Hi I cannot afford the Assessment Exam on HRCI is that the test you say is very helpful if you take it along with the practice tests. I am a nervous wreck that is why you see I have typed thee different things about my most dreaded day today, jan. 28th @ 12 ET

I failed the PHR today all the information i studied. The test was 70% strategic management .I work as a HR manager but i dont understand the strategic  management. I am self studying and cannot afford the SHRM information. Does anyone know a a good strategic management study guide.

Hello Sanakai76, Sorry to hear that you didn't pass the PHR test. I just took the PHR test today, Jan 28 as well and I was very surprised that I passed.  I will say that the SHRM learning material helped me alot because the practice tests were even harder than the actual PHR which was good. If I didn't perceive the practice test to be so difficult and was doing well when I took the practice tests, I probably wouldn'

I don't know about another study guide besides SHRM learning System.  If you read one of the comments from another PHR test taker on page 1, someone states that HR Management by John Mathis?? works pretty well, but I don't know from experience because I haven't used it.  I would suggest maybe you can find someone to lease the SHRM learning material from to help you study for the retest.  What state do you reside in? Good luck on lyour retest and let me know which state you live in

t had studied as hard as I did.  Thank God I did!!!!

Hi sanakai76:

I took the PHR test yesterday and failed.  I totally agree with you, it was 70% Strategic Management which was the hardest module to study for me. I did all the practice tests in the SHRM online system and took a 5 days course. But don't give up.  I am retaking in May-June.  Where do you live ?  I have all the SHRM books and maybe we can arrange something for you to borrow them.  Another book that some people have recommended me is the PHR/SPHR study guide by Ann Bogardus.  I am going to check it out.

I passed the exam last May.  What I had wished someone had told me was this:

How the exam questions were phrased did not look or "feel" anything like my study material.   The exam questions displayed on the computer screen, were written very very different than how they were written in the study materials.   

I studied with a friend and we used three different sets of approved study materials.  I passed, and she missed by only a few questions.

Somewhere along our certification quest, we were told that two of the four exam questions would be obviously wrong and two would be very good answers, with only one of those being the correct answer.  I DID NOT FIND THIS TO BE TRUE!  I found that all four answers seemed very fuzzy. 

I think what saved me was that as I looked at each answer, I envisioned the potential impact and unintended consequences, on the ficticious company or HR department.  When I used that criterion as a filter, the correct answer became more obvious.

Keep in mind that is in the best financial interest of SHRM and HRCI to have "returning customers".  There is a reason why the pass rate is not very high.  The certification costs are part of their bread and butter.

Hope this helps.

mm 

I just took the PHR exam today and passed. I could not believe it.  Prior to this I took the SHRM prep course and studied the CD and was running at about 80% in the final review questions. Still I didn't feel totally prepared.

When I started the PHR today, my heart sunk after about the first 20 questions. I was sure I was going to bomb it. The way they worded the questions were very different and much more ambiguous than the SHRM study guide. I didn't see any questions that were close to the SHRM guide. Every question seemed to throw in a curve ball, and it was very frustrating. But I just went with my gut instincts and answered what I thought would be right. I didn't think I would even come close! I think what helped me was to pay attention to what the question was asking.

When I was leaving, I told the proctor that I was surprised that I passed. She said, "I can understand, a lot of people haven't been passing this test."

I went to take the test on January 19th and the location was closed for weather.  We were rescheduled for 1/27 and unfortunately I did not pass the PHR.  I used the SHRM learning material and found that it did not resemble the test at all.  My pass rate was 92% on all the exams within the program even the 1040 question test.  I have checked into other study materials and spoke with someone that passed that used the Human Resource Management that she said resembled the test more than SHRM learning.