Tips for APR success and a thank you

Many of you are aware that I have been pursuing my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) for the better part of the year. While I am not an expert on the process, I wanted to share a few tips that worked for me to assist others considering pursuing Accreditation. 

1.    Sign up for the online course. I highly recommend this. The course connects you to a community of other people who have the designation or are interested in obtaining it. Through the course, you will meet countless individuals who want to do a better job at communicating. It is a great resource to make new friends and learn more about the exam process. I spent many days and nights listening to the course sessions and downloading study materials from the course. There are also several quizzes and study tools to test your knowledge.  

2.    Study first and then apply for the exam. This one has been said over and over, but I want to reiterate it. I started the process to become accredited years ago and did not complete the process because I wasn’t organized and didn’t plan accordingly to meet the testing deadline. This time, I completed the questionnaire before I even submitted the APR application. This is because the clock starts ticking immediately once your application is approved. You have a year from approval date to complete the accreditation process and become accredited.

3.    Don’t overthink the Panel Presentation. Prepare as you would for a job interview and make sure you know and understand what your questionnaire says. However, don’t go overboard on making an elaborate portfolio or PowerPoint presentations. I think I went overboard. If I had it to do over, I would have just focused on being able to explain what was in my Panel Presentation questionnaire regarding my plan and knowing why I incorporated certain plan elements. So, it is imperative that you study first.

4.    Memorizing the material is important, but understanding it is more important. It’s more important to be able to apply what you know. Review sample questions and put yourself in the practitioner role to determine an answer to each question. The test is not just about memorizing terms, I cannot emphasize that enough. It is so much more. It is about understanding and knowing why you should do something or what steps to take in a best-case scenario and in what order.  

5.    Go public. My last suggestion really depends on your preference and comfort level. I chose to go public during the entire process of pursuing accreditation. Every step of the way, I shared information about the process. For me, it was a way to hold myself accountable. I shared via social media photos of me studying, information about preparation for the Panel Presentation and I blogged about the importance of the credential.Going public meant I had an army of support. But, in doing this, I also felt like I was testing for everyone who had supported me throughout the process. While this ultimately led to me studying harder to ensure a positive result, I did feel added pressure. So, for me, it was the extra push I needed to ensure completion.

And lastly, I cannot thank my support team enough for the countless social media posts, phone calls, texts and emails of support and encouragement. I would especially like to thank my mentor and fellow APR, Stacey Cox who leads Employee Communications efforts at CenterPoint Energy. She has been a motivating force behind my success. She is the reason I know about the APR and has stood as an example of what can be gained from doing the work to become accredited. Thank you, Stacey. I would also like to thank my employer, the City of Pearland for providing the financial support for me to pursue this longtime goal. And, thank you to all my family and friends, especially Ray, Andrea and Destiny, for being there throughout the process with listening ears as I have shared my fears and frustrations. I love you all so much.