Chandler Whipple

Review of HRCI

I registered for an aPHR certification exam. I was...

I registered for an aPHR certification exam. I was offered a $50 practice test reduced to $45 if I bundled it with the exam registration fee and test fee ($75 and $325 respectively). I took the practice exam the next day. It only involved 50 repeatable questions. I got an 88% on the first try without any study. The practice exam was a joke. The learning interface worked great but I cannot see how 50 questions would prepare me for a 125 question test. There would need to be a bank of 300+ questions to be useful. The dashboard that displays progress and proficiencies within each category of test questions was unable to be populate data for some categories as there were not enough questions related to these categories in the 50 sample questions provided.

A discussion board accessible along with the practice test had many people who had taken the test comment that the actual test was far different and more rigorous than the practice test. This implies that the practice test is misleading in its ability to prepare test takers adequately. The makers of the actual exam cannot make a decent practice exam. That is false advertising. I contacted HRCI and they said they could not give a refund for the practice test. I filed a complaint with the BBB.

I took the exam yesterday and passed. I would not have come close to passing had I only used the practice exam by HRCI. I used HRCP materials and they worked very well. The test itself was not well written. I will only use SHRM certifications from now on.