Ben EubanksGuest Author

SHRM-SCP vs SPHR: Which Senior HR Certification Makes More Sense?

By | Ben Eubanks | Human Resources Professional, Speaker, and Blogger

Are you a senior HR pro thinking about getting a certification, and you’re selecting between the SHRM-SCP and the SPHR? Have you wondered if the SHRM senior professional certification or the HRCI senior professional in human resources certification is right for you? Or maybe you’re one of those thinking about getting both of these credentials? Then this post is for you!

One of the most popular posts I’ve written in the last few years continues to be a piece on HR certifications SHRM-CP and PHR. It is a very common question, and before SHRM and HRCI broke up, it wasn’t an issue. However, I’m now seeing more people who are moving up in their careers that want to explore the senior HR certifications like the SHRM-SCP and the SPHR. As someone who holds both certifications, I am an advocate of them for a few reasons:

  • They quantify, to some degree, the person’s understanding of HR and how it ties into the business.
  • They have more situational questions than the basic PHR/CP exams that are much harder to study for, requiring you to really know and have hands-on experience. That adds credibility when you do pass.

You will run across people who do not believe in them or care about certification. You will find Chief Human Resources Officers, VPs, and Directors that have no certification. Does that mean you shouldn’t pursue one? Absolutely not. If it’s on your mind and you are seriously considering it, then don’t let someone else’s career choices derail you from getting the certification you think you want. There’s also the financial aspects of earning more money with an HR certification.

To be transparent, I didn’t have to take the SHRM-SCP exam. SHRM was very smart during the split away from HRCI and allowed any practitioner to answer a few questions and in five minutes transfer our SPHR over to the SHRM-SCP certification. Many of the people you find with both have had both since the split, though there are some that have taken the additional time and expense to get them the “old fashioned” way by studying and taking two separate tests. I have great respect for those people and highly recommend that you reach out to a few friends or colleagues in the industry that you respect to ask them how they got the certification and for any advice they might offer for you.

Republished with permission and originally published at upstarthr.com

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upstarthr.com
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