HRGuru

You may have suffered "test anxiety."   It is a real issue and it can enhance the bad effects of adrenaline and other things so that your logic becomes less logical.

I've been teaching the PHR/SPHR test prep class (how to take the exam and pass class).   I stepped away from using just the SHRM materials and focus nearly 60% on test taking strategies and test question forensics.    This lessens anxiety and increases one's ability to really read the question the way it was intended.

I'm in Southern California, where are you?

Sir, do you offer this type of training in Miami, FL?

Thanks SIR, I will find out who else is interested and get back to you.

I took the SPHR back in 2004 and failed it by 10 points without any studying.

I learned my lesson and realize I have to put in some study time.

I took the test in May and passed with an extremely higher score that I expected.  Honestly, I didn't expect to pass after finding out that at five of the six students in my class who took it before me failed.  I literally read ALL of the books at least two times and then skimmed them again here and there, plus took ALL of the post tests and online tests provided by SHRM.  I will say that many students from my class failed b/c they were misguided by the professor. 

Thank you for brining up this topic I have been trying to find out some information on prep courses for sometime now without any success. Sir, I realize that you have created your own prep course and I thank you for the advice which I will certainly try to follow. That being said, aside from your own prep course can you recommend any prep courses that work well? I would also be interested in taking your course if the offer still stands of getting 5-6 people together to do so! I have taken the PHR test twice, both times by trying to study on my own and failed both times, by 6 and 10 points respectively. I am now looking to take the SPHR this upcoming December, since those previous tests were taken sometime ago. Please let me know your thoughts on this matter.

SirFrey says ...

Good for you Katrina.  Hard work pays off.

Where did you take the class and what did the instructor do to misguide the other students?  (By the way, about 60% of the test takers don't pass according to HRCI statistics.)

Hi,

I took the class at a university in White Plains, New York.  The professor from the begining of the course told students that they did not need to read all the study material and even skipped several pages and/or chapters during the course.  He told students what topics they needed to study and which ones not to pay any attention to all at.  After the exam, four of the students contacted me and were livid because they studied material that was not on the exam and material that they did not study was on the exam.  During class, I made it known to the professor that I was studying all the material and using the online study guides and he told me that I was over-studying.  Well, I am one of I believe three or four that passed the exam out of a class of 18 or 20.

I would be interested in the study course, depending on the cost.  Please let me know if you can get enough interest.

I have taken the SHRM class twice to prepare for exams, once for the PHR and several years later for the SPHR.  I have also facilitated the class twice.  I have told students that if all they know is what is in the SHRM books, they are in trouble for the exam. 

Some things to consider:  SHRM provides the certification training, and HRCI does the testing.  It seems to me that the two organizations don't talk to each other - the SHRM materials are not a HRCI study guide by now means.  Also, there are typically questions on the certification exam that do not count towards the passing of the exam.  They are "test" exam questions.  One final thought, the questions are very tricky.  They have to be read carefully.  There must be some devious minds that write the exam questions.  I bet they spend hours on each question thinking about how they can trick some poor test taker 0 and they probably laugh about it.

The pass rate is typically only 50% or so, so anyone who has failed the exam is not alone.  I did pass both times - but only by a small margin.  If it would have been a letter grade it would probably have been a D-.

You go through special training to develop the test questions and have to be a member of the HRCI team to submit questions.   I've studied the questions and have figured out their syntax after going through most of the way to be a question designer.   But if you develop questions for the exam, they don't let you teach any test prep classes for at least two years.   I understand that principle but am more interested in maintainng my business than making up a couple of questions, which is all they allow.

Good insights!

I doubt memorizing is the trick to passsing. Some items may need to be stored in a longer term memory with easy/fast retrieval, but memorizing would guarantee disappointment. As Todd said earlier, hard work does pay off.

KATRINA_JONES says ...

SirFrey says ...

Good for you Katrina.  Hard work pays off.

Where did you take the class and what did the instructor do to misguide the other students?  (By the way, about 60% of the test takers don't pass according to HRCI statistics.)

Hi,

I took the class at a university in White Plains, New York.  The professor from the begining of the course told students that they did not need to read all the study material and even skipped several pages and/or chapters during the course.  He told students what topics they needed to study and which ones not to pay any attention to all at.  After the exam, four of the students contacted me and were livid because they studied material that was not on the exam and material that they did not study was on the exam.  During class, I made it known to the professor that I was studying all the material and using the online study guides and he told me that I was over-studying.  Well, I am one of I believe three or four that passed the exam out of a class of 18 or 20.

Thanks for this information, Katrina. I am surprised that that many students allowed themselves to be misled by that professor. Its unfortunate that many people try to get alot with less (work/studying), which really bothers me. In HR, taking short cuts defeat the purpose of the profession itself. We are suppose to be the ones that ensure that the labor force is properly trained for the workforce; that goes for us too.