Human Resource Certificate Opportunities

As you may have heard, SHRM has announced its own certification credentials, the SHRM-CP (Certified Professional) and the SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional). These credentials will come into effect in 2015 and will exist along with the current credentials that are used by about 130,000 HR professionals, the PHR, SPHR and GPHR.

It’s important to first understand that the existing PHR/SPHR/GPHR does not come from SHRM. The PHR/SPHR/GPHR are products of the HR Certification Institute (HRCI). HRCI was formed in 1976 as a separate entity from SHRM in order to design a certification module for HR professionals without a conflict of interest with SHRM. SHRM has supported the HRCI certifications by providing learning modules for those who are preparing to take the PHR/SPHR/GPHR exams.

In June 2014, SHRM announced that they were creating a separate set of credentials, the SHRM-CP and the SHRM-SCP. These certifications will exist along with the current HRCI credentials and will differ from the PHR/SPHR/GPHR primarily through the use of a competency based testing model and different education/experience requirements.

Details on the HRCI certification program can be found here: http://www.hrci.org/

Details on the SHRM certification program can be found here: http://certification.shrm.org/