The PHR Credential and This Course

What the PHR is

The Professional in Human Resources (PHR) is a credential from HR Certification Institute (HRCI), a United States certifying body for human resources (HR) professionals. The PHR is aimed at practitioners who carry out HR programs and policies day to day: they apply the rules, run the processes and advise managers, rather than set the strategy for the whole organization.

The PHR is built on United States employment law and practice. Many questions expect you to know federal laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). HRCI also offers an international version, the PHRi, for practitioners outside the United States. This course prepares for the PHR only.

HRCI sets the eligibility rules (a mix of education and professional-level HR experience), the exam fee and the recertification cycle. These change from time to time, so check the current requirements with HRCI and read its current candidate handbook before you book.

PHR, SPHR and the SHRM credentials

HRCI also awards the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), which is aimed at HR leaders who plan policy and strategy. The PHR asks "how do I apply this correctly?"; the SPHR asks more often "what should the organization decide?".

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) awards two different credentials, the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP. They come from a different body and are built on SHRM's own competency model, so their exams are organized differently. Neither family is a step towards the other. If you are preparing for the SHRM exams instead, the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP Exam Preparation course covers them.