Decide which certification exam to take based on your own experience, education, and career goals.
The certification exams are administered by the HR Certification Institute®(HRCI®), which is the credentialing organization for the human resource profession. HRCI has been certifying human resource professionals for more than 40 years. The following is a list of some of HRCI’s most popular certifications:
The aPHR™ may be right for you if you are new to HR or have worked in an HR support role.
aPHR™ qualifications:
- high school diploma or equivalent
The aPHR™ exam consists of 125 questions which must be completed in 2 hours and 15 minutes or less.
The PHR® may be right for you if you work primarily at a professional level in HR operations.
PHR® qualifications:
- master’s degree with one year or more experience,
- bachelor’s degree with two years or more experience, or
- high school diploma with four years or more experience
The PHR® exam consists of 175 questions which must be completed in 3 hours or less.
The SPHR® may be right for you if you work primarily in an HR leadership role making strategic and policy decisions.
SPHR® qualifications:
- master’s degree with four years or more experience,
- bachelor’s degree with five years or more experience, or
- high school diploma with seven years or more experience
The SPHR® exam consists of 175 questions which must be completed in 3 hours or less.
The aPHRi™ may be right for you if you live outside of the United States and are either new to HR or work in an HR support role.
aPHRi™ qualifications:
- high school diploma or equivalent
The aPHRi™ exam consists of 125 questions which must be completed in 2 hours and 15 minutes or less.
The PHRi™ may be right for you if you work outside of the United States at a professional level in HR operations.
PHRi™ qualifications:
- master’s degree (or global equivalent) with one year or more experience,
- bachelor’s degree (or global equivalent) with two years or more experience, or
- high school diploma (or global equivalent) with four years or more experience
The PHRi™ exam consists of 170 questions which must be completed in 3 hours and 15 minutes or less.
The SPHRi™ may be right for you if you work primarily in an HR leadership role outside of the United States making strategic and policy decisions.
SPHRi™ qualifications:
- master’s degree (or global equivalent) with four years or more experience
- bachelor’s degree (or global equivalent) with five years or more experience
- high school diploma (or global equivalent) with seven years or more experience
The SPHRi™ exam consists of 130 questions which must be completed in 2 hours and 30 minutes or less.
To learn more about available HR certification options, please visit the HR Certification Institute’s website: www.hrci.org.
