Earn HR Pro Certification: How?

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The Professional Human Resources certification is earned by candidates who combine mastery of knowledge necessary for functional competence in the field with actual professional experience in human resources. Mastery of the body of knowledge is evidenced through a rigorous examination conducted by the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI), which is a subsidiary of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM); candidates’ experience is validated by their employers. This certification is one of four awarded by HRCI to human resources professionals in the United States or working in the US operations of global employers.

At some point early in their human resources careers, professionals often find that earning professional human resources certification increases their credibility and identifies them as a potential leader, both to their employers and to the profession. Earning certification isn’t easy, however.

The experience requirement to earn the professional in human resources certification is straightforward: the candidate must have at least two years of professional experience in human resource management or administration. In this role, the candidate should be occupied exclusively with human resource issues, though not necessarily with the broad components of HR strategic planning that are usually addressed by a company’s executive leadership.

A candidate for professional human resource certification must also demonstrate a mastery of knowledge in the areas of human resource development, strategic management, and risk management. Other areas of mastery required include workforce planning and deployment, employee-worker relationships, and total rewards. HRCI develops a rigorous, four-hour, 225-question, expert-written exam and administers it periodically at convenient locations throughout the country. Evidence of the exam’s difficulty can be seen in the fact that 35% to 40% of those who take it fail.

HRCI sells prep materials and offers some free resources for human resource certification candidates, but it does not offer face-to-face training or instruction, creating a cottage industry in companies and test preparation courses. Many applicants enroll in these courses, although many certified professionals claim that a combination of day-to-day work in the field and a review of the study materials available at HRCI is all that is needed to earn a passing grade.

Upon successfully passing the exam, a candidate receives the Professional in Human Resources certification (PHR&reg:), but must then maintain it. As time goes by, legislation, regulations and best practices evolve, and to maintain their competence in the field, professionals must keep their mastery of the field current. To verify that continuing mastery, HRCI requires triennial re-certification. To avoid sitting for the exam a second time, most PHR-certified individuals will participate in approved events — usually credit-bearing courses and seminars — to accumulate the required re-certification credits.

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