Articles

Make Getting Your APR Your Personal PR Campaign

By Robert E. Sheldon, APR, Fellow PRSA
Chapter Accreditation Chair
[email protected]

If this is the year you’ve decided to take the major career move of achieving your APR, that’s great.  COVID-19 may be inhibiting your efforts to study or meet with your mentor. It certainly has inhibited the Chapter’s ability to hold study sessions.  After you’ve checked out the APR testing protocol online, there is another significant step you can take to prepare yourself for the process: you can plan your personal PR campaign strategy for getting your APR.  That’s right, treat yourself as if you were a client desiring to achieve an objective.

What would you do first? How about a Situation Analysis? Describe where you are in your current PR career and where you would like to be in two to three years.  List your strengths and weaknesses and honestly assess your managerial and leadership potential. Finally, assess how much time and energy you have to devote to the process. And remember: getting your APR is not only about what you know, but also how well you can communicate what you know.

Now, apply the four-step process just as you would do for a client.

Step 1: Research – What do you know and what do you need to know?    Filling out the APR questionnaire may give you hints as to where you may have gaps in your skills or experience. Download the APR Study Guide and gather your resources.  What is the process? What do you have to know? How do you need to present yourself? Who can I call on for help?

Step 2: Planning – What are all the steps (questionnaire, selecting a campaign or program to present, Readiness Review Panel, study, take the online test). Your objective is to get your APR, but define your strategy (i.e. study on your own until you feel you’re ready, participate in an APR Boot Camp, use the APR online study course, regularly consult with your mentor, etc.). What is your timeline? Roughly plot it out on a calendar.

Step 3: Execution – Work your timeline and strategy and check-off your accomplishments along the way. Getting your APR is not easy, especially if you approach it too casually. If you’ve followed the study guide and done your homework, and have about five years of professional PR experience, you’ll have a good chance of successfully passing both the Readiness Review Panel presentation and the online test.

Step 4: Evaluation – Just prior to the Readiness Review panel, evaluate your situation and again just prior to taking the online exam. Try to identify any weaknesses and work to shore up your knowledge. Also, if you don’t pass the panel or online test, evaluate why you might have not executed your plan well enough. Many don’t pass the first time; there’s no shame in having to try again – and, in fact, trying it again is a mark that you’re not a quitter, a very important asset to have in this business.

While all of what you need to know about the APR process can be found on PRSA.org, using the Four-Step Process to plan your personal campaign for getting your APR can help you be more strategic. If you need more information about how to get started, help finding a mentor or to schedule a Readiness Review Panel, just email me at [email protected].