HRCP Blog

Today the HR Certification Institute announced the pass rates for the May-June 2008 PHR and SPHR exam window.

It’s not pretty.

I created the following graphic so you can get a visual picture of the direction the scores are headed.

Yeeesh. This is the lowest pass rate ever for the PHR exam and the lowest for the SPHR since 2002, when it was 53 percent.  Prior to the most recent administration of the exams, the average pass rate for the PHR exam was 64.8 percent, and for the SPHR exam it was 57.2 percent (using data since 2001).

Tune in next time for pass rate analysis and discussion of what this means for those now preparing for the PHR or SPHR exams.

Apparently, I brought back more than memories from the SHRM conference in Chicago. I also returned with a nasty case of pneumonia. My advice: don’t get pneumonia. And if you do get it, at least get it at a sensible time. NOT in the middle of summer vacation.

While I have had to back off my usual activities the past several weeks, I’m aware that many people are suffering from another kind of slowdown, an economic one. With all the hand-wringing and belt-tightening that goes on during times of economic uncertainty, there is often a surge in the number of HR professionals investing in certification. HR people know better than anyone the toll an economic slowdown can take on employment. Employees need to do everything they can to be more competitive in a tightening labor market. For HR professionals, that may mean becoming certified. There are nearly 100,000 human resource managers who currently hold PHR or SPHR certification. To compete, you’ve got to have a set of those letters after your name.

HRCP can help you prepare for your certification exam with quality, comprehensive materials at a reasonable price. And to help a little more during these tough economic times, we’ll give you $25 off the price of the complete HRCP Program if you order before the end of August and use the discount code SUMMER.

Best of luck!

We had a great time in Chicago! Despite the fact that our exhibit display never arrived, we had constant traffic at our booth, and we met dozens of people who are preparing for the HR certification exams. Each year, we find it necessary to clear up some pervasive misconceptions about HR certification. Many people are confused about the relationship between the HR Certification Institute (they’ll be known as HRCI no more, they said in Chicago) and the SHRM Learning System. We explain that while both organizations fall under the general SHRM umbrella, the SHRM Learning System is not produced by the HR Certification Institute. In fact, the SHRM Learning System is produced by Holmes Corporation, an outside, private company.

In Chicago, we got the inevitable question: Is the HRCP Program endorsed by the HR Certification Institute? We gladly tell people that no, it’s not. The HR Certification Institute does not endorse any product. No, not even the SHRM Learning System. I’ve quoted the HR Certification Institute website before, and I think it’s worth doing again:

What is the best approach to prepare for the exam? The certification exam is based on work experience. . . . We do not endorse any products nor maintain information on them.

Is it true that HRCI does not endorse the SHRM learning system? HRCI does not endorse any specific preparation method.

Why is the language so drastically different on the test than the learning material? There is no material that “teaches to the exam”. The two are developed indpendently. HRCI has nothing to do with the development of the Learning System. The exam questions come from HR professionals working in the field.

We had several people stop by our booth to thank us; they had passed their PHR or SPHR exam after using the HRCP Program to prepare. Congratulations to those who have passed, and good luck to those who’ll be taking the exam in the next few days.

We arrived safely in Chicago. Unfortunately, the display for our booth did not. We had shipped it ahead to the convention center, but it was delayed because of the flooding in the Midwest. Fortunately, we knew ahead that our exhibit wouldn’t be here, so we quickly created a poster and had it printed and mounted at Kinko’s. Our materials for distribution didn’t arrive either, so we had some half-sheet flyers printed as well. We were afraid that without our fancy-schmancy pop-up exhibit, we’d have trouble attracting people to our booth. That has not proven to be the case; we’ve a constant flow of visitors. If you’re here in Chicago, we’d love to see you, too. Come by booth 3841 at the SHRM Expo.

We’ll have a booth at SHRM’s annual conference and exposition later this month. The event will be held in Chicago this year, June 22-24. If you will be there too, come see us! We’ll be in booth number 3841 at the expo and hope that many of you will stop by to visit. If you’ll be in the Chicago area but aren’t registered for the SHRM conference, we can still get you in to the exposition. We have free expo-only passes available for the asking. Give us a call or send an email, and we’ll get you set up. Click here to contact us.

Hope to see you there!

Day 1: Server crashes, all data lost. Web host’s most recent backup, five and a half months old. Many tears.

Day 2:  Begin rebuilding websites.

Days 3-7: Continue rebuilding websites.

Day 8: Web hosting company finds backup that was made right before server crashed.

Day 9: Begin re-rebuilding websites.

Days 10-13: Continue re-rebuilding websites.

Day 14: Restore lost months to HRCPblog. Tired from all this time travel.

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!

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.

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.