A Closer Look at the PHR Certification or SPHR Certification Exam

Most of the exams (aptitude tests) nowadays, be it for employment, college admission, licensure, or certification are in a multiple choice form. This also holds true to the professional human resources certification exams. I mean phr certification, and sphr certificationation exams. Each item in the exam is consists of four (4) choices (stem) with only one best answer (key). The good thing is, examinees after completing the 225 test items, will get to know whether they are certified or not in a blink of an eye.  Gone are days of anxiety and excitement waiting for the test results. Thanks to the advent of technology and to PROMETRIC testing center.

Multiple Choice Exam:

According to Wiki, Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer (or answers) out of the choices from a list.  E.L. Thorndike had introduced this type of test in the early 1900s and it became very popular nowadays because of its reliability and validity. In fact, most of the psychometric tests used in employment and College Admission Tests like the SAT, is in a multiple choice form.

Multiple choice items consist of a stem and a set of options. The stem is the beginning part of the item that presents the item as a problem to be solved, a question asked of the respondent, or an incomplete statement to be completed, as well as any other relevant information. The options are the possible answers that the examinee can choose from, with the correct answer called the key and the incorrect answers called distractors. Only one answer can be keyed as correct.

Multiple Choice as used in the PHR or SPHR Exam:

Remember, there are 6 broad body of knowledge (Strategic Management, Workforce Planning and Employment, Human Resource Development, Total Rewards, Employee and Labor Relations, and Risk Management) covered in the exams and it requires large amount of time to master it. Too broad that we don’t exactly know which one of the concepts, terms and definitions, rules and regulations, policies, executive orders, etc. are included in the exams. It’s just like nailing  down a particular fish or grass in a vast ocean or forest. Not only that, questions and choices are getting trickier. Otherwise, the passing rate would be so high.

The good thing is: we’re used to taking multiple choice tests. It’s not new in our menu anymore. With this in mind, we may have the perception that multiple choice exam is chicken feed. Not in the case of the PHR or SPHR exams. As mentioned in most of the study materials, books, and references available online and offline, the choices are almost interrelated and the process of elimination or weeding out the distractors is far from easy.  There’s no room for guessing, I can tell you.

How the test questions are developed?

A panel that is consists of certified HR professionals develop the test questions. And the test questions are reviewed and tested prior to inclusion in the exams. So to speak, test questions, prior to inclusion in the exams are screened, tested, and scrutinized under the meticulous eyes of the panel. And in the process, it undergo quality control.

If you are so keen in knowing the detailed information about the answer to this question, the best source is the HRCI website. Click the “Certification” tab, and then click the “How Exams Are Developed” and you’ll see a menu on the left several subsections detailing the exam item development.

The bottomline of this test items development is to assess the depth and breadth of examinees’ knowledge and their ability to apply it in practice.

Knowing how the test questions are developed should be the least of your concern, I guess. The big challenge really is: how will you pass the exam knowing that the scope and coverage is too broad? I can say, there’s no ready or easy solution and answer to that. Passing the exam means either you have sufficient stock knowledge and experience in the field that are reflective to the contents of the exam or you have completed a post grad degree in Human Resources or allied business courses and  reviewed ahead of time using different techniques and strategies or a combination thereof. I wonder if someone can really say, “I had passed the exam because I didn’t prepare for it.”

Source: HRCI website

From the information or data shown in the table, we can conclude that:

1. PHR passing rate from year 2005 to present has declined. It looks like there’s a trend from that year to January 2010.
2. PHR passing rate is higher than the SPHR passing rate, maybe because the exam is easier than the SPHR exam. Only those who have taken both exams can tell the difference.
3. SPHR passing rate is lower than the PHR passing rate, maybe we can equate it to the difficulty of the exam: PHR exam is more difficult than the PHR exam. I can say it is debatable as well.
4. The Passing rate for PHR or SPHR exam is above 50 percent. It could be because examinees have spent tons of hours burning midnight oils in order to pass.
5. For the PHR or SPHR exam, it looks like passing rate for the December-January window (Winter) is higher than the May-June (Spring) window. (You still have time to reschedule your exam!). It could be because it’s winter—people are forced to stay at home because of extreme weather. Instead of going out, they just study. Admit it, we tend to slack because there are temptations (personal, social, what have you?)
6. The PHR/SPHR exams are getting difficult every year based on the passing trend.

And just for a thought:  Since passing the exam nowadays is just like finding a needle in a haystack, why not hit the big one?  What’s the point of getting PHR certification exam if you are qualified to take the SPHR certification exam and you cannot have both titles beside your name? And if you pass the PHR exam, there is a likelihood that you will look forward to taking the SPHR exam in the future for upgrade. Not only that, if you look at the human resources positions advertised in the daily ads, more often than not, the job specification requires someone who is PHR or SPHR certified. Exceptions would be for the higher posts.

For reason of practicality (time, energy and the money you will spend in studying), why not take the SPHR certification exam as it is the end of it all instead of the PHR certification exam? That way you could spare one of a lifetime review preparation. The decision would be yours.  As the saying goes, a million- mile journey begins with a single step. And if there’s a shortcut to that step, go and grab it!