Do PR qualifications have any real value? Or is on-the-job learning the only worthwhile form of education?: Each month, we ask two communications practitioners to debate an issue via an exchange of emails.

In this month's digital debate, Matt Stewart, associate director at Bite Communications, will argue that PR qualifications count for little in the real world of PR. Taking the opposite view is Kevin Taylor, president of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Dear Kevin,
I don’t think qualifications count for anything compared to experience within an agency or in house environment combined with agency-led or externally delivered training or induction programmes. My experience of PR graduates isn’t 100% negative, particularly where individuals have spent time ‘in industry’ as part of their course. However I’ve interviewed many PR undergraduates whose opinions and preconceptions of what agency life is like differ considerably from reality! This generally manifests itself in the undergrad who interviews for a grad trainee role claiming they’re looking forward to ‘doing strategy’, or ‘driving creative campaigns’.

I don’t have a bias against PR courses per se; but in my experience a career in PR isn’t hindered in any way by not having studied public relations methodology. Equally, a PR degree is unlikely to lead to swifter progression or a higher starting salary.

Bite runs a 12-month graduate programme as part of which grads get to work alongside multiple teams within the agency to ‘fast track’ their experience of agency life. Similarly, we run an internship programme, offering short-term placements to students keen to clock up some hours working in an agency before completing their studies. Some of the most insightful, successful people I have worked with have come through one of these routes.

The experience of what truly makes an agency tick combined with some more theoretical ‘what PR’s about’ training offered both formally and informally to grads and interns is what helps them become rounded, pragmatic and dedicated PR practitioners.
Yours, Matt

Dear Matt,
There are indeed a number of great intakes at graduate level with no formal PR training who build hugely successful PR careers. But that just proves that there is more than one way to get into this profession. Entrants who have been on one of the CIPR’s approved PR degree courses, or who have studied the CIPR Advanced Certificate or postgrad Diploma, have already got one thing in their favour, however – they have already made a commitment to their career.

When it comes to selecting candidates to fill a precious graduate recruitment place we all look for pretty much the same things – energy, commitment, drive, intelligence, creativity, and personality all feature high in our decision-making process. Of course, you do not need a PR qualification to have these attributes, but, if you have those attributes and you have already demonstrated your hunger for a career in PR, then I believe you have an advantage over your competitors.

We all learn rapidly on the job, and experience is one of the best ‘teachers’, especially when supported by a good training programme. But gaining experience on the job from a solid theoretical background and an understanding of the business of PR is the best of both worlds.
Yours, Kevin Taylor

“PR is not painting by numbers. The best campaigns, tactics, and – at the base level – stories are rarely formulaic enough to make them something you could teach”

Hi Kevin,
I agree wholeheartedly that the best combination when it comes to graduate intake is a candidate who demonstrates an understanding of the business of PR, and who also has experience ‘in the field’. However, I have an inbuilt cynicism towards what ‘understanding of PR’ will mean to a candidate who has learnt it from a textbook, from a lecturer. Similarly, I question whether all good businessmen or women will have studied business studies, or indeed whether all business studies undergraduates plan to enter ‘business’ following graduation. I wonder whether PR graduates knock on the doors of agencies or in-house PR teams through consequence, and not self-motivated design.

As with most areas of life, there will be exceptions, but I find it rare to interview a PR graduate who can really demonstrate how his or her course has translated into an understanding of our business. As such, I don’t believe a PR undergraduate (or graduate) really has any advantage over a candidate who has completed a degree in, say, English – and thus can claim to be a good writer; or law, and can dissect an argument effectively and put him or herself in the shoes of a sceptical journalist.

I think those graduates who opt for a career in PR because they’ve researched the industry and believe it offers the career they want, and not because their course stipulates it, are likely to approach their role with an open mind and gain the most from on the job training.
All the best, Matt

Hi Matt,
I’m glad that we can see some common ground, and there is no doubt in my mind that the best industry entrants I’ve worked with have done a PR degree course that included work experience or have studied for a PR professional qualification while working in the industry.

Learning on the job is great but combining this with studying the theory behind what you are doing is even better.

Put it this way – being able to read a cook book, doesn’t make me a great chef, but nor does simply being shown the various steps required. Following cooking instructions just requires the ability to understand various terms like whisk, fold and drizzle. But to really excel in the kitchen by yourself you need to know the science behind the behaviour of the ingredients during processes such as heating, cooling, standing and stirring. And while well-supported practical experience can get you there, a solid technical background can get you there faster.

But enough with the cooking, and let’s not sell our profession short. PR is a strategic business function with its own specific skill set and knowledge base. So while you can’t beat experience, some things are better learnt from a base of formal instruction, guidance and acquired knowledge.
Yours, Kevin

“Entrants who have been on a PR degree courses, or who have studied the CIPR Advanced Certificate or post-grad Diploma, have already got one thing in their  favour – they have already made a commitment to their career”

Dear Kevin, The argument that you can’t excel without some formal education in PR doesn’t really stack up, and sends the wrong message to those who may otherwise try to codify our industry. It is indeed a strategic business function – but those who define PR strategy either in house or in agency can’t learn how to use communications to effect an outcome by reading a series of steps in a text book, or listening to a lecturer.

Communications remains more art than science: it is a combination of audience insight, communications vehicles to reach that audience, understanding of an industry or of commerce more broadly; it requires an appreciation for context and environment; it requires and engenders creativity and nous. But most ‘good PR’ comes down to something subjective.

I’d be the first to support those that attempt a wholesale quantification of PR, in order that we can measure, evaluate, analyse and calculate, But I’d remind those same people that PR is not painting by numbers. The best campaigns, tactics, and - at the base level - stories are rarely formulaic enough to make them something you could teach. They are a combination of creativity; they could germinate from a seemingly random sequence of events that happened that day or week.

PR may sometimes be textbook material or something a lecturer could teach, but a good PR practitioner will require considerably more than to have read the requisite pages of a book or attended a certain lecture.
All the best, Matt

Dear Matt,
I would certainly never argue (and don’t think I did) that you can’t excel at PR without formal education in the profession. Just as I would not argue that a formal education guarantees excellence.
But I stand by my belief that the best people I have seen in recent years match natural ability and aptitude with a solid grounding in the business and the theory of PR.

PR degrees and qualifications such as the CIPR Diploma and Chartered Practitioner designation are vital to our future. They underpin the industry’s professionalism. In turn valuing PR degrees too lightly undermines our credibility as a profession.

No-one is saying that everything is perfect. We need to continue to invest in our formal PR qualifications programme to ensure we continually increase the standard of tomorrow’s professionals. If we don’t, we will be doing ourselves and the next generation of PR professionals a disservice.

There is always room for the entrant from left field, and for those that can learn on the job and excel. But we do need both and we also need – through programmes such as the Chartered Practitioner scheme – to recognise the skills and expertise acquired ‘on the job’ in the same way that we recognise the knowledge acquired through formal education.

Best, Kevin