Early this year, Kelly Baureko, a recruitment manager in the New York City metropolitan area, took her first SHRM certification exam.
Despite spending nearly 20 years of her career in HR, Baureko had never before tried for an HR certification. But, recently beating colorectal cancer had her rethinking the opportunities she’d taken for granted, including professional development.
“I came out, I finished treatment, and I just decided: It’s now or never. Let me just dive into everything that I did not initially do, or missed out on,” she told HR Brew.
Baureko passed the exam, earning the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification, and is now studying for SHRM’s Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) test.
She considers SHRM the “crème de la crème” of HR certifications. But something bugged her: Several exam questions featured hypothetical situations, but the expected answers didn’t reflect Baureko’s lived experience. Instead, it was as if SHRM’s scenarios were set in “the perfect world and perfect conditions,” she said, as if test-takers are expected to answer like they have “unlimited resources.”
“You’re answering, or you’re studying, and you’re learning techniques that would apply to SHRM, but it would never actually apply in the real world,” she said. “It took me a long time to realize that.”
Baureko said she would handle about 40% of the questions differently in her job than how she answered: “I think they have to take a look and rework the program to where it can more fit into an everyday situation.”
When asked for a response, SHRM’s senior media relations specialist Anne Sparaco said in a statement that these questions, called situational judgment tests, do not have a single right answer and are evaluated on a spectrum ranging from ineffective to effective, based on proficiencies outlined in the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge (SHRM BASK).
SHRM states its exams are based on “real situations experienced by practicing SHRM-certified HR professionals.” Questions, ranging from which conflict resolution to provide or which steps to take before purchasing an applicant tracking system (ATS), are designed to test HR pros’ competency, a focus SHRM claims was a key driver for launching its certifications.
“You’re basically asking someone to demonstrate how they would respond in a situation and to choose between a variety of options that many of which could also be right, but you’re looking for the best possible answer in many cases,” Alex Alonso, SHRM’s chief data and analytics officer, told HR Brew. Alonso was one of two executives responsible for the creation, development, and launch of SHRM’s certifications.
SHRM’s panels, made up of dozens of subject matter experts who have or currently work in HR, vet the best answers.
“This allows for us to capture many scenarios and say: Across these various scenarios, this is how we think this person would respond, and more often than not, they’re responding in keeping with what is best practice or best understanding of these difficult, real-world scenarios,” Alonso said.
The birth of SHRM’s certification. Before 2015, SHRM did not offer certifications, instead supporting the certification program of the then-affiliated organization, the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).
But SHRM announced plans in 2014 to split from HRCI, ending a multi-decade relationship, because the latter’s certification offerings focused too much on basic HR knowledge and compliance, and not competency—a “must-have” for future HR leaders, SHRM claimed.
“We were responding pretty significantly to a request from the HR profession, as well as a call from business leaders outside the HR profession, to really think about how we advance the science of human capital management,” Alonso said.
SHRM offers two primary certifications: the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP. Each is valid for three years, and professionals can either recertify by earning 60 professional development credits, or by retaking the costly exam.
SHRM appears to be closing the gap with HRCI, claiming 148,000 active credential holders while the latter has certified 500,000 total over its 50-year existence.
Alonso said the reaction to SHRM's certification was "resounding" acceptance. But more than one dozen HR professionals and experts interviewed by HR Brew expressed mixed opinions about the value of SHRM’s certification offerings.
Growing pains. SHRM’s split from HRCI—which the former created and shared the same building with—created a rift in the HR world.
“It’s like there was a divorce that happened,” said Justin Dorsey, a senior HR consultant.
“For our industry, I feel like it was a real problem. I think it caused a lot of chaos and disruption, from inside our profession,” said Sandra Reed, an organizational consultant who has authored several HRCI and SHRM certification exam study books.
HR pros didn’t understand SHRM’s reasoning. Dorsey was on the board of SHRM’s Fort Worth chapter at the time, and recalled a SHRM executive meeting with members to discuss the decision.
“He kind of gave us a sales pitch on this new certification, and there was a lot of pushback on that,” he said. “A lot of folks were loyal to HRCI, that’s where they’d gotten their certification from, and they put a lot of work and time into that, and they just didn't see the purpose.”
Additionally, SHRM’s decision to grandfather individuals with HRCI certifications (so long as they followed a short process including taking an online tutorial) prompted claims that the move was a money grab on SHRM’s part.
“It felt, honestly, extremely political in that they were just trying to add value to themselves, not necessarily the members,” Becky Marson, an HR executive in South Carolina, said. (Marson said she keeps both certifications up-to-date now, but “it’s a very redundant process... the content that I use to recertify for one is the same for the other.”)
“Pick one, take it.” Perception that the certification programs are largely indistinguishable has persisted.
“I get that question so much: Which exam should I take? HRCI or SHRM? Which one’s better? And the answer that I typically give is fundamentally, the core knowledge is identical,” Reed said. Her advice for choosing which certification to take is: “Pick one, take it.”
When asked if SHRM was aware of this sentiment, Alonso acknowledged it was feedback they’d received often after the initial launch of their certifications, but said currently, “I can’t say that I’ve heard that often.”
He recalled meeting a recently SHRM-certified HR professional at a conference last year, who told him they expected to take a basic knowledge and compliance test, but didn’t realize how much it focused on business strategy.
“I know people want to look and compare and contrast at the end of the day,” Alonso said. “I think it's fairly clear that there's an industry leader that is focused on what is the latest, the most important, the most critical, and really focused on what drives business success.”
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Several HR pros who attained their SHRM certifications within the last five years say they chose SHRM because it’s more recognized.
“I think SHRM is really good at putting in word of mouth and communicating to others what they do and why they’re important, and I think that’s why it's hard to even think about other competitors,” said Joan McGrath-Rojas, an HR professional in the New York City area who got her SHRM certification in 2024.
Early career head start. HR certifications can give a big boost to HR professionals, particularly in their early careers. A 2018 Payscale study found HR assistants’ odds of being promoted in the past five years were 21.5% higher with a certification, while HR generalists had a 16% increase, and HR administrators a 12.6% increase. The study also found early- to mid-career professionals were likely to see higher salaries by 9% to 15.8% with an HR certification.
For SHRM specifically, Alonso said individuals who pass its exams on average already earn $30,000 more than those who do not pass. And of individuals who passed the exam, 76% received a salary increase in the past year, compared to 64% who haven’t pursued a certification.
Zean Mateo, an HR coordinator at a healthcare organization in Washington state, first attained his SHRM-CP in 2022, and plans to renew it this year. Mateo said holding an HR certification places him on a higher wage rate than if he didn’t have the certification or chose to not renew.
“If I let my SHRM-CP lapse, then my pay will actually go down a step,” he told HR Brew.
More employers expect HR professionals, junior-career in particular, to either hold or plan to attain a certification, said Wendy DiMartino, senior client partner and global VP of talent acquisition client services at Korn Ferry.
“The certifications are where, I think, the rubber meets the road in regards to learning the reality of that role and the importance of the legality of that role,” said DiMartino.
Money, money, money. The largest critique junior HR professionals had about the SHRM certifications was its price. The SHRM-CP exam alone costs $495 for members, and $595 for non-members, while the SHRM-SCP is $595 for members and $695 for non-members. (SHRM’s professional memberships cost $299 annually.) But, factoring in study materials and prep courses, the entire process can cost over $1,000 (not accounting for the recertification fees.)
Some employers cover some or all costs, including Mateo’s former employer, who covered all but the exam fee, and said “they basically fronted $1,300.”
But many others must pay out of pocket. Kenus Lee, a talent acquisition specialist in the Houston area, told HR Brew he paid nearly $2,000 for his SHRM-CP certification in 2021, including for prep courses, textbooks, and exam fees.
“That’s a very steep cost for someone who’s just getting started in their career,” Lee said.
To be fair, HRCI’s certification costs are similar to SHRM. The PHR costs $495 for the exam and application fees, and the SPHR costs $595 total. Given the pay boost associated with certifications, HR professionals could have a significant return on investment for the certification, according to Boncho Bonchev, a senior principal at Mercer.
Still, as costs of living skyrocket, a certification might not be justifiable for HR professionals to pay out of pocket, particularly as SHRM hikes up membership and certification fees.
“It’s awesome that they allow you to learn so much, but I do think that they need to work on making sure the pricing is accessible because most HR professionals are not making a lot of money,” McGrath-Rojas said.
“Yes, SHRM has received feedback about the cost of certification, and we understand that it can be a significant investment—particularly for entry-level HR professionals or those paying out of pocket,” SHRM said in a statement provided by Sparaco, and noted it offers several financial resources including scholarships via its foundation, and discounted rates for members.
“We believe SHRM certification is a meaningful investment in long-term career growth and professional credibility, and we’re committed to supporting HR professionals at every stage of their journey,” the statement said.
Getting clear on competence. SHRM’s certifications can be difficult to pass. Pass rates for the May to July 2024 period were 71% for the SHRM-CP, and 56% for the SHRM-SCP, though pass rates for that same period two years earlier were 65% and 46%, respectively. HR pros who fail must pay the full exam fee to retest.
What was most challenging for some HR pros was getting an understanding of the situational judgment questions. HR-focused subreddits are rife with posts from confused HR pros trying to parse the best answers for these questions, and advice from those who passed the exams encouraging future test takers to answer the “SHRM way.”
Mateo said adjusting answers with that logic in mind was advice his instructor gave him. He echoed Alonso that it's the “best” answer out of many possibilities.
SHRM has heard such criticism “from time to time over the years,” Alonso said, but he claimed these complaints make up a “really small minority” of all exam takers: “It’s typically less than even a half a percent of people who have been preparing for the exam.”
Alonso added, “It’s not so much that the actual item is confusing as much as it is that because it is a situational judgment item or a conditional reasoning item, it’s not as simple as saying something is right or wrong,” he said. “By design, it doesn't have that direct face of validity to what is the scoring rubric. So it confuses people.”
For his part, Lee chose to go with SHRM’s certification because he believed it would be more rigorous.
“I wanted to be challenged, and from doing research and talking to other senior-level HR professionals, they felt as though the SHRM-CP was a bit more challenging,” he said.
Baureko, however, worried that entry-level HR professionals won’t notice the difference.
“I’m thinking of up-and-coming new HR professionals, [if] their first encounter is SHRM, they’re going to think that the world is a very different place than it actually is,” she said. “We’re not perfect, and we don’t have endless, boundless resources. And it almost is setting you up for failure.”
This is one of the stories of our Quarter Century Project, which highlights the various ways industry has changed over the last 25 years. Check back each month for new pieces in this series and explore our timeline featuring the ongoing series.
