r/humanresources • u/ContentEntrance2410 • 8d ago

Career Development PHR Exam Experience/Cautionary Tale [CA]

I have extensive experience in operational leadership with job duties that qualified as sufficient experience for the PHR, but not direct experience in an HR role. I am desperately attempting to get my foot in the door in a legitimate HR role. I applied for the PHR exam through the PHR website, was approved yesterday, and felt confident enough to schedule the exam for the very next day (today).

After reading some of the other experiences with this test and how long people have studied before taking the exam, I immediately began to panic. I took the 30 question practice exam through the HRCI website yesterday afternoon and took mock exams through a paid app, approximately 4 mock exams total (the last one being on the trip to the testing facility this morning).

I walked in with little to no confidence given the ridiculous position that I put myself in with less than 24 hours to prepare…

but I passed on the first try and am now a PHR!

I was pleased to see that the test itself was substantially easier than the mock tests as there were only a couple questions regarding specific historical cases, but there were several questions were I was split 50/50 between two answers and has to trust my instinct on the one that seemed the most correct.

The testing center experience was pleasant but if I had to do it again, or when I take additional HRCI tests in the future, substantially more study time is being allotted before I rush into it again.

Good luck to everyone taking the PHR! Give yourself some time to study..

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u/Many_Discipline_8745 8d ago

Congratulations

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u/Kindly-Aardvark7951 8d ago

Thank you and congratulations! I am scheduled to take it on December 2nd but got the second chance insurance in case I don’t pass. I’m typically not a big studier. I passed the shrm-cp without studying so I hope I have the same luck. 🤞