Hello, everyone! I passed SHRM-CP yesterday. Just wanted to share how I studied and how the test went.
I work in TA and have about three years of total HR, experience (20 months as a HR call center rep; 15 months as a TA specialist). I took and passed PHR last August. Even though having both SHRM and PHR may be irrelevant, I always aim to do one career development activity per year, so I decided to do SHRM.
For study materials, I started my study from question sets on free websites online. It seems there isn’t as much material for SHRM as for PHR, but there is some. Then I used Google Gemini to make practice sets of questions. I will say that the questions are often irrelevant to the test itself, but it gets you in “test mode”. Probably the best resource was Angela Murray’s YouTube videos. She has a paid course, which I didn’t do, but her free videos on her regular page are extremely helpful for understanding how SHRM looks at things.
As for the test itself, it is (up to) four hours long and can feel overwhelming. I recommend being rested, eating a good meal before the test, and arriving at the center early so you don’t arrive stressed. The test is split into two very similar 67-question parts, which I did not like, as it feels like you have to take two separate tests, which psychologically, was harder for me.
I strongly recommend using the “flags”. First time through, I answered everything with a first-glance answer and flagged everything except 100% “common sense” stuff. I then went through the flagged answers again and I unflagged the ones I was 99% about, then 90%, and you just keep whittling down the list of unknown questions. You may still end up with a good 10-20. After the test, your preliminary pass/fail result will show immediately on the screen. I was 50-50 that I would pass. It was honestly difficult.
I will say, you don’t need to study much HR knowledge for SHRM. I had maybe ten bonafide knowledge questions. Almost all of them are situational or situational-aligned. Really hone in on long-term thinking, treating the problem instead of the symptom, being a strategic business partner, etc. I studied for PHR for three months and still didn’t fully feel ready. With SHRM, after about a month and a half, I felt ready. Once you understand “the SHRM way” there isn’t any ROI in studying.
Hope this helps!