Have your name listed in the SHRM Certification Directory. Recertify every 3 years from the date you become certified. Recertify with Professional Development Credits (PDCs) or by re-taking the exam.
SHRM membership is not required. Students who are enrolled in their final year of an undergraduate or graduate degree program at a college or university that has been approved by SHRM’s Academic Initiatives staff as being aligned to SHRM’s curriculum guidelines are eligible to sit for the SHRM-CP exam.
The SHRM exams are administered via computer-based testing by SHRM’s test delivery vendor, Prometric, at one of their testing centers. Once your application is complete, you will receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) letter via e-mail.
SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP certified users can earn all 60 PDCs. Now you and your organization can learn how to use artificial intelligence across the employee life cycle, created by Future Workplace. Sign up for an AI for HR course today and examine how to apply AI for HR in your organization.
three yearsCompleted recertification records are due three years from the date of certification (or recertification), on the last day of your birth month. Every effort should be made to recertify within that timeframe.
SHRM-CP exam. Pass rates were highest for SHRM-CP examinees who spent 81 to 120 hours preparing. It is worth noting, however, that pass rates were quite consistent—and high—for all examinees who prepared for 41 to 200 hours. Pass rates actually decreased for those who spent more than 200 hours preparing.
RECEIVING YOUR RESULTS Official results will be communicated approximately five to six weeks after the close of the testing window. Each testing window, SHRM engages in a rigorous scoring process including third-party independent validation and verification.
The exam was difficult (no walk in the park at all), but with solid preparation, you improve your chances of passing. Keep your eye on that ticking clock. It was recommended that 1 minute be used for knowledge questions and 2 minutes for situational judgment questions.
While your study efforts will be dependent on your knowledge of the content, we generally recommend that you study a minimum of 60 hours to adequately prepare for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP exam. Your time could be reduced if you feel comfortable with a particular area.
Compared to their peers without certification, professionals with SHRM-SCP might see a 5.7% pay boost and those with SPHR credential saw 9.6% pay boost. Over the last 10 years, earning certification has become increasingly valuable to HR professionals in both pay and career advancement.
-200The SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams have 134 questions, and 110 of them are used to calculate your score. After you take the test, you will have a raw score of 0-110 correctly selected keys; but the score we report to you is on a scale of 120-200, with "passing" set at 200—this is known as your scaled score.
PHR certifications are better than SHRM certifications in two ways. They cover more in the way of legality, compliance, and technical details. SHRM tends to test more soft skills and the application of management techniques, where PHR are generally more concerned with specific knowledge and compliance.
If you are someone who has to deal with compliance on a regular basis, then PHR/SPHR is what you should go for whereas if you are a generalist and a high level idea of compliance would suffice for you, then you should go for SHRM certification(s).
Know your options. According to the SHRM Certification handbook, “There is no limit to the number of times a candidate can reapply and test.” Yes, you do have to pay to retake the exam. “Candidates who wish to retest are required to apply as a new candidate, which includes remittance of the full examination fee.”
SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP Exam FeesExam FeesSHRM Member PriceStandard Exam Fee$375 USD* (*includes non-refundable $75 standard deadline fee)Student Exam Fee$149 USDCorporate Exam Fee Learn More$270 USDMilitary Exam Fee Learn More$270 USD5 more rows
The most popular credential to get from the HRCI is the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification; 16.9 percent of HR professionals who responded to our survey in 2018 said they have this certification.
The more practice questions you answer, the better prepared you'll be for the actual exam questions—which include knowledge items and situational judgment items. The SHRM Learning System 's practice test provides a realistic preview of the exam because its questions are actual items retired from prior exams.
1. Make the time commitment. Plan on investing between 40 and 120 hours preparing for the exam. Adjust as needed, based on the amount and variety of your work experience and formal HR education. But remember that hours alone aren't a guarantee of success—your time needs to be well-spent.
STUDENT ELIGIBILITY. Students who are enrolled in their final year of an undergraduate or graduate degree program at a college or university that has been approved by SHRM’s Academic Initiatives staff as being aligned to SHRM’s curriculum guidelines are eligible to sit for the SHRM-CP exam.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they devoted at least 1,000 hours to HR-related activities in any calendar year to qualify as having a year of HR-related experience.
Part-time work qualifies as long as the 1,000-hour standard is met within a calendar year. Individuals who have mixed roles—for example, office managers who have both administrative and HR responsibilities—may also have qualifying experience, as long as HR-related duties total at least 1,000 hours in a calendar year.
Supervising employees in and of itself is not considered qualifying HR-related experience. Experience may be either exempt or nonexempt. Individuals who are HR consultants may demonstrate qualifying experience through the HR-related duties they perform for their clients.
Once the exam appointment has been canceled, an exam level change request must be submitted at least 10 business days before the scheduled exam date.
If you are between five and 29 business days, before your scheduled exam date, you may reschedule your exam appointment, but there will be a fee due to Prometric. If you are less than five business days before your scheduled exam date, you may not reschedule, and will forfeit your fees.
Exam appointments may be changed as long as you are keeping your appointment within the same exam window and do so five or more business days before your scheduled exam appointment. If you are changing exam appointments 30 or more business days before your scheduled exam date, you may switch free of charge.
Exam: 4 hours (240 minutes) Survey: 5 minutes. Each section shows a countdown timer on the screen, and each section is separate and time-independent. Minutes do not roll over. For instance, if a candidate spends less time in the introduction, extra minutes are not rolled over to the exam portion.
Because an exam level change cancels the originally scheduled exam appointment, a candidate is required to schedule a new exam appointment. If the exam window has already opened, the same time and location for the new exam appointment is not guaranteed.