SHRM-CP Study Plan

This plan runs 12 weeks at 10 to 15 hours a week, or about 120 to 180 hours in total. Across those weeks it schedules 72 tasks, 25 of them marked priority, and every week has its own focus and a milestone to hit before you move on.

It moves through 4 phases: Foundation (weeks 1 to 3), Domain Mastery (weeks 4 to 6), Integration (weeks 7 to 10) and Exam Readiness (weeks 11 to 12). Each week lists its hours, its focus and a short task list with the priority tasks marked, then ends on a milestone to check yourself against before moving on.

The plan is built around these SHRM-CP areas and their weights: Behavioral Competencies (50%), People (19%), Organization (18%) and Workplace (13%). Behavioral Competencies is the largest, at 50%. The same weights are listed on this page under the plan, so you can match each week’s focus to its share of the SHRM-CP.

Yes. Weeks 1 and 2 are open to everyone. Enter your name and email once to unlock weeks 3 to 12, along with the other free SHRM-CP resources, with nothing to buy. You can tick off tasks as you go: progress is saved on this device and browser only, it does not sync across devices, and nobody else can see it.

The plan schedules 3 full-length mock exams across its 12 weeks. The final week, week 12, is “Final Week, Confidence + Rest”, planned at 6 to 8 hours, and it ends with this milestone: Walk into the exam confident and well-rested.