Only five years ago, experts started predicting that people would shift completely towards online learning and the way we do things will completely change. Many people mocked them, but the pandemic of 2019 has more or less sped up the process of shifting us towards a world where everything is being done online. As soon as the pandemic struck and the world bodies announced that it would take at least two years to finalize a cure, there was a sudden shift by tech companies to automate everything.
The same thing happened with the online education and academics. Schools and universities have shifted to completely online setups. Some of the most globally renowned HR certifications bodies have also made the shift to an online system where HR professionals worldwide can now get online HR certifications. This has made the process for those HR professionals who were always busy with their professional commitments and could never find the time to attend physical classes or go for onsite testing much easier.
More recently one of the largest providers of human resources certifications worldwide, SHRM, also announced that it will be conducting tests online. They have a system where they partner with testing bodies in the world and take actual physical tests using Prometric testing centers. But given the current situation of the world and how it will pan out, chances are that once this situation is over most of the human resources professionals will still want everything to be hundred percent online. The point to consider is that continuing an education for professionals who are fully committed to their jobs is highly cumbersome and depressing. Following a schedule, making sure attendance is in order, completing assignments and these kinds of hundreds of tasks which a person needs to do when committed to formal education is something which is very tasking for people working full time jobs.
The utility of getting an online HR certification is great for people working in the human resources profession. This is evident from the fact that people who are human resource certified have eighty percent higher chances of landing a job than those without an HR certification. And because HR certification is something which is additional specialized study of the field, it is a strong indicator of the professionalism and interest an incumbent has in his or her field. Usually people who are associated with the human resources field get an MBA in Human Resources and that would spell the end of their academics. However, some people have this drive and passion to excel in their careers and to keep themselves updated and informed about the current happenings in the field of human resources. These are also the very same people who have a fast-track growth in their human resources career and end up being head of their departments by their early thirties. However due to the current shift in the online education for professionals now, the number of human resources professionals signing up for online certifications is definitely going to grow.
The impact of online HR certifications will be manifold as many organizations around the world become receptive to degrees and certifications being achieved through online learning many people will be learned HR professionals. Now one of the major responsibilities lies with the online certification awarding bodies, they have to be mighty careful about their testing methods, they have to make sure that they do not go overboard by trying to make it tough for the candidates, given that the entire reason for conducting an exam is to check the subject knowledge of a candidate, even then, bodies should take sure that they address online education as online education. In the first few months of the pandemic, it was felt that many academic organizations made it really tough for their students by bombarding them with assignments, homework’s, presentations and testing etc. However saner heads have prevailed and now there is a balance of how to conduct online testing and online exams, the same has to be done for online education for professionals. It is a known fact that human resources certifications were really tough to get because of the strenuous exams and lengthy syllabus. However, there are some really good platforms for HR certifications which allowed candidates to opt for online testing, one of best online HR certification platform for global HR certification is HRAcademia. This platform came as a boon for busy professionals and nearly 5000+ HR professionals benefited from this platform in its launching year half a decade ago.
The difference of online study and in class study is undoubtedly great, because when you are in a classroom there are a lot of heads together and a teacher who is ready to answer your questions or queries. There are multiple people in the room who may belong to the same field as yours and you might end up with a lot of professional connections and by discussion you can gather extra intellect points. However, the pros and cons at this moment of online study for professionals greatly outweigh the pros against attending a physical class. Yes, the negative points are that you end up alone and staring at a screen for many many hours, but in the end if you do get HR certified, that would be a task well done.
Just as Zoom racked in the benefits of persistence, similarly all of those strong online forums and platforms like Coursera are now reaping the benefits of this changing horizon. For the HR profession it is now a great time. HR professionals should quickly pounce on this opportunity to get themselves certified. Online HR certifications will be highly in demand as they have been since the past two decades, even more so now. Busy HR professionals can now sign up on online human resources certification platforms, download the human resources learning material or attend online pre-recorded classes, complete assignments and modules and finally attempt an online exam. Once they clear this exam from the comfort of their homes (mind you, there are certain restrictions, such as time, attempts etc.) they will be awarded an HR certification.