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!
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:
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.
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.
I spent a good part of the day yesterday reading and writing about employment branding. Here’s a bit of what I added to Unit 2: Workforce Planning and Employment of the HRCP Program:
As the labor market becomes increasingly competitive, employers apply strategies from marketing to help them compete for job applicants. Just as companies develop a recognizable brand to help position their products or services in the market, they attempt to “brand” themselves as an outstanding employer. Employment branding consists of projecting an image that makes people want to work for the company. This image is created through the company’s employment value proposition, another concept borrowed from marketing, which describes what the company has to offer its employees relative to the rewards offered by other places of employment.
When you think about it, getting your PHR or SPHR is a good step toward branding yourself as and outstanding employee. Being a certified human resource professional can strengthen your employee value proposition (yeah, I just made that up). It sets you apart as an individual with sufficient experience and knowledge to pass a comprehensive certification exam based on the vast body of knowledge that comprises the human resource field. So, if there is such a thing as employee branding, you’re on the right track.
This week I’ve been updating Unit 3 of the HRCP Program, which covers human resource development. I added a section about reporting training’s return on investment. It reads, in part:
Business managers expect to know the return they are getting for their investments. This is true of expenditures in training, just as is it for money invested in new equipment or technology. One of the ways human resource professionals can demonstrate the impact of training on the goals and objectives of an organization is by conducting return on investment (ROI) analysis and annually reporting the results to management, just as other business units report on their capital investments.
Such an annual report on training serves two important purposes. First, it justifies the training function by showing the value of training to the bottom line. Second, it helps the training department assess itself internally and make adjustments.
Training can be expensive, as those preparing for the PHR and SPHR exams can attest. If you combine the costs of study materials, review courses, and practice exams, and add the value of the study time invested, many HR certification exam candidates are spending several thousand dollars to get ready to take the exam. And that doesn’t include the fee for taking exam itself.
So, how can you get the best return on your PHR or SPHR preparation investment? Treat yourself like a business unit. Have specific study goals. Make reports to yourself on your progress. Squeeze every dollar’s worth out of your investment. Make sure you know what you need to know, then learn everything you can about it. Push yourself. Test yourself.
Oh, and pass. Most especially, pass the exam.