HRCP Blog

I invented a new statistic today. I was looking at the list HRCI provides of the number of certified HR professionals in each state. Texas and California have the most, but this is hardly surprising considering they are the largest states. So I started wondering which states had the highest levels of certification when you adjust for the size of the population. I wasn’t able to find any such data, so I had to create my own metric: the CHRPR. It stands for Certified Human Resource Professional Rate, and it is the number of certified human resource professionals per 1,000 population. Out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, D.C. comes in first with a CHRPR of .65, followed by Virgina at .52, and Colorado at .51. Texas comes in at 15th and California comes in at 43rd.

As proud as I am of my new statistic, I realize that it is flawed. The number of certified HR professionals in the general population is not nearly as relevant as the number of certified HR professionals relative to the size of the workforce. Ah, well. Maybe the CHRPR is not quite ready for the HR metrics section of the PHR and SPHR exams.

Last year, Money magazine and Salary.com published a list of the 50 best jobs in America.  Human resource manager came in at number four, behind software engineer, college professor, and financial planner.  The article says that “HR is no longer about benefits administration and the employee newsletter. Those tasks are increasingly outsourced, and directors and v.p.s are considered strategic planners. Even lower-level managers are expected to design employee programs that also benefit the bottom line.”  Is it any wonder that beginning with the May-June 2007 test period “strategic management” will account for 29% of the SPHR exam?  That means that 58 of the scored questions on the SPHR exam relate to strategic management.  If I were preparing to take the SPHR exam this spring, I would study strategic management first  And I would study strategic management last.  Fifty-eight questions warrant a double dose of this functional area.

Here’s one to add to your collection of wacky warning labels. My husband bought a package of door stops, you know, the wedge-shaped devices that you shove under the bottom of the door to keep it from closing. On the back of the package it says, “Please use with caution and protective gear to avoid injury.”

What does that have to do with human resource certification? Nothing.

But it’s funny. And even the most serious PHR and SPHR candidates need to laugh.

Or they might go nuts.

In yesterday’s blog entry, I discussed the December 2006 - January 2007 pass rates. HRCI doesn’t publish a “fail-rate,” but, sadly, it’s easy to calculate: 37% (PHR) and 45% (SPHR) didn’t pass the exam. What do you do if you are among that gloomy group? Will you try again?

You’ve probably heard that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting a different result. Am I suggesting that re-taking the exam is insane? Maybe. If you do “the same thing” to prepare this time around, you really can’t (sanely) expect a different result. So, what should you do differently?

• Review your results. The detailed results provided by HRCI can help you identify areas where you may be weak. Be sure to put extra emphasis on those areas as you study.
• Assess your study materials. Were the topics included on the exam adequately covered in the study materials you used? You might consider obtaining more or better study aids.
• Examine your own preparation. Were you sufficiently diligent in your study? Did you put in the time and effort to learn the HR body of knowledge?
• Practice, practice, practice. Work on improving your test-taking skills. (See yesterday’s blog entry.) I’ll offer specific test-taking tips as the spring test period approaches.

The December 2006 - January 2007 PHR and SPHR exam testing period produced the lowest pass rates achieved in the past five years. The pass rate on the PHR exam was 63%, and 55% of the SPHR candidates passed their exam. I don’t know what the reason for the declining pass rates might be. Are the exams getting more difficult? Is the cutoff for passing set higher? Are less-qualified individuals taking the exams? Are people going into the exams less prepared? Can we somehow blame it on global warming? Whatever the real reason (or reasons), the only thing you can control is your personal preparation. Here are two things you can do to increase your odds of passing:

1. Study hard. With not quite two-thirds passing the PHR exam and barely more than half passing the SPHR exam, HR certification is clearly not a cake-walk. Make sure you know your stuff. And do more than just read the study material. Make sure that you really know it, that you can explain it, calculate it, and most of all, apply it.
2. Practice, practice, practice. You’ve heard the saying: Practice makes perfect. The best way to prepare for the PHR or SPHR exam is to practice responding to questions in a timed format
   that simulates the conditions under which you will take the exam. We have practice tests on our website, and you can find practice tests in a number of other places as well. All of the good HR certification prep study programs come with practice questions. Ours includes 400.

More than a decade ago, when our company was still in its infancy, my husband suggested that we create a set of flash cards to accompany our HRCP Program. I told him it was a dumb idea, that HR professionals, who are (almost without exception) grown-ups, would not use something so juvenile. “Aren’t flash cards rather third-grade-ish,” I believe was my reply. Turns out, I was wrong. Dead wrong.

Thousands of people have since used our HR QuikStudy Flash Cards to prepare for the PHR and SPHR certification exams. So, I have had to admit that my husband was right (about this, anyway). More people than I could possibly have imagined have used our flash cards to learn and review the terms and definitions relevant to the HR field. True, not many of the PHR and SPHR questions are purely definitional, but if you don’t recognize a term (such as “QDRO” or “false positive”), you’ll struggle to correctly answer the question. So, learn those definitions! If you don’t get help here, please, get help somewhere.

Oh, and as for my husband, any woman would be lucky to have him. And not just for the flash cards.

Here’s a question we see frequently: I have some older study materials; will they work in studying for the PHR and SPHR exams, or do I need to buy the current year’s edition?

Well, it depends. (You knew I was going to say that, didn’t you.) Human resource management is a dynamic field with an expansive body of knowledge. Keeping your arms around that body of knowledge is a daunting task. We update the Human Resource Certification Preparation Program every year. A new version of the SHRM Learning System is available each year. Any PHR/SPHR prep material worth its salt is updated annually. We make a lot of changes. But obviously we don’t change everything every year. Some aspects of HR change rapidly (the laws, for example). Other things don’t change much from year to year (like learning theories). In deciding whether you need to purchase the most current version of study materials, consider these two questions:

1. Exactly how long has that old set of study materials been collecting dust? If it is more that five years, it is probably time to get a new set. If the materials are less than five years old, move on to question two.
2. How much excitement do you have about researching the changes that have taken place in the HR field since your old set was published? There are two parts to this research: 1) determining what has changed, and 2) finding the new information. If the anticipation of that kind of sleuthing gets your blood pumping, then sticking with the old stuff might be right for you. If you dread that sort of research (or don’t have time for it), a new set is worth every penny.

Writers are often advised, Know your audience. I suggest the opposite in your preparation to take the PHR and SPHR exams: Know your author.

So who is the author of the PHR and SPHR exam questions? The questions are developed by item-writing panels comprised of human resource professionals who volunteer to write questions. The item-writers are all SPHR certified and are HR practitioners and academicians. You can read more about item writers and the exam development process on the HRCI website.

As you study for the PHR or SPHR exam, try to anticipate what exam items might be drawn from the material you are covering. Ask yourself, “How could an exam item be designed to test this concept?” Constructing your own practice exam items will help you think more like an item writer when you take the actual exam.

Who doesn’t love getting two for the price of one? Studying about learning styles in preparation for the PHR and SPHR exams is a two-for-one deal. First, you learn what you need to know about learning styles for the exam, and second, you identify your own learning style and how to better use your exam preparation time.

There are three basic kinds of learners: visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Of course, people can (and must) learn in all three ways, but most individuals have one type of learning that works better for them. The following is taken from the HRCP Program (Unit 3 Human Resource Development).

Visual Learners—learn best through seeing

• Overhead transparencies
• Videos
• Diagrams

Auditory Learners—learn best through hearing

• Lectures
• Discussions
• Audio tapes

Kinesthetic Learners—learn best through touching

• Handling objects
• Constructing models

If you are primarily a visual learner, it may help you to study charts, diagrams, tables, and models. You may want to create your own summaries sheets or outlines of the concepts you are studying.

If you are an auditory learning, you would probably benefit from attending a class or participating in a study group. Hearing explanations and participating in discussions will help you understand and remember the material.

If you are primarily a kinesthetic learner, employing your preferred learning style into exam preparation is more difficult. Kinesthetic learners prefer to get their hands on things, to move around, to touch and manipulate objects. You might want to schedule frequent breaks into your study routine to take walks or engage in other satisfying physical activity.

There you go, two for the price of one. Wasn’t that at least as nice as getting a second green sweater or another tube of toothpaste?

To me, HRCP stands for Human Resource Certification Preparation (I know it’s not a very creative name for a company, but you’ve got to admit that it’s descriptive). We have learned, however, that HRCP may mean something completely different to other people. Some of these “other” people visit our website, and a few of them find their way to our “contact us” email form before they ascertain that we are not the Health Resource Center for Palestine, nor do we deal in High Resolution Crankcase Pressure.

We receive some pretty unusual email messages. Admittedly, not all of the strange email is due to acronym mix-ups, but I thought you might enjoy a sampling of my inbox:

• Mysterious requests for “information.” Really, the entire text of the message is, “Please send information.”
• Sad reports of gross injustice that must have been intended for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
• Offers for enhancement drugs (for equipment I don’t even possess).
• A passionate plea (for what, I’m not sure) from someone who says he writes columns and poetry in the Punjabi language.
• Convincing arguments to refinance my mortgage.
• A request for a phone call from someone in our Beirut office.
• Tips on stocks that are about to explode.

Oh, gotta go. I just received an urgent email message telling me that I need to update my PayPal account information or my account will be disabled.