Is a phr certification worth the investment?

Answer 1

PHR certification is going to set you apart in an interview by indicating that you are proficient in the HR core body of knowledge... I highly recommend it. Now, that being said, it DOES NOT have to be a huge investment of cash, time yes, cash no. SHRM and HRCI will of course tell you the best way to learn is to buy THEIR BOOKS, from a thirty dollar intro book from HRCI to hundreds of dollars on the SHRM Learning System... here's the deal.... if you can discipline yourself to study ONE BOOK and use an interactive CD, you can pass your certification test for about $350. This is what I did.... I bought a PHR/SPHR study book by Anne Bogardus, the 2009 version.... it comes with interactive CD - has pretest, prep tests and flashcards.... this was around $50.00 on half.com. $300 is your testing fee. That's it. I studied the ONE BOOK and use the CD that came with, putting in about 40-50 hours of study (the amount of hours increase or decrease with your area of expertise, general HR exposure and test taking ability)... I passed my first try. I am not saying this is easy breezy, it shouldn't be, but I put the work in, with little cost, and passed. Don't be fooled into spending big bucks, Best of Luck!