Accreditation Month Resources
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Articles:
Validation through accreditation—Tom Tirone, ABC
I love a challenge. I think most communicators do, to some extent anyway. One of those challenges throughout my career has been validating not just the value of good communication to the organization, but the value of a good communicator to the organization.
I don’t know that either of those battles will ever be completely won, but going through the process of earning my ABC helped me validate to myself what it takes to be a good communicator.
Getting my portfolio right, finding time to study and taking the test were all challenging, but in a good way (see my first sentence).
Becoming an Accredited Business Communicator takes effort. It’s not a gift. It’s earned. And while no one is going to just hand you an ABC, everyone wants you to succeed in earning one. IABC offers many resources locally and nationally to help. I would find it highly unlikely that anyone who has earned their ABC would refuse you support.
However, I’d find it equally as unlikely that anyone would offer you a million dollars a year simply because those letters are after your name. At least, no one has offered it to me. So why do it? Other than the fact that it looks really cool on a business card, what has paid off for me is what I learned. I found that things I thought I was doing right, I now knew I was doing right. Going through the process has created opportunities for me and given me a confidence in my strategic abilities that I can take anywhere.
Professional development through accreditation—Paul M. Sanchez, APR, ABC, IABC Fellow
In my first corporate position, the director of my department was very active in PRSA. A strong proponent of professional development, he encouraged the people in the department to develop career plans with goals and targets for growth and advancement, all based on continuous learning. Since I was involved with external communication duties, my early professional development activities centered on public relations activities, and that led to my working for accreditation through PRSA.
As my career moved through several phases, I was drawn into corporate communication at higher levels with broader responsibilities. After getting a Master’s degree in organizational communication, my adviser, suggested that I consider joining IABC. I went to a local meeting in Boston, and that began a long association with other professionals in locations around the world with whom I felt very much aligned.
As I moved into consulting, I also became more active in chapter and international board activities. All the while I wanted to become accredited through IABC since this organization had become my professional home. What finally convinced me to do it? A comment from a board colleague that board members should set an example of good professional practice and leadership, promoting accreditation by themselves being accredited.
Accreditation was a serious goal, but it was more than once subordinated to the demands of my work responsibilities. For me, the actual challenge was getting my portfolio together. I worked out a schedule with milestones for planning, writing and assembly. The overall process still took a few years, and in the final stages, some encouragement from other accredited IABC members. The last push to prepare for the exam and take the orals was the culmination that made it all worth it.
IABC’s accreditation program fit my concept of the career that I aspired to practice in and represent in the world of business. The professional designation is a visible sign both inside and, to some extent, outside the profession. of fully professional qualification and behavior as well as participation in an association that furthers professional standards. This association has added to the body of knowledge, works to establish and enforce ethical standards of practice, and serves society through fostering increased understanding and information sharing in all segments of enterprise. The ABC designation has not only been a matter of personal pride but also an assist in the development of my career, demonstrating to potential and actual employers my dedication to professional development and participation in an international organization that fosters professionalism for its members and the organizations from which they come.
How my ABC has helped--Angela Sinickas, ABC
I clearly remember the Saturday afternoon nearly 30 years ago when an IABC colleague and I drove back to Chicago from Milwaukee where we had just completed taking the accreditation exam. We were exhausted and unsure of how well we had done since neither of us had completed all the written questions. I also recall discussing how annoyed we were that the two proctors spent most of the day chatting with each other while we were trying to concentrate! It was almost like being in the office.
I remember wondering to myself if the results would be worth all the effort.
I’m glad to report that it was. Shortly after I became accredited, I used the bi-annual IABC salary survey results to get a larger-than-budgeted pay increase because I was able to document for HR the average ABC salary level, which was higher than the average for all members. Since I was the only internal communicator at the company, HR had not previously seen any external benchmarking studies for my position.
Six years later, when I applied for a VP of Communication position responsible for both internal and external communication, the ABC again made a difference. During my final interview, the CEO expressed some concern that only the first five of my 16 years of experience had been focused on external communication. After explaining that the ABC credential validated mastery of both internal and external communication, I was offered the position.
However, I gained a lot just from going through the accreditation process, even before it made a difference in my resume and bank balance. Putting the portfolio together gave me an opportunity most of us don’t often allow ourselves because of how busy we are—to reflect on what we’ve done before and consider what we might do differently if we had known then what we know now. The results report of the accreditation exam also proved extremely useful. The exam’s evaluation showed section by section where my strengths were and where I had weaknesses. I immediately volunteered for an IABC/Chicago committee where I would have a chance to practice some of those weaker skills so I would have more samples and war stories when applying for my next job.
Even though I’m now my own boss, I believe the ABC continues to have an impact when potential clients are considering which consulting firm to choose for conducting their communication measurement projects because you can’t become accredited without demonstrating a strong grasp of setting measurable objectives and knowing how to obtain measurable results.
Angela Sinickas, ABC, IABC Fellow, is president of Sinickas Communications, an international consulting firm that helps organizations plan and measure successful communication, including 23% of Forbes’ Global 100 largest corporations. She is the author of the manual How to Measure Your Communication Programs and has earned 17 IABC Gold Quills. She also teaches an online graduate class on communication measurement for Northeastern University.
Growing through the accreditation process—Chris Hemrick, ABC
When IABC advertised its “Accreditation Month,” I was excited to sign up and take advantage of the opportunity to enhance my resumé for use with potential clients. My employer, Booz Allen Hamilton (consulting firm), was willing to pay the expenses if I was willing to do the work.
After my initial application was accepted, it was time to go to work…and the process was much more intense than I originally expected.
I figured that because I had 10 years’ experience as a professional communicator that it wouldn’t be very difficult to put together a strong portfolio and take an exam based mostly on case studies. However, reality struck when my accreditation mentor bled all over my first draft (via Microsoft Office’s “track changes”). She helped make the portfolio much stronger and I appreciate her assistance.
Many revisions and e-mails later, I was ready to submit the portfolio to the accreditation committee, who, in turn, said that I needed to answer more questions about the submission before it would pass. Thankfully, I didn’t have to rewrite it—just explain in detail the thinking behind the recommendations described in the piece to ensure I was “thinking strategically” and measuring my efforts’ return on investment (ROI).
After passing the portfolio, the next step was the exam. I highly recommend accreditation candidates attend one of their local chapter’s exam workshops. While the IABC web site is great at explaining the concepts and format of the exam, I learned a lot from the many specific tips given at the workshop. One area where my opinion diverges from the workshops is that while I found the organization’s Handbook of Organizational Communication to be a good resource for my job, it did not specifically help me much for the exam.
Now that the exam is over and I can put “ABC” after my name, I’m thankful to have gone through the process. Although it was much more time-consuming and challenging than I originally expected, it helped me grow as a communicator. One specific way was through the emphasis that IABC places on measurement. My portfolio was closely scrutinized with questions that asked, “Why did X help accomplish your organization’s goals? How do you know for sure?” Those types of questions really helped me better understand the importance of measurement in order to prove the ROI that my communication efforts provide for clients.
I recommend the process to anyone who is looking for an opportunity to grow as a communicator and a professional overall. IABC provides all the support you can ask for through a team of dedicated professionals—mostly, if not all, volunteers—who want to help you be the best communicator possible.
My IABC Accreditation Experience—Michela Pasquali, ABC
I looked into Accreditation because the director of communications for the organization I work for, KPMG LLP in Canada, is an ABC and said he’d really learned a lot from the process. Around the time I was considering taking this step, IABC’s Toronto chapter advertised that its annual “Accreditation College” was starting up to help potential candidates through the process. The timing was perfect.
I joined the college and heard from ABCs why they valued their accreditation so much and the benefits the process brought to their lives and careers. It didn’t seem too onerous—two portfolios and an exam—so I signed myself up. My goal was to help solidify my communication skills and test them against the international standard, so I had professional and personal reasons to want to succeed. Was I really cut out to be a communicator, and was it something I wanted to continue doing?
The thing I learned very quickly was that there was a lot more work involved than I’d originally thought! I knew the projects I’d selected for my portfolio inside and out. But getting all the strategies, goals and tactics down on paper in a way that was both comprehensive and succinct took some work. It took about 20 hours for me to write one of my portfolios; the second took longer, because I found myself rewriting it constantly to get it just right. But all the work paid off, as a few months later, I was given the green light to write the exam.
I was more stressed about the exam than I was about the portfolios. I studied the IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication, which I found helpful not only because of the information in the articles, but because of the connection I saw with the experiences of the authors. They went through what I went through! They asked the same kinds of questions I did! And they wanted to effect the same kind of change in their organizations as I wanted to in mine.
I also studied the practice written and oral exams and read through archived issues of Communication World on the IABC web site. The articles from Communication World were very beneficial, because in 1,000 words or less, they covered many of the key concepts of organizational communications that I wanted to focus on. I spent most of my time reading about the areas of communication with which I had the least amount of experience and learned a lot.
I felt hugely prepared. I wrote my exam, completed the oral component, and passed all but one section! I immediately requested to rewrite the section and was able to within about a month. I didn’t study too much for the rewrite, but decided to focus on my own experience to help me make it through. It worked—I passed.
When I received the news that I’d achieved my ABC, I was thrilled. All that time I’d spent focused on the essentials of communication strategy and planning had paid off. It also spilled into my work life, as I found myself asking more strategic questions when looking at communication issues, and approaching my work with greater confidence and pride.
I’m very glad that I stuck with the process and succeeded in achieving my ABC. I’d highly recommend it to anyone wanting to assess their skills, learn about some aspects of communication that they’re not as familiar with, and breathe new life into their goal of being a communication leader in their organization.
The Challenge and Accomplishment of Becoming an ABC—Marie Fitzpatrick-Hall, ABC
Pursuing my accreditation with IABC was a very enriching experience both professionally and personally. Like everyone, you think about going for it but it takes a great deal of support and initiative for you to take the next step. Fortunately for me, the Toronto chapter was there with an experienced mentor and a well-organized program to help me through the process.
The IABC accreditation process sets the professional bar for communication. It challenges you in such an important way, as it’s not only about strategic communication leadership, but it’s also about bringing intelligent and creative ideas to the table and, in this case, to your portfolio submission and to the exam. The fact that you are judged by your peers is perhaps the biggest challenge and, frankly, the ultimate honor.
To be successful in pursuing your accreditation is actually very simple. Listen to what your mentor and other ABCs tell you to do! Listen and do it. It’s all right there. In the exam, give real-life examples of how you have succeeded with a project in the past. You lived it, you succeeded, so now tell about it. Do all the practice exam questions exactly to time. Feel the pressure, get used to it and get writing.
At the end of the day, it’s really about the way you see strategic communication and its application. The ABC designation is recognition among your peers of this understanding and expertise. For me, to be recognized by an international organization by my peers for something I love to do is an honor in itself.
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