Early this year, Kelly Baureko, a recruitment manager in the New York City metropolitan area, took her first SHRM certification exam. Despite spending nearly 20 years of her career in HR, Baureko had never before tried for an HR certification. But, recently beating colorectal cancer had her rethinking the opportunities she’d taken for granted, including professional development. “I came out, I finished treatment, and I just decided: It’s now or never. Let me just dive into everything that I did not initially do, or missed out on,” she told HR Brew. Baureko passed the exam, earning the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification, and is now studying for SHRM’s Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) test. She considers SHRM the “crème de la crème” of HR certifications. But something bugged her: Several exam questions featured hypothetical situations, but the expected answers didn’t reflect Baureko’s lived experience. Instead, it was as if SHRM’s scenarios were set in “the perfect world and perfect conditions,” she said, as if test-takers are expected to answer like they have “unlimited resources.” For more on the debate surrounding SHRM’s certification process and exam questions, keep reading here.—PM | 
