Comments on: The value of PR qualifications

By: Leo Bottary

Leo Bottary — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:50:31 +0000

To Kami's point about professional development, she's absolutely correct. We should be passionate about professional development. And I've said so many times. APR is a source, and arguably a good one, but there are many others as well - some that come with initials and many that do not. Having a string of letters after your name is kind of like walking around with a certificate of completion. Those letters have proven to tell me nothing about someone's ability to help a client. Sadly for many who are inherently insecure about being in the PR business, they place more importance on the credential than on the training, and that's what hurts our business. To that point, I certainly don't paint the APRs of the world with a broad brush either. I'm not talking about the Kami's of the world here.

By: Serena

Serena — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 14:18:20 +0000

Does it depend if accreditation is a seal of approval of doing things a certain way? Is that the right way? Hmm

On qualifications versus doing - surely some things are learned on the job and some in the classroom?

By: Leo Bottary

Leo Bottary — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 15:13:14 +0000

By: Kami Huyse

Kami Huyse — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 19:56:04 +0000

I really respect Leo's take on this issue, insofar as we should be client-focued. However, I diagree that this will happen without mechanisms in place to get people to a certain level of skill. How do I know this? Just read a headline or two about PR.

I don't believe in being self-focused at the expense of everything else, but I do believe that this discussion is valuable. I disagree that we shouldn't be interested in professional development. I think that it is what gives us new levels of knowledge and understanding to bring into our client (and employer) relationships. Everything I do, I do with my clients firmly in mind. I just don't believe that one needs to come at the expense of the other.

By: Mutually Inclusive PR

Mutually Inclusive PR — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:08:11 +0000

The Relative Value of Professional Accreditation

Do some capital letters on your business card make you an expert? Does their absence make you incompetent? The obvious answer is no. So what possible reason is there to pursue a law degree, earn an accounting designation, earn your professional assoc…

By: Mutually Inclusive PR

Mutually Inclusive PR — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 04:32:02 +0000

The Relative Value of Professional Accreditation

By: Eric Eggertson

Eric Eggertson — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 15:48:35 +0000

This is a bit of a chicken and the egg debate.

You see the same issue in academia, where the qualifications for achieving a doctorate don't necessarily involve learning how to be a good teacher. Then universities set their academics loose on students, explaining that their research skills and quality of dissertation writing qualify them to pass on their learning to others.

Teaching takes a whole new range of skills that some academics have, and others are lacking. A PhD. does not magically transform them into an excellent teacher.

Accreditation is a good measure of whether someone: 1) Understands the fundamentals of business communications; 2) Has shown they can apply strategic thinking; 3) Decide to devote the time and energy to the process; 4) Values the accrediting organization enough to want to affiliate themselves with the accreditation being offered.

There are a lot of people who have 1-2, but don't have either 3 or 4.

By: Leo Bottary

Leo Bottary — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:56:57 +0000

Todd's right on this one. The accreditation process can be a helpful professional development tool, but it's nothing more than that. And any argument aimed to make it more than that doesn't hold water. In 20 years in this business, I've worked with the accredited and unaccredited alike, and believe me, there are great ones and bad ones in both camps. PR professionals have a reputation problem because we get mired in issues like this. We as a group appear to care more about "ourselves" and our "profession" than we do about our clients and achieving real results. If we want to improve our reputation, then let's step it up across the board on our client's behalf and help deliver real value to their enterprises. I applaud the training and think the lessons learned from the accreditation process are valuable, but having more "self-accredited," PR professionals in the world isn't going to improve our reputation. If we want people to think we're smart, then let's act smart and allow them to draw the conclusion. Walking into a meeting with a diploma, APR certificate or whatever, isn't going to cut it. The sooner we wake up to that fact, the better off we'll be. Only then, will we have a shot at improving our reputation and credibility.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:37:23 +0000

Thanks for this thought-provoking post.

The following is the most relevant to my business - as it was established based largely on journalistic strengths as opposed to knowing anything about the 'bigger PR picture.'

"I've worked with and known far too many talented PR people who simply don't know what they are doing. They might be excellent at spotting a story or writing a killer news release, but they don't understand how it all fits into the big picture."

Our company is still in its early days but we are committed to continued development and learning.

Journalist colleagues may roll their eyes and accuse us of spouting 'jargon' when we discuss any of this but if we want to compete at tender stage for the sorts of clients we want to build relationships with, then boy do we need to know our stuff.

We have learned a great deal through websites, blogs, industry text books and magazines and signed up to the appropriate membership level of the CIPR as soon as we could.

Next step will be for one of my colleagues to underpin all of this by signing up to a CIPR course at Birmingham University. The day you stop learning is the day you may as well pack it all in, I reckon!

All best.