All candidates must present proof of identity by providing an unexpired government-issued photo ID with a signature, such as a driver’s license with a photograph, a military photo ID or a passport. The name and photo on the ID must match the name used on the application and ATT letter, and the photo must validate the candidate’s identity. Credit cards with photos and Social Security cards are not acceptable forms of identification.

Candidates who cannot present an unexpired government-issued photo ID should contact the HR Certification Institute before the exam at (866) 898-4724.

Hyphenated Names

Candidates with hyphenated last names whose photo IDs show only one of the last names may be admitted if the single name matches part of the hyphenated name and the signature and photograph clearly match.

Candidates whose middle names are spelled out on their ID but are listed with an initial on the application may be admitted as long as the initial matches the first letter of the middle name and the signature and photograph match. This applies to candidates who use their middle name instead of their first name on their application but their ID displays their first, middle and last name.

Presenting Positive Proof of Identity at International Test Centers

All identification documents must be in Latin characters. Candidates testing outside of their country of citizenship must present a passport. Candidates testing within their country of citizenship must present either a passport, driver’s license, national ID or military ID. Candidates must have acceptable and unexpired photo identification to be admitted to a test center. If a candidate’s primary ID does not have a photo and signature, a secondary (backup) ID that contains either a photo or signature (whichever is missing on primary) may be presented. The name on the backup ID must exactly match the primary ID and the name in the scheduling system. Candidates who arrive at the test center without the required identification will not be permitted to test and will forfeit all fees.

Please refer to the chart on the following page for acceptable ID matches.

The following rules are enforced at all test centers to ensure a fair and consistent test experience for all test takers.

• Arrive at the test center at least 30 minutes before scheduled reporting time.
• All candidates must present an unexpired government-issued ID bearing their photo and signature to be admitted to the test center (see “Presenting Positive Proof of Identity”).
• Admittance to the test center is by appointment only. Candidates must be present at the time and location of their appointment to be admitted.
• No test materials, documents or memoranda of any sort may be taken into or from the test room.
• Candidates may submit comments about specific exam items during the exam by following the applicable onscreen instructions. The HR Certification Institute will review all comments but will not provide written responses to comments. To learn more about how items and exam forms are developed, please refer to “How Exams Are Developed” in the “Certification” section of our web site (www.hrci.org).
• Smoking is prohibited.
• Candidates may not ask questions about exam content.
• All exams are monitored and may be recorded in both audio and video format.
• No breaks are scheduled during the exam. Candidates who have to leave the testing room to take a break will not be given extra time on the exam and must present ID as they sign out and back into the testing room.
• Candidates may not leave the test site facility while the exam is in progress.
• The HR Certification Institute reserves the right to cancel any test score believed to be obtained in a questionable manner.
• Food, drinks, purses, briefcases, notebooks, calculators, pagers, cellular telephones, recording devices and photography equipment are not allowed into the testing room.
• It is expressly prohibited to disclose, publish, reproduce or transmit any part of the exam, in any form, by any means, verbal or written, for any purpose, without the expressed written permission of the certifying organization. Violation may result in civil or criminal prosecution.
• Religious headwear may be worn into the testing room; however, it may be subject to inspection by a test center administrator before entry into the testing room is permitted.
• Candidates are expected to behave in a civil manner when on the premises of the test center. Exhibiting abusive behavior toward the test center staff or other testing candidates may result in forfeiture of your exam and/or criminal prosecution.

Please remember that other exams are being administered at the same time that you are taking an HR Certification Institute exam, so you may hear typing on keyboards for an essay exam, coughing and people entering and exiting the testing room. Prometric is unable to provide a completely noise-free environment; however, the test center provides “white noise” background sound, and you may request earplugs or noise-reducing headsets to reduce the distractions. In addition, you may bring a set of sealed, disposable ear plugs that will be inspected by the test site administrator prior to the exam.

Inclement Weather and Local or National Emergencies

In the event of inclement weather or a national or local emergency, please contact Prometric at the national contact center (number provided in your ATT letter) to determine the appointment status or go to www.prometric.com/sitestatus. International candidates should contact their Regional Contact Center (see Appendix E). If the center is closed and appointments are canceled, candidates should wait two business days before calling to reschedule their appointments to allow for eligibility resetting.

Following are some test-taking tips, which have been adapted from the HR Certification Institute’s PHR and SPHR Certification Guide:

• Use the provided computer-based calculator as needed.
• Trust your first impression. There is a correct answer to each question. It is widely believed that your first impression of the correct answer will be a better choice.
• Avoid over-analyzing. Be careful not to read too much into an answer.
• Don’t base your answer on your own organization’s policies or an individual experience you may have had; instead, focus on generally accepted HR practices.
• Choose the best answer to the question. Some questions may appear to have more than one answer that is technically correct. These questions are specifically designed that way to assess your knowledge of HR by requiring you to choose the best answer.
• If uncertain, use the “mark question for review” feature and return to it later.
• Use the “strike through” feature. This feature allows you to strike through the answers that you believe to be incorrect as a means of narrowing down your options. This is a particularly helpful feature if you’ve narrowed down your answers to two and want to come back to the question later.
• Don’t stop. If you are stumped by a question, continue to the next one. Otherwise, you may lose valuable time. Mark the question and return to it later.
• Don’t look for answer patterns. The psychometric testing process used by the HR Certification Institute ensures that questions do not fall into patterns. Contrary to some myths, “C” is not necessarily the most frequent answer.
• Try to identify the answer before reading the choices. By doing this, you will more likely have one answer stand out as being correct.
• Use “educated guesses.” If you still cannot decide on a correct answer after eliminating one or two choices, choose one anyway. There is no penalty for guessing on the exam.
• Review your answers. After going through all the questions on the exam, go back and answer the questions left unanswered the first time. Also, be sure that you answered all questions.
• Don’t rush. There are no points for finishing early. Use the time allotted to review and check your answers.

• Beginning immediately, Test Center Administrators (TCA) are required to wipe down the mouse and keyboard for each workstation once per day in an effort to keep the spread of germs at a minimum. This daily requirement is in addition to the normal workstation refreshing that is done after each candidate tests.
  
  
• If a TCA suspects a candidate is sick, they must allow the candidate to test anyway. TCAs are NOT permitted to send candidates home for looking or acting sick. However, if a candidate chooses to test in this condition, there will be no compensation if the candidate does not finish the test or pass the test.
  
  
• Candidates who show up to test wearing surgical masks and/or gloves are permitted to wear them into the testing room. They must, however, remove both masks and gloves for inspection and for image capture. TCAs are not permitted to allow a candidate wearing a mask and/or gloves into the testing room if that candidate has refused to remove the mask or gloves for inspection and image capture.