HRCP Blog

I think I have an idea what time travel feels like. Yesterday I traveled five and a half months back in time. Well, our company websites did, anyway. Our server crashed, and all of our data was destroyed. For some inexplicable reason, the most recent restore point our web hosting company has is from last August. Yeeesh. Of course, we have backups of much of the data, but it takes time to rebuild five and a half months of history. That explains why the most recent entry on my blog (besides this one) is dated August 6, 2007.

I have the unusual sensation that I am trying to live in two time-lines simultaneously. I have to dwell and function in the present; it’s my son’s fifth birthday, for heaven’s sake. But I am also feverishly running through the past, trying to restore order and sanity.

While I’m traveling through the past, I need to remind myself to back-up more frequently. Argh!

Based on the significant spike we’ve seen in people taking our online practice tests in the past few days, I think it’s safe to assume that many PHR and SPHR candidates will be sitting for their HR certification exams in the next few days. We had a call to our office today from someone who was in an absolute panic about the exam. It got me thinking that a few words about exam anxiety might be helpful here:

• Anxiety is normal, and it can actually be beneficial. It helps us get “up” for an event. It heightens our attention and sharpens our memory.
• When you feel butterflies in your tummy (or a wave of nausea, as the case may be), tell yourself, “This is a good thing. This will help me.” Don’t allow the nervousness to escalate to the point that it is detrimental to exam performance. Relax.
• To determine which relaxation techniques work best for you, employ various relaxation techniques when you take practice tests.
• While poor preparation can certainly lead to nervousness, it doesn’t follow that feelings of anxiety mean you are ill-prepared. Even those who are well-prepared can feel nervous.
• Worrying is focusing (obsessing, even) about the possibility of an undesirable outcome. It has no up side. Don’t allow yourself to worry.

Good luck!

I’m guessing that a good number of those taking the PHR and SPHR exams during the current testing window have not yet taken the test, but will be doing so in the next 14 days, the last two weeks of the two-month window. This is not based on any statistical evidence I have in my possession; it is based on my knowledge of (and intimate experience with) human nature. When I last sat for the SPHR exam, I took it on the very last day of the testing window. And that’s okay. My credentials are just as valid as those who took the exam on the first day. I don’t have to put an asterisk by my SPHR, or anything.

Those of you who are having your brains scanned (heh, wouldn’t that be easier, really?) in the next two weeks, you might want to review the blog entries I’ve classified as “test-taking tips.”

Good luck!

We’re kicking off the new year the way we always do, by starting to ship the new, updated edition of the HRCP Program. With the 2008 version, our program is now in its 14th edition.

Orders for the program have been as brisk as we’ve seen them this early in the year; the press can barely keep up. It appears that human resource certification figures prominently in many lists of new year’s resolutions.

Best wishes for a happy new year! For those of you preparing to take the SPHR or PHR exam this year, I hope that year’s end finds you with a new set of initials following your name.