Certifications are a way for professionals to prove that their qualifications go ahead minimum job requirements. As the world’s largest professional society for human resources, certifications awarded by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) carry required weight in the HR industry. SHRM reports that SHRM certification holders are being sought by more than 5,000 employers each month.
Those employers know the examinations that must be passed to earn SHRM certification are trained in the modern HR view. They are built around the competencies, and knowledge HR professionals need to succeed.
Certification is valuable and easy to HR professionals at all career levels. There are two certifications: SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).
The Benefits of SHRM Certification for HR Professionals Hold:
- A boost in confidence and recognition
- Exhibiting a mastery of competencies and information that organizations find most important
- Expanding your scope within the HR field
- Bringing new ideas to your organization
- Standing out from other job-seekers
- Showing commitment to the HR profession
- Protecting your organization by ensuring regulatory compliance
The Human Resource Management coursework focuses on techniques, and competencies professionals can apply directly to circumstances in the workplace. The SHRM Certification is going for those new in the HR field as well as seasoned veterans looking to stay up-to-date and strengthen their competencies and HR management skills.
Regardless of where a professional is in their career, learning the core competencies established through this course and earning SHRM certification is an achievement that can further separate them from the job-seeking pack.
How to Qualify for SHRM Certification?
Before you even consider applying for SHRM certification and taking your SHRM years, you have to take a peek at the eligibility requirements. As stated, the terms vary depending on which exam you apply for, and they also change depending on your educational and work experience too.
Qualifying for the SHRM-CP Certification
Less Than Bachelor’s Degree:
Those who have not yet got a Bachelor’s Degree, i.e., those who are working towards their degree or have any college education, a high school diploma, another HR certificate, etc. will want to have spent a least of three years in an HR role to qualify. This is increased to four years if your thoughts have no HR connections.
Bachelor’s Degree:
Those candidates who do have a Bachelor’s Degree will need to have used a year in an HR role if their degree was HR-related or have two years of professional HR experience if not.
Graduate Degree:
Meanwhile, those with graduate degrees that are HR-related need to be in an HR position; the amount of experience does not matter in this instance. If your Graduate Degree is not HR-related, you will need to have a year of experience.
Qualifying for the SHRM-SCP Certification
Less Than Bachelor’s Degree:
Again, if you don’t have a Bachelor’s Degree but are studying towards something HR-related, you will want to have a point of six years of professional HR experience to qualify for the SCP, or seven years if your thoughts are not HR related.
Bachelor’s Degree:
Candidates with a Bachelor’s Degree will need to have spent a minimum of four years in an HR role with an HR-related degree or five years without.
Graduate Degree:
Finally, those with a Graduate Degree will need three years of experience with an HR-related qualification and four years without.
General Requirements
There are some general selection guidelines candidates will need to be aware of:
Experience:
When talking about experience in an HR role, SHRM is leading to the 15 functional areas of HR knowledge in the SHRM BoCK. Examples cover HR Strategic Planning, Talent Acquisition, and Employee Engagement and Retention.
Current Status:
Your current job does not indeed have to include an HR title. SHRM is only involved with your actual work and experience and how it relates to HR, rather than your job title.
HR Activities:
All applicants need to show that they have spent a minimum of 1,000 hours performing HR-related services during a single program year for it to pass as a year of HY experience. Even if you have a part-time HR role, you can still be eligible.
Membership:
You do not need to be a member of SHRM to apply.
Students:
Students in the final year of their degrees at accredited SHRM universities can sit the SHRM-CP Certification exam but will need to prove a point of 500 hours of HR experience.
How Much Does SHRM Certification Cost?
So how much money do you want to hand over to become SHRM certified? Well, first of all, it is essential to note that the fees are the same for both the SHRM-CP exam and the SHRM-SCP exam, but the costs can vary depending on whether you are a member or not of the SHRM. Here’s all you need to know:
Exam Fees:
Whether you are taking the SHRM-CP certification or the SHRM-SCP, you will require to pay $300 to take the exam as a member, or $400 as a non-member.
Application Fees:
The application fees are regularly set at $50, both for members and non-members.
Late Fees:
Those who make their applications, later on, will want to pay a total of $75. This price is equivalent to both members and non-members once again.
Retests:
If you need to take a retest, you won’t get any discount on the SHRM certification cost. You will want to pay the full price.
Why Should You Get SHRM Certification?
You might be wondering why specifically you would want to seek out the SHRM certification in the first place. It is all about self-improvement. HR professionals use a lot of time thinking of ways to make workforces stronger and more experienced but want to make time for their development too.
There are a lot of various tools, services, and other options out there for HR professionals to be more efficient in their work, creating a happier and more engaging workspace.
There are a lot of options to assist any HR professional in being more productive in their day to day roles. But SHRM certification is one of the few opportunities available to prove the work you do with an approved recognized educational program.
Here are just some reasons why more and more people are beginning up an SHRM course:
Fast Growing:
Data from SHRM shows this is the most rapidly expanding program in the HR certification world. Tens of thousands of job listings cite SHRM certification as a selected aspect of considered applicants, and more than 5,000 employers are explicitly looking for SHRM credential holders every month.
The Biggest Name:
In general, when seeking out any qualification, it pays off to contact the number one name in the appropriate field. When it gets to HR, SHRM is simply the number one name in the industry. It is the world’s most significant HR association and a genuine industry leader.
The Universal Qualification:
SHRM certification is something that can help you no matter where life appears to take you. It is a universally respected standard, crossing over boundaries and barriers, and there are SHRM credential holders in more than 100 countries globally, so even if your career takes you away or into a distinctive position, the certification will still work in your favor.
An Effective Exam:
Taking the SHRM exams is a terrific way to enhance and demonstrate your HR skills and ability. The exam questions are renewed twice per year, with professionally trained and very experienced exam experts developing questions that test an applicant’s knowledge and belief.
How Do You Get SHRM Certification?
So, now that you know a full summary of what SHRM certification is and why you might be involved in seeking it out let’s take a look at how you should go about that step-by-step process.
The first step is to determine which of the two exams you need to take. As stated, the SHRM-SCP has stricter terms and is designed for senior professionals, while the SHRM-CP is the better option for the overall day to day HR professionals.
The next step is to look at the qualification conditions for your chosen exam and ensure that you meet all of them before really filling out an application. Full specifics can be seen on the SHRM site, where the association goes into great depth in reading and outlining precisely what you need to do about your educational and professional experience.
The third step is to get your application, but this will depend on what time of year it appears to be. SHRM runs one exam in the winter and the summer. Remember that you will pay more if you apply late, so it is useful to make sure you use it within the period.
Provided your application is successful, SHRM will request you to log into their scheduling portal and set a date and time for the test that works for you. The exam practices a total of four hours to complete, so you will probably require to set aside a whole day for it. You can adjust the set date and time if needed, but this requires to be done more than 30 days in progress if you do not need to pay a fee
Next, it is time to start studying. A variety of SHRM certification online practice tests are ready to help you get ready, with SHRM providing their series of online study materials for members and non-members to use for exam preparation.
There are also lots of free learning modules for SHRM certification about the net, and it can also be a great idea to get in touch with any other HR professionals you understand who have taken the test or are preparing for the test too to learn from one another.
The last step is to take the test itself on a registered day. The analysis highlights a total of 160 multiple-choice questions. Of those questions, around 40% are scenario-based assessments that test behavioral competencies and ethical practices, and the remaining 60% are simple knowledge-based questions.
Keep in mind that you require to do a recertification every three years.
Time to Take Your SHRM Certification
SHRM certification is the fastest rising program in the entire HR certification community. It offers a significant boost to the career of any HR professional and helps raise the whole global standard of HR work.
If you desire to test your competency and check your rules of HR understanding, it is one of the better options out there, and you can use for either of the two main exams during most of the year.
