A few months back I published a short guide for those looking to get HR recertification credits with their PHR/SPHR through HRCI (info here). To be honest, I was a little selfish. I knew that I was about to start a fresh cycle and wanted to start gathering information on free/cheap/easy sources of HR recertification credits.

More importantly, I was looking for ways to make sure that the credits I pursued enhanced my career prospects and professional development beyond merely checking the block on some mandatory training. If you’re going to have to get credits, you might as well make sure that they are contributing to your overall success for the long haul, right?

So now I’m just a few short months into this certification cycle, and I’m going to publicly share my recertification credits and how I’m getting them during this cycle. I hope to post a monthly (or quarterly)  update on any credits earned and how I gathered them. It’s going to be an accountability tool for me, and I hope it also pushes you to pay close attention to your own recertification credits as well. No more waiting until two weeks before your due date to start cramming!

So let’s get started with a few easy ones, shall we?

HR Recertification Credits Summary

• SHRM membership-“You earn recertification credit if you are a member of a national or international HR-related professional association or society. You do not earn credit for membership in a local chapter or association.” 3 credit hours per year, limit 10 per cycle
• Write an HR blog-“Writing and publishing a fact-based blog post covering subjects related to the HR field.” .5 credits per post, a limit of six credit hours per cycle

I figured I would get the easy ones out of the way. I’m currently a member of SHRM and don’t plan to change that any time soon. I use their website for research, and I also get discounts with my local chapter for being a member of the national organization. I don’t use a lot of other services with them, but the membership counts either way.

In addition, I write three blog posts a week, so I’m very confident that I’ll be able to max out the 12 posts per cycle under the blogging section.

HR Recertification Credits Running Total

At this time I am confident that I will be able to get 9 hours from professional memberships and 6 hours from blogging for a total of 15 hours for this three year cycle. Look for more updates in the coming months as I delve into professional development, work projects, and more to gather my 60 credits!

Disclaimer: I haven’t submitted any of these credits to HRCI at this point and my information may change slightly when I do gather the info to submit. I’m just keeping this here (as I said) as an accountability tool for myself and others who need the little reminders to stay on task with their credits. 

What do you think? Are you interested in following along?