ACCREDITATION INFORMATION

Now is the time to earn your Accreditation in Public Relations

APR. No, it’s not Annual Percentage Rate, as some people would think. For public relations practitioners, APR means Accredited in Public Relations, and it is a challenging goal that is indeed attainable.  Central California Chapter PRSA stands ready to help its members achieve this next level in professional development.

The APR certification proves practitioners have successfully demonstrated competency in the knowledge, skills and abilities required to practice public relations effectively in today’s business arena. The APR Accreditation is the only professional certification program open to public relations professionals, and is administered by the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB), a consortium of nine leading industry organizations, including PRSA.

Any PRSA member in good standing can apply for Accreditation, but it is recommended candidates have at least five years’ experience in the full-time practice or teaching of public relations, and who have earned either a bachelor’s degree in a communication-specific field (e.g., public relations, journalism, mass communication) or have equivalent work experience, which includes public relations principles, public relations writing, public relations campaigns, research, ethics and law and internship.

Candidates must complete an application that is to be reviewed by the UAB for adequate full-time public relations experience. If approved, the next step is to participate in a Readiness Review, which is a face-to-face review by three APRs to determine whether the candidate has a grasp of the knowledge, skills and abilities required to pass the comprehensive examination. The final step is a Comprehensive Examination that is administered at numerous testing centers around the nation.

The cost is $385. PRSA members receive a rebate of $110 upon completion of the computer-based Examination.  And, Central California Chapter members will receive a 50 percent one-time reimbursement of the test fee if the exam is taken within six months of completion of the Chapter Study Sessions and Readiness Review.

Direct questions on the program to Chapter Accreditation Co-Chairs: Brenda Smith, APR; brenda.smith.auo4@statefarm.com and Liz Hudson, APR, lizh@fcfb.org, or (559) 779-1569.

TALES FROM RECENT APR CANDIDATES

I Know This Stuff, You Do Too

By Amber Chiang, APR

For those of you who’ve known me, you know I’ve long lamented the Accredited Public Relations minimum qualifications standards for what I considered to be their total disregard for the practitioner who, like me, loves to work in small, non-profit organizations. 

When the requirements changed to allow for cumulative experience, I knew it was time to put up or shut up.  As I let distraction after distraction, along with my own self-effacing criticism, get the better of me, I soon came to realize that this was something I needed to do, just for the experience.  I needed to work to pursue my APR.

In July and August 2007, I ventured to Fresno weekly on a Saturday with PRSA Central California APR Co-Chair Brenda Smith, APR.  During these trips, Brenda heard tirelessly about my doubt and woes, but remained strong with a constant message, “You know this stuff.”  Led by Brenda and her Co-Chair Liz Hudson, APR, the study course allowed me to hear from many APRs in the Fresno area about areas of the test they specialize in. 

Following these study sessions, I prepared a presentation and portfolio about a public relations planning process and success.  I then had to present this in what I consider a very high-stress situation: to my friends, colleagues and partners in PRSA.  But they were incredibly supportive and interested.  They asked relevant questions and allowed me to explain my process for each item in my portfolio.

A few weeks later I received confirmation that I had passed the APR Readiness Review and was cleared to take the test.

Wow.  Now what?

I stuffed my bookshelf with all the required texts, purchased, thankfully, second hand off internet sites.  And you know what?  I read only part of one of them.  I started realizing that I do know this stuff.  Despite my lack of formal Public Relations education, I’d been doing this for years.  I knew what to and not to do.  I knew how to do it.

Now, I may not have known the contributions to the field by Lee and Bernays, but I could learn that.  But I knew Crisis Communications like the back of my hand.  I try daily to practice my trade with all of the ethical guidelines we all strive for.  I take logic, research and information into account as I plan.  This is what the test is all about.

Granted, a few areas were very foreign to me, like Business Literacy, where candidates need to know about the legal aspects of business reporting, as well as History, but the rest was second nature.

Nearly a year after I attended the study sessions and completed the Readiness Review, my time to take the test was quickly drawing near.  There’s only one year from the time you apply and pay your fee to take it.  I took my test on August 18, and my expiration was August 31.  That’s how close I was.

And really, I needn’t have worried. 

Because I am based in Bakersfield, I needed to travel to the closest testing locations in either Fresno or Van Nuys.  I picked Van Nuys.  As I was driving, I was thinking over everything I knew and everything I didn’t and I came to a very easy conclusion.

I know this stuff.

And, what I don’t know, it’s okay.

The test itself was not as daunting as I believed it would be.  There was a lot of narrative and reading on a rather small computer screen, and I quite unwisely forgot my glasses.  But as I looked at each question and read through, I noticed that I could quickly count a couple answers as correct, maybe one or two as completely incorrect, and then just had to work to determine the others.  On this multiple-choice test, where up to four answers could be right on a given question, it was a strategy that worked for me.

I answered 188 questions in about one hour and 28 minutes of the allowed three hours and 45 minutes.  I thought something HAD to be wrong for me to finish so quickly.  So, I went back and read and looked over every single question.  Yes, I changed some.  I don’t know either way if that helped or not.  I never will.

At the end, the computer processed my test and popped up a glorious word.  “PASS”.  Yup, it told me right then that I passed.  But wait!  No, there’s a note that says you really haven’t passed, because there are beta questions on the test and they aren’t scored.  Wait for official word.

You people so can’t do that to me!

Once back in B-Town, I started emailing poor Brenda and others about the test and that awful fake “PASS” result.  They all told me to calm down because, you guessed it:

I know this stuff!

My test was on a Tuesday.  On Saturday, a gloriously large envelope arrived in the mail.  As my husband handed it me, I gasped.  He quickly pointed to the mailing address on the front and the biggest clue as to what was inside.  It was to: Amber Chiang, APR.

I know this stuff!

I think that if anyone takes something away from what I’ve written here, it’s that you do know this stuff.  And, you can score 0% on the History section and still pass – though it’s possible that my 100% in Crisis Communications helped that balance out.

If you are interested in pursuing the APR process and want to ask questions of someone who has most recently been through the process, feel free to email me at amchiang@bakersfieldcollege.edu or call me at 661-395-4256.  I’ll be happy to share with you more of my experience.  But the one thing I’ll tell everyone who calls is…

You know this stuff!