Four Simple Steps to Recertification Success

Congratulations on achieving the huge professional accomplishment of earning your SHRM certification! The next phase of your SHRM certification journey is all about recertification. As a SHRM-certified professional, you must maintain your certification by obtaining 60 professional development credits (PDCs) within a three-year recertification cycle. You can begin obtaining PDCs as early as your official start date - the day you passed the exam - and the certification cycle end date is the last day of your birth month, three years after you pass the exam. This makes it easy to remember when your credits are due!

You can earn PDCs through qualifying activities that fall under three categories, Advance Your Education, Advance Your Profession, and Advance Your Organization. Examples of qualifying activities include attending HR-related conferences or events - including all the events and programs offered by SHRM - participating in eLearning courses, completing HR-related work projects, and volunteering with local SHRM chapters, and attending their events. A detailed listing of additional qualifying activities can be found on the SHRM Recertification website or in the Recertification Handbook.

To start a successful recertification journey, we recommend you take the following steps.

Identify Your Skills Gaps. Take a deep dive into your exam score report for insight into which topic areas you should focus on based on your exam results. Review the items identified as "Areas to Improve" and refer to the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge (SHRM BASK) to pinpoint the competencies that require additional education. Once you have narrowed down your areas of focus, sit down with your supervisor to ensure these areas align with your current role and the organization's needs or expectations. Your score report can be found in your SHRM Certification Portal account under the "My Resources" tab.

Create Your Professional Development (PD) Plan. As you build out a PD plan, make your goals realistic and obtainable by completing small steps. Strategize ways to achieve the goals you set, and reach out to your professional network as a resource. Next, create a realistic timeline that works for you both personally and professionally. Finally, remember your PD plan should build upon your passion along with fulfilling the needs of your organization, so it's a win-win situation!

Track Your Progress. Life is ever-evolving and often causes our priorities to shift. To avoid missing out on any progress you have made in your recertification journey, download the SHRM Certification mobile app to track your recertification activities on the go! The mobile app is a quick and easy way for you to add your Advance Your Education activities to your SHRM Certification Portal account. You'll find that many SHRM-approved programs have activity IDs, and you'll need to simply plug that information into the app to claim the appropriate PDC allotment. The mobile app is also a great tool to find qualifying activities on the go. To download the mobile app, search for "SHRM Certification" in Android and Apple app stores.

Recertify Your SHRM-SCP/SHRM-CP. Now that you have reached the required 60 PDCs, it's time to recertify. Your SHRM Certification Portal account will display a notification when you are eligible to apply for recertification. To complete your recertification application, you must review all submitted activities and pay the recertification application fee. The cost will vary depending on your SHRM membership status. And note that we will carry forward up to 20 PDCs to your next cycle if you submit more than 60 PDCs in a recertification cycle.

Bookmark or print this article to serve as a guide to completing your recertification journey! Life can become busy without us even noticing, so we hope that this checklist will help you stay on top of your recertification. Let this be one less thing you need to remember to check off your to-do list.

We are invested in your success and are here to help! Should you have any questions about recertification, please contact the SHRM Recertification team via email at Recertification@shrm.org.

Nicole Hall is the recertification specialist, SHRM Certification, and Tiffany A. Brown, SHRM-CP, is the certification specialist, affiliate operations, SHRM Certification.