A PR pro defends getting her APR

The Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) process is elective. If you pass, there is no real effect on your job and you won’t get an extra zero on your next paycheck.

However, I just checked my mailbox and my official letter of passing just arrived. There is something that feels so good about having three little letters behind my name that I can’t help but be excited.

The desire to take the APR has to come from within. You have to want to go through the process to further your career and separate yourself from a pool of resumes.

It is hard to motivate yourself to take the test. It’s like going back to college. Textbooks, flash cards and studying are definitely involved. You will question yourself somewhere in the middle and ask yourself why you are doing this. But when that envelope arrives addressed to your name with the APR behind it, it’s worth it.

Many of my mentors and supervisors went to college for journalism or business because there was not a PR program. I am among the next generation of PR practitioners in that I went to college to actually study PR.

I heard about the accreditation process when I was in school and knew that it was something I wanted for myself. I wanted the designation to prove—if only to myself—that I was a practitioner who knew what I was doing.