HR Games and the PHR Exam

(Top: Caroline Sigley, Amanda Cohen, Amy Kohler. Bottom: C.J. Gordon, Allison Kossler, Katlyn Howe, Sarah Fajardo, Matt Chlebowski)

Congratulations to the two teams of HR students who participated in the Ohio HR Games this weekend and came in 5th and 6th, overall.  They only had a few days to prepare, and competed against 10 other teams.

The folks are awesome!  Just wait until April 23rd when they compete in the North Central Region's HR Games at Purdue University!

The purpose of the HR Games is to prepare students to sit for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) professional certification exam.  Unfortunately, in December 2011, this opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and to give students a competitive advantage in their job search will end.  Apparently, the certification institute that gives the exam, the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI), has decided in in its infinite wisdom that students don't need to have this advantage in the marketplace.

I disagree wholeheartedly.  In fact, I  and other professors around the country have argued until we're blue in the face that students should be able to sit for the exam.  Unfortunately, those arguments have not prevailed.  I truly believe that the underlying reason why HRCI is stopping them from taking it is that the students who do take the exam pass it in proportionately greater numbers than practicing professionals!

The reality is that the PHR is based on introductory HR....that's right, the basic information from HURM 3220.  It's a multiple choice test, which most students can take with no problem, but with which people who have been out of school for a while have difficulty.  My theory is that the EXAM is the problem, not the students.  HRCI, listen up:  if you don't think students with no practical experience should be able to pass it, then make the exam harder to pass for people without experience.  DUH!

There is a "student version" of a certification exam being developed; however, I put UT's HR students up against any practicing professional with the current PHR exam.  The bottom line is that anyone who possesses the knowledge to pass the exam should be allowed to take it.