CIPR

In this article, questions are answered by Emma Whitfield, a CIPR Online Diploma graduate.

What is your current role?

I'm a Senior Press Officer for the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland. The Big Lottery Fund is the biggest National Lottery Good Cause.

We are currently responsible for distributing 28 pence in every £1 across the voluntary and community sector across the UK.

My title is Senior Press Officer, but the work I undertake is much more than media relations. It's about all aspects of the Big Lottery Fund's communications in Scotland, from presswork and traditional press releases to e-bulletins and social media with all stuff in-between.

It's also about using established channels and techniques and getting to grips with emerging ones so we can usefully integrate them into our working practices and communications plans.

Why did you undertake the CIPR Diploma?

I moved into PR in 2003 after a decade as a journalist. I'd worked on national newspapers, for women's magazines and in regional newspapers and it was time for a change.

While I had extensive hands-on experience of media relations and a contacts book worth its weight in gold, in 2008 I thought the time was right to understand more about the profession to which I'd moved.

I wanted to know more about the theory behind the practice of PR and also felt that I needed to widen my knowledge about how the PR profession worked as a whole. I wanted to understand best practice across the spectrum rather than simply focusing on the media relations aspect of my work.

The CIPR Diploma fitted the bill precisely.

How did you manage your time to complete the Diploma?

It was difficult. I had to fit in work, family time and shortly after starting the course, I had the fantastic news I was pregnant with baby number three.

In terms of managing my time I had to really plan timescales for completing reading and assignments. I received corporate sponsorship to undertake the course, which entitled me to a study day for each assignment. This really helped, and I also took some annual leave.

Most of my reading and research for my assignments took place after work in the evenings and my files were ablaze with highlighted passages and papers to prove key points. The problem was when I knew I'd read a vital piece of information but couldn't find it when I needed to quote it – I developed all kinds of systems for remembering what was where.

Then I used my study leave and annual leave to actually focus on writing up and I'm very, very lucky to I have an understanding husband who would take the kids away for a day at a time so I could just get on with it.

What are the benefits of undertaking the Diploma online?

I wouldn't have been able to complete the Diploma, at the time I did, any other way than online. To lose full weekends to attend a residential two-day course just wouldn't have been practical for me with a young family. With the online Diploma I had to be organised and choose when I needed to complete the required work. I fitted the course around my lifestyle rather than the other way around.

It helped that the course outline was available and transparent from the start so I could easily plan and know what was expected at every stage. I could see when I was going to be busy and when more time might be required.

With the online Diploma if I missed an online tutorial then it was easy to listen again and catch up. It was clear from the outset that if you had any questions and queries, an answer was only an email query / online chat away.

There were also ongoing threads and chats regarding topical and theoretical issues bringing together views on PR practice and theory. While not everyone actively contributed to these, the fact they were constantly taking place allowed you to feel connected with the course on a day-to-day basis.

How did completing the Diploma benefit you professionally?

In terms of tangible by-products like promotion or remuneration it hasn't yet! However my boss says he has noticed a change in my work practices.

Personally I really feel that I have a much more consolidated approach to work since completing the Diploma. I'm really proud that I did it in style and was awarded a Diploma with distinction.

Would you recommend the Diploma to colleagues?

For sure but with a caveat – think about the online course. Will you be able to plan and dedicate your own time to do it? Are you a self-starter or do you need someone to give you a push once in a while?

While I didn't do 10 hours reading / work each and every week it is a demanding course and to get the most and best out of it you have to set aside the time.

The same I imagine is true of the centre-based course but the online version required me to focus and push myself. That said, it's really opened my eyes to how much we can and do achieve.

* If you are interested in studying public relations, there is still time to enrol on the CIPR's Diploma and Online Diploma.