Let me begin with some background before I get into the details; I have been working in HR for over 12 years, specializing in Learning and Development. However, I have participated in most tasks related to HR over the years and was fortunate enough to be able to contribute the HR department as a whole. What I lacked was a formal validation of my skills as an HR professional, especially since I did not have any formal HR education. Hence, my research lead me to the SHRM certification.
I signed up to take the SHRM-CP exam near the end of 2020, thinking it would help me further my career in HR and validate me as an HR professional. When searching for learning resources to support my preparation; I quickly realized that I would not be investing 1000 USD+ in the SHRM leaning system, which I believe is over priced, when all you receive is four textbooks and a few practice tests.
So, I thought to myself since I have the experience; I am sure I will be able to wing it; little did I know that I was in for a shock. I fared miserably in the first free sample test available on the SHRM website. However, in hindsight; this was good because I realized that I needed to put in the effort and there was no way around it.
I needed a plan as I only had two months to go to my test date as I had registered to sit for the exam in Feb 2021 thinking that two months would be enough. As if this pressure was not enough, I was then hit with another major professional setback, as the aviation industry grappled from the effects of the pandemic, my position with my company was made redundant and suddenly I was spending Christmas 2020 without a job.
So now, instead of studying for the SHRM exam; I had more pressing issues like finding a job. If you have not been in this situation then let me tell you that searching for a job is a full time job in itself. On the upside, though, being a certified Emotional Intelligence Trainer, I knew that I needed to think with a rational mind. My Amygdala needed to be kept in check and I needed to manage my emotions rather than the other way round.
One month had passed with me not even thinking about the upcoming SHRM exam; I now have one month to D-Day. This is when I decided I needed to get this done and I needed to give it my best shot. Having the SHRM certification under my belt will most certainly also give me more bargaining power when I land my next job.
So; due to the time constraint; instead of trying to read every book available on SHRM; I decided to do what I do best which is draw up a plan and find a solution. Se here was my master plan:
Step 1: Read the SHRM BOCK (in 2021 it was still BOCk and not BASK)
Step 2: Go through each of the proficiency indicators and understand them, research the proficiency indicators that I was not as confident with.
Step 3: Find and do as many online practice tests as I possibly can.
That is it; that was my master plan and I believed in it and I truly believed that it would be enough for me to pass the exam. I trusted myself and all that I had learned over the last 12 years. There was no turning back now and I committed to a daily plan of spending 2 hours every evening on my SHRM exam prep.
Upon reading the SHRM BOCK; I realized that I knew and had been doing most of what was expected from a SHRM professional. What I struggled with was the terminology of some of the competencies and technical areas in the SHRM BOCK. I have never worked in the United States and hence this is the only area in which I felt vulnerable. I then found out that I will not be tested on US Law; phew, what a relief.
The more practice tests; I did; I realized that the most important thing to get the SJI's correct was to understand the way the question was being asked. Even though I sometimes had absolutely no clue what the correct answer was. just by understanding the phrasing of the question, I was able to answer these questions correctly. I must have done almost 1200+ practice questions and I made it a point to read the answer explanations at the end. This became a part of my routine. I realized that I was learning a lot more from understating the answer explanations rather than reading an entire book at once. I prefer bite sized learning.
Pro tip 1: The first answer, which you pick in your mind to be the correct answer, is the correct answer, at least 90% of the time. Do not doubt yourself; do not over think it.
Pro tip 2: Any answer that shows HR taking a proactive role rather than a passive one is the right answer.
Pro tip 3: Don’t answer the questions thinking of what goes on in your current workplace; instead answer them the way SHRM expect you to answer (You will get a knack for this after answering a few hundred practice questions).
Three weeks in with one-week left for the big day; I felt a lot more confident of myself. In the last week, I began paying for online practice tests; just any tests that I could get my hands on. I had subconsciously become familiar with the questioning style of the questions and knew exactly what SHRM was expecting from the question. This is particularly difficult when answering situational judgement Items.
So, the day is finally here and I’m taking my test; I feel like I knew about 70% of the questions and the other 30 % I just went with what I felt was the right answer (remember pro tip 1). This strategy turned out pretty well for me. Soon as I clicked the submit button; there was this pause on the screen for 5 seconds which at that time felt like 5 hours and then my favorite four letter word popped up on the screen ‘PASS’. I was absolutely thrilled and overjoyed because I felt like I almost cheated the system by not purchasing the 1000 USD learning system or go to any prep class.
Over the next few days when I thought about how I managed this feat, it all made sense; my experience in the field was a huge contributor to my success. Just being involved in HR, we do not realize how much we learn on a daily basis. We may not be able to list on a daily basis what we learned on any given day; however when the times comes, our learning serves us well. I have always believed that learning is continuous and never stops for as long as we are breathing.
So, what is my purpose in sharing my journey with you; well I believe that we don’t need an expensive course or training system to pass the exam especially if you are well experienced. Yes, we will need some learning resource just to provide us with direction and guide us. However, if you are not as experienced, then maybe the SHRM learning system will work for you; or you may actually need it. I just want to put it out there that your experience does count for something, something unknown that cannot always be proven or demonstrated.
So my final thoughts on how to pass the SHRM; read the SHRM BASK(2022); understand the proficiency indicators; take as many practice tests as you can and make sure to read the answer explanations and learn from them.