HRCP Blog

My college track coach had a favorite saying, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; only perfect practice makes perfect.” That was certainly true for running the hurdles. I couldn’t expect to improve my hurdle form by repeating the skill incorrectly. The only way to perfect the skill was to practice executing the skill correctly. Again. And again. And again. Does this principle hold true in preparing for the PHR and SPHR exams? My coach would say, “Yes! It is a universal principle.”

So, how do you practice perfectly for the human resource certification exams?

1. Assess skill. The best way to evaluate your preparation for the PHR and SPHR exams is to take practice tests and analyze your results. A good assessment test is as useful in your exam preparation as the trained eye of my track coach was in my hurdling endeavors. You should use a test that gives you detailed feedback (not just an overall score), such as our online practice test, so you can see which questions you missed.
2. Diagnose errors. As you analyze the results of your practice exam, do more than just look at your scores and which questions you missed. Try to figure out why you missed each question. Was your knowledge of the topic inadequate? Did you misread the question? Did the question trick you? Did you over-analyze the question?
3. Refine your skill. After you have identified your weak areas, take steps to improve. Study the topics where your knowledge appears inadequate. Improve your test-taking skills. I have provided a number of test-taking tips in previous blog entries.
4. Practice. Practice. Practice. Answer as many practice questions as possible using your improved skills. It is best if you can respond to questions in a timed format that simulates the conditions under which you will take the actual PHR or SPHR 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 online questions.

When I took the SPHR exam in 2000, it was still offered only in the paper and pencil format, and there was a painfully long wait for exam results to arrive by mail.� The exam was offered on the first Saturday of May. I still hadn’t received my test results by late June as we were preparing to depart for the SHRM Conference in Las Vegas (where it returns this year); HRCP was scheduled to have a booth in the expo. I was hoping that my results would arrive before the conference so that I could tell visitors to our booth that I had just passed the SPHR exam (again) after studying the HRCP materials (again). Just days before our departure, I noticed that the HRCI website listed the names of those who had passed the PHR and SPHR exams in May. Oh good, I thought, even if I don’t have my official results, I will still be able to tell people that I passed.

One problem: my name wasn’t on the list.

How could I not have passed? How could I even go to the SHRM conference now? How could I not have passed? How could I face the people who came to our booth? How could I not have passed? I was dumbfounded.

Then, the day before we left for Las Vegas, my official SPHR score report arrived in the mail. I didn’t even want to open it. But I did. Congratulations! You passed the SPHR exam!� What? How? I ran back to the computer and looked up the list on the HRCI website. I then noticed something I had missed previously. It was a list of those newly-certified. I had taken the exam for re-certification.

I don’t look at those lists anymore.

I started this blog on March 6 of this year. It took two months for someone to post a comment (thank you, Recent Texas SPHR). I was beginning to wonder if anyone was actually reading my blog. I get general site statistics, of course, so I knew that people were visiting the site. What I was unsure about was whether the site visitors were here on purpose, or if they were actually looking for something else. It occurs to me now that perhaps I never made it clear that I welcome comments and questions. I do! I’d love to hear from you. And knowing your thoughts, your comments, your concerns, and your questions, would make this whole blog-writing endeavor a lot easier. I hope that my blog is a helpful resource to those preparing for the PHR and SPHR exams; knowing what my readers (if, indeed, there are more than one) think will help me focus on the topics that will be most valuable.

I was a bit anxious last spring about taking the SPHR exam in its new computer-based format. Although I didn’t enjoy the paper and pencil experience (as described in my previous entry), at least I was familiar with it. The first thing that won me over was my discovery that there was a computer testing center in the neighboring town; I would be spared the drive into the city. Also, I could schedule the exam for any day withing the two-month testing window and for a time that suited me, like after the sun had actually risen.

When I arrived at the testing facility, the test administrator smiled and welcomed me warmly. She checked my ID and verified which test I was taking, then she provided a locker for my personal belongings. No interrogation. No strip-search. As I was directed to a cubical in the testing room, I was happy to note that the room was fresh and clean and comfortable, with actual windows to the outside world. The chair was padded. And adjustable. Nice. I was given a white board and a marker for making notes or doing calculations. Although I could hear the occasional click of a mouse or tap of a keyboard, I couldn’t see any of the other test-takers. I relaxed into the chair and began the exam.

Upon completing the exam, I only had to wait a few (eternally-long) minutes before the computer displayed my exam results. The anxiety of those minutes is indescribable, but pails in comparison to the agony of waiting six weeks for the results, as with the paper and pencil exams of the past. The testing center administrator gave me printed exam results, hard evidence of my success there that day. I proudly displayed the results to my husband, who proclaimed that we should all go out to dinner to celebrate. And we did.

I have mentioned before that I’ve taken the HR certification exams five times. (And again, my ego whispers in my ear that I should clarify that I re-took the exams to re-certify, not because I didn’t pass them.) When I took the SPHR exam last spring, it was my first time taking the exam in its current, computer-based format. The previous three times that I took the SPHR exam (2003, 2000, & 1997), and when I took the PHR exam (in time immemorial), it was administered by an exam proctor on a specified date in a group setting.

It was miserable.

We were required to report at the specified location at dark-thirty in the morning. The building resembled a prison; all the interior walls were windowless, solid concrete (I picture metal rebar protruding from the walls, but that might just be a trick of my memory). Thirty or so SPHR and PHR candidates lined up to have our ID verified, our admission ticket scrutinized, and our blood drawn. The prison guard, er, proctor, checked that we had nothing more dangerous than our sharpened No. 2 pencils. We were assigned to seats and given our exam booklets and answer sheets, aka bubble sheets. The proctor read the tediously detailed instructions explaining how to fill in the selected bubble on the bubble sheet completely, without making any extraneous marks on the page. We were also given elaborate directions on restroom-break procedures: one at a time, turn in exam booklet and bubble sheet to proctor, sign out, return promptly, show ID to proctor (who isn’t expected to remember me even though I (and only I) left the room two and a half minutes ago), sign in, retrieve exam materials from proctor, return to seat. And then the clock began ticking (audibly). The desk surface was too small to spread out my booklet and bubble sheet comfortably. The chair was so hard I began squirming after about 20 minutes (only 220 minutes to go). But the worst thing of all was the tension in the room. The proctor scanning the room with her x-ray vision, vigilantly watching for cheaters. The PHR candidates scratching their heads and trying to remember how to calculate overtime when the employee is payed on a piece-rate. The SPHR candidates trying to remember if they’ve ever even heard of the Systems Model. I would have gladly volunteered for solitary confinement.

The computer-based testing procedure is ever so much better. I’ll talk more about that next time.

While you are taking the PHR or SPHR exam, you can mark any question to which you intend to return later in the exam by clicking the “mark” button on the computer screen. If you’ve eliminated one or more of the distractors, make a note so you don’t waste time reading and considering them again. (The exam administrator will give you an erasable noteboard and marker, which you can use to make notes.) It may also be wise to select your first impression of the right answer in case you run out of time and do not have time to reconsider the question later in the testing period. You can review the questions you have marked by clicking the “review marked” button. You can also review unanswered items by clicking the “review incomplete” button.

Remember, on the exam you are being tested on the standards relating to the entire practice of Human Resources. In scenario questions, and elsewhere on the exam, you are not being asked how you, personally, would solve the problem. For the four hours of the exam, you need to think like a member of the HR community, recognizing that your personal preferences or the policies of the business where you work may lead you to incorrect responses.

So, go ahead. Take the day off work.

You deserve it.

Raise your hand if you are scheduled to take the PHR or SPHR exam today.

Yes, that’s right, the spring testing period begins today. I took the SPHR exam last spring; however, I took it not on the first day of the testing period, but on the last (June 30). It wasn’t due entirely to procrastination. I wanted to wait until returning from the SHRM Conference in Washington, D.C. (we had a booth in the expo). I needed the travel time for study.

While I recognize that some of you (rate-busters) will be taking the exam today or within the next few days, I assume that many of my blog’s visitors will be taking the exam later in the exam period (or possibly in the winter exam period). I will therefore continue dispensing advice and test-taking tips.

Here’s my tip for today: RELAX! Stress and anxiety hamper your ability to recall information and to think clearly. When you take practice tests, practice employing various relaxation techniques so you’ll know what works for you.