Sweet Success! I passed the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) Exam!

December 17, 2010

Sweet Success! I passed the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) Exam!

In going through this journey, I often looked to the internet for advice. Unfortunately, such advice is few and far between.  I hope other public relations professionals (especially those faced with retaking the Accreditation in Public Relations exam) find my advice helpful.

This post concerns the exam itself. I am also sharing how timing is everything!

Remember to bring two IDs. If you bring a jacket, leave it in the locker. You can go get it if you get cold. If you get hot, you’ll have to go back into the office to put it in the locker anyway. If you wear glasses, they will let you bring an extra pair. You can take the extras with you. I had this fear that my lens was going to break and I would be unable to see.

They have these ugly headphones you can wear to muffle sound. I thought they were annoying. There were very few people there anyway so I chose to not wear the headphones. Don’t freak about the calculator. You don’t need it.

 The first 15 minutes before the clock starts running give you a chance to go through a tutorial. I used this chance to write acronyms on my marker boards and the letters ABCDE repeatedly (Thanks Bonnie Cain!)

 Know what makes up an objective. They will ask about it in several different ways. Therefore it is important to know objectives must include an audience, a measurement element, a timeline and some sort of behavior change.

 Know the theories and models and how they are applicable to your daily work. Evidently I knew this stuff way better than I thought, because I scored 100%! 

Know why something is unethical, not just that it is.

Don’t stress out about a question. Answer what you can, mark it and move on.  

They say all of these questions are vetted thoroughly. Hogwash! Some of these questions are borderline masochistic in their wording and their intent.

 The exam asks a lot of questions about what you should do first. I ended up putting myself in the shoes of the person the question was referring. When I went back and looked at my answers at times I thought “well duh.”

 Remember that employees are a valuable audience.

 They give you these two marker boards. You can use front and back so it is like having four pieces of paper.  

I spent most of my time studying the KSAs that count the largest percentage of the exam. My test scores reflect this.  However, I would strongly suggest not to totally ignore those other portions.

 I have taken this exam twice. I’ll share a little about both of my experiences and preparation.

 Exam 1 – September 2007

2007 was a horrible year for me and in retrospect, I had no business taking this test.

1) My dad died in September 2006 so when I started the process in February 2007, I was still trying to sort out what this new version of reality was going to be.

2) I spent 2007 in the throes of coauthoring a book. This book became my baby and my creative release. It was a great way to work through my grief.

3) In July of 2007, I had an emergency appendectomy.

4) Because of these items and other things I had on my plate at the time, I  did not put as much time as I should have into studying and preparing. I studied but it was just going through the motions.

5) Despite all I had going on, I only missed passing by seven points!

Exam Retake – December 2010

I finally got the courage to retake my exam. I made some key changes that I definitely believe lead to my success.

1) I made regular study dates with a study buddy. We didn’t memorize a lot by rote, but we went through countless scenarios. We studied once a week after work almost every week for about four months.

2) I turned to some APR mentors in the chapter. I borrowed extensive notes from another APR. These became my bible.

3) Early in this process things became clearer. The models and theories became more applicable in my daily work. I found myself living the material rather than just trying to memorize it.

4) I felt much less stress this time around. I did very little cramming and skimmed through the Effective Public Relations book the night before the exam. I also found The Practice of Public Relations helpful.

5) During the test, I seemed to breeze through it. I tend to be a speed reader, so I answered but still marked everything I was not positive about knowing the answer.

6) Next, I went back and double checked the marked answers, changing some of them.

7) At this point, I still had ample time, so I decided to go back through the entire exam. I know for a fact doing this boosted my score in some areas.

 After submitting my answers, it was the longest 30 seconds of my life. I ended up with one perfect score and a few close to perfect scores and still wondered if I passed. However, I am glad to finally be able to place the letters APR after my name.

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