SPHR Testing Experience

This may be more information than you need, but I obsess over details like this so I thought someone else might appreciate it! :) I took the day before and the day of the test off of work. The day before the test I tried to relax, watched some trashy TV shows and went over my stack of I-don't-quite-know-these flashcards a time or two. I went to bed at a reasonable hour and hoped I could sleep in... yeah, right! I woke up early and had a cup of coffee, sent the husband and boy off to school and paced the house until my friend picked me up at 9:00am. Our test was scheduled for 12:30 at a Prometric testing center that was about 45 minutes away, but we wanted to make sure we found the place early! We located the building and then went out for a healthy lunch. We arrived at the testing center about 30 minutes early (as suggested) and checked in. We weren't allowed to take anything into the testing area, and had to stash our belongings in a locker (including our watches).

After a few minutes, we were called back to a check-in desk one at a time. The woman there explained the testing process, then checked my pockets and used a metal detector to check for cheating implements. She gave me a few sheets of scratch paper and 2 pencils, then escorted me into the testing room. The testing room contained about 20 cubicles and there were approximately 10 people in the room.

The testing system is very easy to use - my favorite part is the mark out feature. You can mark out the answers you know are incorrect and it will stay marked out even if you come back to the question later.

I went through all 225 questions in about 2 hours, answering all of them with my best guess, but marked about 25 of them for review. I took a short break then came back and looked over the marked questions again. I probably changed the answers on 3 of the questions, then pressed the button to score the exam. Even though I was warned ahead of time that the screen would turn white after you press the score button, it was still scary. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! The scoring seemed to take FOREVER! I used this time to say my prayers, because I didn't feel confident at all.

When the word 'Pass' appeared on that screen I almost couldn't believe it! Thank God!

I finished the test at 3:00pm ~ 2.5 hours total test time.

Then I called my family and went home to celebrate! Woohoo! :)

About the test - I felt that there was a good mix of all of the subjects we studied. Despite all the preparation, there were still concepts/terms I didn't remember seeing anywhere. I think having a good vocabulary and good test taking skills helped me on these questions.

The most important advice I can give you is to really understand the concepts to the point where you could put them into practice. Don't just study the glossary. Try to use the concepts at work so you have a deeper understanding of the material. Talk about them with a supportive group of people. Test, test, test and don't give up even if you fail. You can do it! :)

I Passed the SPHR Exam: How You Can Do It Too

After months of preparation, I finally passed the SPHR exam!

How I prepared for the SPHR exam this time around:

1) I convinced a friend at work to take the test with me. This is probably the single most important thing I did. We spent every lunch hour for the last 5 months reviewing material, taking practice tests, sharing memorization techniques and venting our frustration. Not only did we study together, we carpooled to the testing center, took the test and passed at the same time. Thank goodness we both passed, or that would have been an awkward ride home! Having someone to keep me accountable for studying, and struggling through the same material helped immensely.

2) I joined my local SHRM chapter, North Texas SHRM (http://www.northtexasshrm.org/), and started attending their monthly luncheons. One of the luncheons I attended featured Mike Poskey, a speaker who introduced me to the concept of Emotional Intelligence through his company Zero Risk HR (http://www.zeroriskhr.com/). I don't recall seeing the concept in the study material, but I did have several questions on the exam about the subject. Thank goodness I attended that meeting!

3) I joined the North Texas SHRM PHR/SPHR Study Group. Our group met every Thursday night from 6:00-9:00pm for about 10 weeks, as well as a few Saturday mornings for practice tests. Not only did I learn a ton of information at these meetings, I met the most phenomenal HR professionals and made some great friends.

4) I studied from several different sources of information. First, I read through and took notes from the PHR/SPHR Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide by Anne M. Bogardus (http://tinyurl.com/6nyqnch). Then I read through the SHRM Learning System and made flashcards for the concepts I was having difficulty with. I googled like crazy, and used some of the information from my friend's HRCP PHR & SPHR Study program.

5) I used an iPod/iPhone app called Flashcardlet. It allowed me to create my own flashcards on www.quizlet.com and to use flashcards that other users had already created. Check out all of the cards available that relate to the PHR/SPHR exam: http://quizlet.com/subject/sphr/

6) I used some interesting memorization techniques. I'll write more about them in an upcoming blog.

7) Practice test, practice test, practice test. I tested from so many different sources I can't remember them all. I practiced at home, in the office, and at a local coffee shop to be comfortable with testing and analyzing questions, and to learn to test through distractions. The testing centers are quiet, but there are still distractions, so I learned to ignore them.

It was a lot of work, but I'm so glad I decided to test again! Now to work on those recertification credits...

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

How I Managed to Fail the SPHR Exam by 1 Point

Hi there, reader! My name is Cynthia. I decided to take the SPHR exam on a whim when I talked to a friend about it in October, 2010. I had never heard of it before, and I had not seen the material I would need to know for the test yet. I thought - I'm in HR, how hard could it be? HAHAHAHAHahahah...hahaha...ha...ha. I guess I should mention that in addition to working full-time, I'm also a graduate student finishing up my MBA, a wife, and mother of a 3-year old. I know, I barely had time to breath, but again I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. I applied, paid and scheduled the test for January 31st, 2011.
To prepare myself, I bought the PHR/SPHR Prep by Anne Bogardus from Amazon, and also had access to the SHRM Learning System. I planned on studying for the test during the Winter Break from school, but that was before I realized that my class for the following semester really began in November. I skimmed the Borgardus book, and decided to start with the glossary. I wrote flashcards for every term in the glossary that I didn't know with 100% accuracy. After writing about 300 or so, I decided that it probably wasn't the best method. I looked at the SHRM learning system and discovered that they had printable flashcards. I printed those out, and reviewed about 2 sections worth every few days for a month or so. I skimmed but didn't read the Anne Bogardus book from cover to cover, and I didn't look at the SHRM books at all. I did, however, use the SHRM learning system practice tests and quizzes several times. About a week before my test, I began to feel completely unprepared and decided to cancel it, but my mom talked me out of it! She said that even if I failed, it would be the best practice test money could buy. Thanks, Mom! I think I looked through the Anne Bogardus book one more time that week.
On the day of the test, I took the day off and went to the testing center. The test was more difficult than I had imagined. Some of the questions were so hard, it was laughable. WHO KNOWS THIS STUFF?!??! Out of 225 questions,I felt good about maybe 10. The rest I read, tried to decipher and answered the best I could.
Why were the questions so hard, you ask? I knew the glossary backwards and forwards, I knew quite a bit about about strategic planning from my MBA classes, and I knew lots of general HR things from work. It wasn't enough. The SPHR test didn't ask for what things meant, or what a law was about. It asked for in depth knowledge of the laws, where they came from and how they applied to HR. For example, it wasn't enough to know, in general, what each theory was about. You had to know all of the steps in the theory and which one was the most important in a certain situation.
I failed the SPHR exam by 1 point for two reasons:
1) I studied incorrectly. Surface knowledge was not enough. To pass, you should basically be able to write the PHR/SPHR study guide when you're done...and not just the glossary, the entire thing!
2) I didn't spend enough time studying. I started studying in November 2010 and studied a day or two a week, for an hour or so, until January 31st, 2011. Six months at an increased rate may have worked.

What I'm going to do differently this time:
1)I am going to sign myself up for the Dec/Jan testing window for 2011/2012.
2)I'm going to give myself from May (after I graduate) through December to study.
3)I'm going to join a SHRM SPHR class
4)I'm going to study like I've never studied before, and try to apply as many things from what I learn to things at work, so I'll know how they apply
5)I'm going to pass the test!

I am not someone who fails. I refuse to let this beat me. If 50% of people can pass it, I want to be one of them. Wish me luck!