Getting chartered
By Helen Deakin

In one of a series of blogs, Helen Deakin, shares her experience in getting chartered as a not-for-profit comms professional.

Making the decision to get chartered

My aim was to get chartered to mark a personal milestone of fifteen years in communications. Since going freelance three years ago, I’d prioritised making the time to get stuck into everything CIPR has to offer, including joining the Not-for-Profit Committee last year. I wanted to make sure I kept on learning from others.

Before applying to an assessment day, I attended a ‘Getting Chartered’ webinar, which you can watch here. I heard from panellists about how gaining chartership had given them confidence, recognition, and reiterated their role as an expert in their field. It really felt like a meaningful accreditation in the industry. I also had a read of Gemma’s helpful blog on her experience getting chartered as a not-for-profit PR. I’d loved her point that as comms professionals, we’re sometimes very much ‘behind the scenes’ and that chartership gives us the opportunity to substantiate our skills and experience.

Feeling ready for chartership

Through the webinar and blogs, I’d been reassured that you didn’t need a typical PR career path in the corporate world to get accredited. I began my career in a small national youth charity where I benefited from the hands-on opportunities that small charities offer. It was one of those roles where one day I could be writing press releases or campaign packs for young people, and the next I’d be attending a meeting with the Education Secretary (who was Ed Balls, which shows how long ago this was!). I then moved over to Transport for London’s busy public affairs team just as the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games started. After five years at TfL, I moved over to the Department of Transport in an external affairs role. I went freelance in 2019, and over the pandemic had spent a busy couple of years supporting clients as they focused their communications on what their audiences needed in that time of crisis and change. I’d also been on maternity leave, so was looking at prepping for chartership with a young toddler in tow.

I feel that sometimes ‘feeling 100% ready’ can be a distraction, and it’s just better just to get started. To make a start, I’d advise having a read of the Chartership handbook. You can also log this for CPD points too. This sets out how the assessment focuses on three central areas: leadership, strategy, and ethics. There are also background competencies that you need to have a reasonable level of knowledge and skills in. Have a read and see if you feel comfortable that you’d be able to draw on your experience and knowledge to meet these criteria.

Getting prepared

I signed up for an online assessment day and, two weeks before my assessment, I received a pack of joining instructions and three case studies on Ethics, Strategy and Leadership with related questions to consider. There were also instructions for creating a two year CPD plan, which is peer-reviewed as part of the chartership process.

My top tips for preparing over this fortnight are:
• Approach the day as if you’re preparing for an interview
• Block out time for prep – I did my prep in chunks, but it took between 2-3 days over the fortnight
• Be ready with lots of examples – I spent some time drafting these up in the STAR format (describing the situation, task, action, and result of the story you want to tell)
• Remember it’s a conversation – it’s important to respond to what the assessors and your fellow candidates are saying on the day 
• Take plenty of time to read through the case studies
• Have a chat with someone who’s been chartered – I had a really helpful chat with Jo Field, Fellow of CIPR. You can find a Chartership buddy here

The assessment day

My assessment lasted a full day. I made sure I was well and truly able to put my phone away and that I wouldn’t get distracted by work during the day. For the assessment, there were three discussions with peers and an assessor, each taking an hour. Once I got over being a bit nervous, I really enjoyed this time. I found it interesting to hear about others’ experiences and how they have handled situations. It’s all very much confidential. The time flew by. There’s actually very little time to get your points across, although assessors made sure everyone could contribute. I’d recommend being ready to give succinct examples.

After the assessment, we had a CPD peer review session, which lasted around an hour. This wasn’t assessed. Planning for CPD is something that can get shelved, when you are busy delivering, so it felt purposeful to have some time to do this. I also enjoyed getting to know other people on the assessment and we were able to signpost each other to different training and materials that we’d found useful. 

We were then all notified individually and privately on our assessment result. I really valued having the one-to-one feedback and got a lot personally out of the recognition of my experience and strategic expertise.

It was such good news to hear that the whole of our group gained chartership. The assessors explained though, that even when that doesn’t happen, people do go back and try assessment again when they have gained more experience or deepened their knowledge in certain areas.

Final top tips

• Make a start – even reading the handbook or having a chat with someone gets you started on your journey to chartership
• Make the most of the existing CIPR resources on chartership (and log them for CPD)
• Give yourself enough time to prepare
• Talk to others about their experience