📑 PHR / SPHR Exam Prep (HRCI)

An independent, free exam-preparation course that walks through the publicly published HRCI Exam Content Outlines for the PHR (Professional in Human Resources) and SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) credentials. It is organised around the HRCI functional areas — Business Management, Talent Planning & Acquisition, Learning & Development, Total Rewards, and Employee & Labor Relations — and builds exam-ready understanding of HR strategy, workforce planning, recruitment and selection, onboarding, training, performance management, compensation and benefits, employee engagement, labor relations, US employment law (Title VII, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, ADEA, OSHA), risk management and workplace safety, ethics, HR metrics and exam strategy. Throughout, it flags where the PHR leans operational and tactical while the SPHR leans strategic and policy-level, so the same topic is studied at both depths. It uses visual lessons, worked examples, original self-check questions and a 45-question final exam. It is awareness/prep only — not an official HRCI course or the certification exam — and claims no HRCI affiliation or endorsement. The course is organized into 22 modules, ending with a final exam (pass mark 80%). It is independent, free exam-preparation training — not an official or accredited review course.

What you'll learn

• The HRCI exams: PHR vs SPHR & the functional areas
• Business management & HR's strategic role
• HR metrics, analytics & the value of HR
• Workforce planning & job analysis
• Recruitment & sourcing
• Selection, interviewing & assessment validity
• Onboarding, retention & the employee lifecycle
• Learning & development: needs analysis to ADDIE
• Evaluating training & talent development
• Performance management & appraisal
• Total rewards & compensation strategy
• Benefits, FLSA & wage-hour compliance
• Employee engagement & relations
• Labor relations, unions & the NLRA
• Equal employment opportunity: Title VII, ADA, ADEA
• Leave & the FMLA
• Workplace safety, OSHA & health
• HR risk management & security
• Employment law: hiring to termination
• Ethics, diversity, equity & inclusion
• HR technology, HRIS & change management
• Exam strategy: PHR (operational) vs SPHR (strategic)

Learning objectives

• Map the HRCI PHR & SPHR Exam Content Outlines and the five functional areas with their relative weights.
• Distinguish the PHR's operational/tactical emphasis from the SPHR's strategic/policy emphasis on the same topics.
• Align HR strategy and HR metrics with business goals (Business Management functional area).
• Plan a workforce and run a compliant recruitment, selection and onboarding process (Talent Planning & Acquisition).
• Design learning, development and performance-management programs (Learning & Development).
• Build total-rewards programs — base pay, incentives, benefits — that are fair and legally compliant (Total Rewards).
• Manage employee engagement, employee relations, labor relations and unions (Employee & Labor Relations).
• Apply core US employment law: Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, OSHA and related statutes.
• Manage HR risk, workplace safety, security and ethics, and avoid common compliance pitfalls.
• Pass a 45-question exam (80% to earn your certificate).