HRCP Blog

Since Terri took and passed the human resource certification exam a week and a half a go, she is the resident expert. Here are more words of wisdom from Terri, PHR:

Surprised or not surprised…that is the question!

When taking the PHR exam last week I was not surprised by what I saw. Perhaps I can share some information with you, so you’re not surprised either. First off, don’t be surprised when you see questions that start off like the following:

What is the MOST LIKELY….
The BEST method for…
Which of the following is NOT…
Fortunately, those capitalized key words you see are also in capital letters on the exam. Pay attention to them, especially when you see them in your study materials!

Don’t be surprised when you are asked which employers a piece of legislation applies to or you are given the legislation and have to identify the correct provision of that act. You may also be given a scenario and asked to choose the piece of legislation that applies to the situation.

Don’t be surprised when you see OWBPA, ADR, or BFOQ. It’s in your best interest to know the acronyms since you will see them on the exam.

Don’t be surprised when you see numbers and have to calculate something, whether it be a compa-ratio, overtime, or the amount covered by an insurance plan.

Don’t be surprised if you are asked about alternative dispute resolution, arbitration, training methods, learning theories, performance evaluation, selection tests, reliability, and validity (just to name a few of the things I saw on my exam).

Don’t be surprised if you see something that was not covered in your preparation materials. Since no one knows exactly what will be on the exam, it is virtually impossible for everything to be covered in your books. I estimate that 97% of the topics covered on my exam were discussed in the HRCP Program (yes, I kept track).

Don’t be surprised when it takes 5 minutes after your exam to find out whether you’ve passed and that you have to answer survey questions while waiting.

Don’t be surprised when you pass! If you’ve put forth the time and effort to learn the material and are a reasonably good test taker, it will be a relief when you see “pass” but it shouldn’t be a surprise!

As I mentioned last entry, Terri, our business manager here at HRCP, took and passed the PHR exam this past week. I asked her to share what she did to prepare, so here you go:

After studying 150 plus hours over the past four months, I passed the PHR exam!

My study method:

• I created a study schedule for myself by dividing the HRCP Program into small reading assignments, averaging 13 pages a day, which took less than one hour to read. I built make-up days into my schedule in case something came up. After reading each unit, I took the practice exam for that section.
• After I had read all 800 pages, I went back though each unit, not reading everything, but reviewing key points.
• I reviewed the flash cards and eliminated any from my stack that I felt I knew. I went through that process over and over and never did eliminate all of the flash cards. Flipping through cards was a nice change from reading.
• I made a list of laws and one of court cases and reviewed them several times.
• Two weeks before my exam I took the HRCP Comprehensive Exam and scored 80%. A few days later I took the HRCP Online Exam and scored 83%.
• One week before my exam I took both HRCI Assessment Exams and scored 86% and 83%.
• The few days before my exam I scanned each unit of the HRCP Program again, stopping to read those sections I had never seen before ;-).
• The night before my exam, I reviewed my list of laws and cases and I flipped though the few (okay, more than a few) flash cards still in my pile.
• I was in bed by 10 pm, though I didn’t sleep all that well.

Going into the exam, I KNEW I didn’t know it all!

I wish I had put more effort into “learning stuff” on my initial read through the HRCP Program, rather than just reading it. It’s a lot of material to go through and I was crazy to think I’d read it all twice!

I was tempted to change my exam date and give myself more time to study. I’m glad I didn’t. Studying consumed my life the last month! Dragging it out would just have been more torture and I would have found myself in the same “cram” situation anyway.

That’s right folks, we have a 100% pass rate so far in this PHR/SPHR test window. Okay, so it’s based on one person. But she passed! Terri, our business manager here at HRCP, took the PHR exam today and passed with flying colors. (Actually she won’t know her specific score for several weeks, but in my book, any passing score is flying colors.) Not that there was ever any doubt that she would pass. Anyone who works as hard at it as she has deserves to pass.

Congratulations, Terri!

We’ll get those new business cards ordered.

P.S. I always knew you were certifiable.