The Significance Of An HR Certification And How It Will Impact Your Career Graph

For anyone interested in pursuing a career in the ever-evolving field of human resources (HR), earning an HR certification is a great idea as it increases your area of specialization and makes you look more attractive to employers.

Besides, in today’s rapidly evolving and extremely competitive business environment, there are numerous ways that a professional HR certification can help further your career in the right direction.

Why Get HR Certified?

As you advance in your career, you will face tough competition in the job market with people having similar certifications in the field of HR.

Most of the organizations looking for more strategic and organization development skills in their HR personnel don’t advertise such credentials as mandatory requirements for applicants. Even though many enterprises post these HR certifications as optional, they can give a substantial boost to career success.

Becoming certified doesn’t guarantee to make you a better HR professional, but it does offer you multiple additional skills, knowledge, and resources relevant to your specific role. 

Further, it also highlights your eagerness to learn and take initiatives to enhance your own skillsets. This is one of the reasons why HR professionals with valid certifications are more eligible for faster promotions and achieve career success more quickly and easily as compared to their non-certified peers.

Advantages of HR Certification

There are multiple reasons why an HR certification can be a game-changer for your career, both personally and professionally.  It is a career-long commitment that demonstrates your ability and dedication to be a successful human resources manager.

HR Certificate Institute (HRCI) also suggests that being certified in different areas of the human resources can offer a host of benefits to professionals. Apart from giving a boost to your resume, it reflects that you’re independently motivated.

Among the other top benefits that an HR certification from a reputed university can offer you include-

• Differentiates you from non-certified HR professionals and strengthens your resume

One of the key reasons why professionals earn their HR certification is to set themselves apart from the crowd. Certified HR professionals across the industry are highly valued by leaders and viewed as being more self-motivated. In addition to a higher pay packet, having the additional credentials allows you to move up the ranks among potential candidates to be considered for a new role or a promotion.

• Enhance your chances of getting a better job outside your organization

HR certifications focused on varied topics such as risk management, business management, and strategy, compensation and benefits, workforce planning and development, etc. demonstrates your level of proficiency in the field and improves your chances of getting better job opportunities both in and outside of your own organization.

• Increases your earning potential

HR professionals in senior roles typically earn much more as compared to non-certified professionals. And this salary gap keeps on growing as you move up in the career ladder and the more certifications you earn.

• Allows you to have a far greater impact on the business success of your organization

HR certified professionals are more likely than to exhibit better job performance and greater impact on their organization with defined HR skills.

Specific Career Advantages in Earning your HR Certification

HR certification or any other renowned human resource management certificate program helps you prepare for different aspects of human resources, including the finer points of recruiting, interviewing, selection, and retention that are necessary for any HR position.

Most of the HR certification programs offer courses such as payroll, hiring, personnel management, benefits management, and conflict resolution, which are central to achieve success in any HR role.

Further, many of these certification programs are run and delivered by experienced and successful hiring managers and human resource generalists, to give you a distinct advantage of being trained by candidates with more experience and expertise in the field.

Completing your HR certification also offers you the benefit of moving further in your career and advancing to the highest levels of ranking in the human resources field.

How to Get certified in HR?

There are multiple types of certifications in the field of HR that you can pursue. The HR Certification Institute (HRCI) offers certifications based on experience, starting with those designed for recent college graduates.

Working professionals usually seek either of the below two certifications-

• Professional in Human Resources (PHR)
• Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)

Other than HRCI, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is another renowned name that offers HR certifications based on competence and experience. These are-

• SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) for professionals in their early- and mid-career
• SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) for senior-level practitioners

There are several other professional associations that offer certifications in areas such as talent development, compensation and benefits management, and learning and performance. 

Among some of these institutions providing top HR certifications are-

• International Association for Human Resource Information Management

The International Association for Human Resource Information Management facilitates education through multiple means. They offer the Human Resource Information Professional (HRIP) course, which is primarily meant for practicing HR people who deal with information systems.

• Talent Management Institute (TMI)

The institute offers two courses for mid-level and senior HR leaders, whereas its associate fellow program is for mid-level HR professionals looking for larger, more impactful roles.

• HR Certification Institute®(HRCI®)

HRCI is an independent nonprofit organization and offers four different levels of certifications to HR practitioners, including-

• Associate professional in human resources
• Professional in human resources
• Senior professional in human resources
• Global professional in human resources.

To Wrap

Getting an HR certification from a good university requires you to invest both time and money, but it can give you the much-needed boost to your career and take it to the next level.

However, to get the maximum value out of it, you need to carefully consider various aspects, including your career path, and if doing an HR certification will actually benefit you. Do thorough research and make sure to select the certification that is right for you.

Once you are certified in the field of HR, there are still several ways to improve your skills and enhance your knowledge. Since most of the HR certifications are valid for a period of three years, certified professionals always enjoy the opportunity of being recertified by either taking the exam again or by their demonstrated professional development to keep themselves on the path of success.