 multiple-choice application questions. They are not easy but really assess whether or not you know the field. There is a study guide that PRSA provides that I used to study, along with a textbook.
Four Skills I Have Improved By Earning My APR
RPIE – The idea of research, planning, implementation, and evaluation is something I now use almost daily in some capacity. We host campus events and take on big projects, so RPIE is helpful to ground those and make sure what we are planning aligns with our goals. Additionally, the RPIE framework has been helpful to build more evaluation into our work. MarComm teams are often so focused on the next thing that we forget to assess what worked. In fact, the PR plan that I used had little evaluation because we didn’t think about it. The RPIE framework stresses evaluation, and this has helped me better implement that culture across the team.
Pitching – My first university was 75 miles from a state media outlet, which made it incredibly hard to get media coverage. Because of that, there wasn’t much emphasis on media pitching. Being so close to media in the capital city, I needed to level up my skills. I had been doing okay in this work, but some of the strategies around relationship building, researching reporters, and newsjacking will help my team continually elevate our work in this area. Since taking the APR course, our team has reformatted our weekly communications meeting to be more strategic and forward-looking. Additionally, we’re also doing a much better job of tracking our successes and the impact of our work.
Crisis Communication – Working in a university, preparing for a crisis is something that is always on my mind. I really liked the detail the APR program went through about the role of the MarComm leader around a crisis. Too often in crisis planning, the plan looks at the entire issue and how everyone across the organization needs to be working together. That’s helpful, but it doesn’t always go deep enough in the work and preparation for MarComm teams. The APR was the exact opposite. It went deep into our vertical, so I found it helped me think through both of our tactical plans should we find ourselves in a crisis but also more broadly about all the ways MarComm leaders are involved in scanning, alerting, and preparing for a possible crisis.
Confidence – The final takeaway for me was confidence. Because I never took a public relations course in college, I always had imposter syndrome about what I knew. Submitting my PR plan and sitting in a room with APR professionals to discuss it forced me to face my imposter syndrome head-on. As I shared what I did (and what I would do differently), I realized that I already knew so much about the field, even if I didn’t follow the exact process or have the terminology correct. That experience gave me the confidence to keep learning but also step into more public relations opportunities because I was a professional and had relevant experience (even if I hadn’t fully recognized it before).
Want to Know More?
If you’d like to learn more about the process or how it can be helpful, reach out! I’m happy to share more about my struggles and also the successes I had with it!
One response to “How APR Certification Transformed My PR Skills”
Public Relations Society of America was the first professional organization in which I got involved after graduating from college and landing my first job (in PR). It was very helpful in that first, critical, professional step of my career.