SHRM Practice Test
This is a free 15-question sampler for the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP exams, written by the StudyPDF team from the public SHRM BASK outline. It mixes the two halves of the real exam: knowledge items on talent acquisition, total rewards, learning and development, engagement, employee relations, global work, risk and HR technology, and situational judgment items that hand you a short workplace scenario and ask what you should do first. Answer all 15, then check your score and read the explanation for every question.
A vice president asks you to change the date on a performance improvement plan so it looks like it was issued before the employee raised a pay complaint. The performance concerns themselves are genuine. What should the HR professional do first?
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All 15 questions at a glance
Prefer to read before you play? Every question in the sampler is listed below. Answers and explanations stay collapsed until you open them.
1. A vice president asks you to change the date on a performance improvement plan so it looks like it was issued before the employee raised a pay complaint. The performance concerns themselves are genuine. What should the HR professional do first?
- A. Make the change, since the VP owns the document and the concerns are real
- B. Ask the employee whether they would agree to the earlier date
- C. Decline to change the date, explain plainly why altering a record creates far more risk than it removes, and offer to document the performance concerns accurately from today
- D. Say nothing to the VP and report the request straight to the board
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Decline to change the date, explain plainly why altering a record creates far more risk than it removes, and offer to document the performance concerns accurately from today
Ethical Practice expects HR to be the person who will not falsify a record, and this is one of the clearer lines in the whole BASK. Backdating turns a defensible performance case into evidence that the employer retaliated, which is the opposite of what the VP wants. Going silently over the VP's head on a first request skips the step that usually solves the problem, which is telling them what is wrong and giving them a legitimate route. Escalate if the request is repeated or if the record has already been altered.
2. In a total rewards framework, health insurance, retirement contributions and paid leave are examples of:
- A. Direct compensation
- B. Variable pay
- C. Indirect compensation
- D. Differential pay
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Indirect compensation
Direct compensation is money paid to the employee for the work itself: base pay, overtime, commissions and bonuses. Indirect compensation is everything else of value the employer provides, which is mostly benefits. Total rewards then adds the non-monetary side as well, such as development, recognition and flexibility. That is why a raise is not the only lever available when a good employee starts looking around.
3. A hiring manager tells you she wants to skip the interview guide for the final round and go on instinct, because she has hired well for years. What is the best first response?
- A. Agree, because the hiring decision belongs to the manager
- B. Explain that a structured interview predicts performance better and is far easier to defend later, and hand her a short guide built around the job's actual requirements
- C. Tell her that unstructured interviews are illegal
- D. Report the conversation to her director
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Explain that a structured interview predicts performance better and is far easier to defend later, and hand her a short guide built around the job's actual requirements
Structured interviews, where every candidate gets the same job-related questions and answers are rated against agreed criteria, predict job performance better than free-form conversation and leave a record you can explain months later. Instinct is exactly where similarity bias does its damage. Notice that the option overstating the law is wrong: an unstructured interview is not illegal by itself, it just makes a discrimination claim much harder to defend. Consultation is about influencing with evidence and making the better path the easy one to take.
4. A company checks whether managers are actually using the coaching skills from a training program once they are back at work. In the Kirkpatrick model, that is which level of evaluation?
- A. Level 1, reaction
- B. Level 2, learning
- C. Level 3, behavior
- D. Level 4, results
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Level 3, behavior
Level 1 asks whether people liked the program, level 2 whether they learned it, level 3 whether they do it on the job, and level 4 whether a business outcome moved. Most organizations stop at levels 1 and 2 because those data are easy to collect in the room. Level 3 is where transfer of training either happens or quietly fails, and it usually depends on whether the participant's own manager reinforces the new behavior afterward.
5. At a private sector employer in the United States with no union, two employees compare their pay in a group chat and agree to ask for raises together. Their manager wants to discipline them for discussing salary. As a general matter under the National Labor Relations Act:
- A. This is usually protected concerted activity, and disciplining them for it is risky whether or not a union is present
- B. It is protected only if the workplace is unionized
- C. It is not protected, because pay is confidential company information
- D. It is protected only for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. This is usually protected concerted activity, and disciplining them for it is risky whether or not a union is present
Section 7 of the NLRA protects employees who act together over pay and working conditions, and that protection reaches most private sector employees whether or not a union exists. Supervisors and some other groups fall outside it, and any real case turns on its own facts. Treat this as the widely accepted federal principle the exam tests, not as a ruling on your workplace. Nothing here is legal advice, and a live dispute belongs with counsel.
6. What is a job analysis mainly for?
- A. Judging whether an individual employee met their goals this year
- B. Ranking employees against each other to split a merit budget
- C. Setting the market pay rate for a role in a specific city
- D. Establishing what the work actually requires, so the job description, the selection criteria and the pay grade all rest on the same evidence
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Establishing what the work actually requires, so the job description, the selection criteria and the pay grade all rest on the same evidence
Job analysis studies the work itself: the tasks, the responsibilities and the knowledge and skills needed to perform them. Its output feeds the job description, the interview questions, the performance standard and the job evaluation, which is why a sloppy job analysis quietly damages everything downstream. Market pricing comes later, once you know what the job is. Performance appraisal is about the person, not about the job.
7. Quarterly numbers show voluntary turnover has gone from 9 percent to 15 percent. The COO wants a company-wide retention bonus announced next week. What should the HR professional do first?
- A. Build the bonus, because the COO has decided and speed matters
- B. Break the number down by function, tenure, manager and location, pull the themes out of exit and stay interviews, and then recommend a response
- C. Benchmark competitor pay and propose an across-the-board increase
- D. Wait for next quarter's data to see whether the trend holds
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Break the number down by function, tenure, manager and location, pull the themes out of exit and stay interviews, and then recommend a response
One company-wide number hides where the loss actually is. Turnover concentrated in a single team under a single manager, or in the first 90 days, needs a completely different fix from turnover spread evenly across a job family the market is repricing. Analytical Aptitude on this exam is mostly this discipline: segment the data and find the driver before anyone spends money. Waiting is also wrong, because the ask already has a cost attached to it.
8. Under the balance sheet approach to expatriate compensation, the aim is to:
- A. Keep the assignee's purchasing power roughly equal to what it was at home, with allowances covering the cost differences of the host location
- B. Pay the assignee the going local rate in the host country, the same as a local hire
- C. Pay every assignee on one global scale regardless of home or host country
- D. Convert the assignee to a contractor for the length of the assignment
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Keep the assignee's purchasing power roughly equal to what it was at home, with allowances covering the cost differences of the host location
The balance sheet approach starts from the home country base, then adds or offsets housing, goods and services, and tax differences so the move neither punishes nor enriches the person. The main alternative is host based pay, which localizes the assignee and is usually cheaper for moves into lower cost countries. Which one fits depends on the direction of the move and how long the assignment runs. Tax, social security and immigration rules differ by country, so a real assignment needs local advice.
9. A vendor offers an AI tool that reads resumes and ranks applicants. Before HR rolls it out, the most important thing to establish is:
- A. Whether it integrates with the current applicant tracking system
- B. How much recruiter time it saves per requisition
- C. Whether candidates will be told that a machine is involved
- D. Whether its output is job related and free of adverse impact against protected groups, and whether the vendor can show you the evidence
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Whether its output is job related and free of adverse impact against protected groups, and whether the vendor can show you the evidence
A selection tool is a selection tool, whether a person or a model does the ranking, and the employer generally carries responsibility for what it does. Ask for validation evidence, an adverse impact analysis and a clear answer about what data trained the model, then monitor your own outcomes after go-live rather than trusting the vendor's deck. Integration and time saved are real considerations, and disclosure is now required in a growing number of jurisdictions, but both come after you know the tool is selecting on the job and not on a proxy for something else.
10. The SHRM BASK sorts HR knowledge into three domains. Which of these functional areas sit in the People knowledge domain?
Select all that apply.
- A. Talent Acquisition
- B. Total Rewards
- C. Risk Management
- D. Learning & Development
- E. Technology Management
- F. Corporate Social Responsibility
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Talent Acquisition, B. Total Rewards, D. Learning & Development
The People domain holds HR Strategy, Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement & Retention, Learning & Development and Total Rewards. Technology Management belongs to the Organization domain, alongside Structure of the HR Function, Organizational Effectiveness & Development, Workforce Management and Employee & Labor Relations. Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility belong to the Workplace domain. Knowing the map is worth real points, because your score report gives feedback by cluster and by domain, and you can only act on it if you know what lives where.
11. You are running an internal investigation into a harassment complaint. Which of the following are sound practice?
Select all that apply.
- A. Interview the complainant, the respondent and any witnesses separately
- B. Promise the complainant that nothing they say will be shared with anyone, ever
- C. Write down what was found and the reasoning behind the conclusion
- D. Ask the respondent's teammates to vote on whether the complaint seems fair
- E. Consider interim measures, such as separating the two reporting lines, while the investigation runs
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Interview the complainant, the respondent and any witnesses separately, C. Write down what was found and the reasoning behind the conclusion, E. Consider interim measures, such as separating the two reporting lines, while the investigation runs
You can promise discretion, but you cannot promise absolute confidentiality, because acting on a credible complaint almost always means telling someone. Separate interviews keep accounts from contaminating each other, contemporaneous documentation is what makes the outcome defensible a year later, and interim measures protect the complainant without prejudging the finding. A popularity vote is not evidence and it exposes the complainant. Procedure varies by employer and by jurisdiction, so follow your own policy and involve counsel early on serious matters.
12. New hires are leaving inside their first 90 days. Which of these are most likely to help?
Select all that apply.
- A. A structured onboarding plan with clear goals for the first 30, 60 and 90 days
- B. Realistic job previews during hiring, including the parts of the job people dislike
- C. Raising the bonus target for employees with more than five years of service
- D. Scheduled check-ins between the new hire and their manager during the first weeks
- E. Extending the probationary period from three months to six
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. A structured onboarding plan with clear goals for the first 30, 60 and 90 days, B. Realistic job previews during hiring, including the parts of the job people dislike, D. Scheduled check-ins between the new hire and their manager during the first weeks
Early turnover is usually an expectations problem or a manager problem rather than a pay problem. Realistic job previews cost almost nothing and screen out mismatches before they become a bad hire, while structured onboarding and early manager contact address the two things new leavers report most: not knowing what good looks like, and not feeling connected to anyone. Rewarding long tenure does nothing for someone quitting in week six, and a longer probation changes the paperwork, not the experience.
13. Complete the sentence.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, an employee classified as _____ must be paid overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State law can be stricter, so check the rule where the employee actually works.
Options for blank 1: exempt, nonexempt, at-will, salaried
Show answer and explanation
Answer: nonexempt
Exempt and nonexempt describe overtime eligibility, not whether someone is paid a salary. An employee can be salaried and still be nonexempt, because the exemption tests look at the duties actually performed as well as at how the person is paid. Several states add daily overtime and their own duties tests, so a federal analysis on its own is not enough. This describes the general federal principle and is not legal advice.
14. Complete the sentence.
Job _____ establishes the relative internal worth of jobs within one organization, while a salary _____ shows what other employers pay for comparable work in the external market.
Options for blank 1: analysis, evaluation, enlargement, rotation
Options for blank 2: band, survey, structure
Show answer and explanation
Answer: evaluation, survey
Job evaluation answers the internal equity question: how do these jobs rank against each other here. Salary surveys answer the external competitiveness question: what does the market pay for this work. A pay structure is built from both, which is why an employer can be internally fair and still lose people to the market, or pay above market and still have an internal equity fight on its hands.
15. Complete the sentence.
In workforce planning, a _____ analysis compares the workforce an organization has today with the workforce the strategy will need, and the difference is what the plan has to close.
Options for blank 1: gap, job, cost-benefit, regression
Show answer and explanation
Answer: gap
Workforce planning runs supply against demand: current headcount, skills and expected attrition on one side, what the business plan asks for on the other. The gap is then closed by developing people, hiring, contracting the work out or redesigning it, and usually by some combination of all four. It is one of the clearest places where business acumen shows, because the right answer follows the business plan rather than the HR budget.
What the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP actually ask
Both SHRM exams have the same shape. Each one is 134 multiple-choice questions: 80 stand-alone knowledge items and 54 situational judgment items, with 24 unscored field-test items mixed in that you cannot pick out. The exam runs in two independently timed sections of up to 1 hour and 50 minutes each, and once you leave a section you cannot go back to it. Roughly half the items sit across the three behavioral competency clusters, Leadership, Interpersonal and Business, and the other half across the three HR knowledge domains, People, Organization and Workplace, with Workplace the smallest at about 14 percent.
Scoring surprises people. Results are reported as scaled scores from 120 to 200, and everyone who passes receives the maximum of 200, so there is no ranking against other candidates and no way to pass by a nicer margin than someone else. You get a preliminary pass or did not pass at the test center, and the official report follows a few weeks later with a diagnostic graph showing how you did on each cluster and each domain. That graph is the useful part if you have to sit again.
Which exam you take depends on the work you do, not on a degree. The SHRM-CP is for operational HR work, and neither a degree nor prior HR experience is required to apply. The SHRM-SCP is for strategic-level work and asks for at least three years of it, counted as at least 1,000 hours per calendar year. One more thing to check before you buy a prep course: the 2026 BASK merged Inclusion and Diversity with Global Mindset into a single competency called Inclusive Mindset, so older materials will show nine behavioral competencies where the current BASK shows eight. Fees, testing windows and eligibility detail change, so confirm them in the current certification handbook at shrm.org rather than on any prep site.
How to use this sampler and how to study for the exam
These 15 questions follow the same split as the real thing. Some are straight knowledge, the kind of item where you either know what a job evaluation does or you do not. Others are situational judgment: a short scenario, four plausible actions, and only one of them is the best first move. Take it in one sitting without notes, then read the explanation for every question, including the ones you got right, because on situational judgment items the reason an answer wins matters more than the answer itself.
Situational judgment is where experienced HR people lose points, and the pattern is consistent. The exam almost never rewards the most dramatic option. Firing someone, going over a manager's head on the first pass, or promising something you cannot deliver will look decisive and score badly. It also does not reward doing nothing. The winning answer usually gathers the facts, goes to the person closest to the problem, and gives them a legitimate path forward. Read every option before you choose, because two of them are often both defensible and only one is the best first step.
For the knowledge half, work from the BASK itself. Download the current edition, read the definitions and key concepts for all 14 functional areas, and mark the ones your own job never touches, because those are where your gaps are. An HR generalist who has never run a global assignment or a labor negotiation is going to feel that on exam day. Where a question touches law, note that this sampler stays at the level of widely known United States federal principles. State and local rules differ, employment law outside the US is a different body of law entirely, and nothing here is legal advice.
How StudyPDF turns your prep materials into full practice tests
Fifteen questions can show you which domains are shaky. They cannot get you ready, and if you are studying around a full-time job, evenings and weekends are the whole budget. That is the real constraint for most SHRM candidates. You paid for a prep book or a course out of your own pocket, you have a testing window booked, and a generic question bank that drifts away from the material you bought is worse than none at all, because it costs you the one thing you cannot buy more of.
StudyPDF works from your own material instead. Upload the prep book you bought, the workbook from your chapter's study group, the BASK PDF, your own policy handbook or the slides from an employer-sponsored course, and Bo, the study agent, builds full-length practice tests from those exact pages. Every question is grounded in your material, and every explanation cites where the answer came from, so when something looks wrong you can go straight to the page and settle it. You can regenerate fresh tests as often as you like, narrow them to one functional area such as total rewards or employee and labor relations, and track which concepts you keep missing across sessions.
You do not need a file to start. If your prep is a chapter study group or an instructor-led course rather than a book you own, name a topic instead, for example situational judgment scenarios on ethical practice, or workforce planning, and Bo writes a practice test from that. Either way it fits into the gaps: a short set of questions on the commute, a full-length test on a Sunday morning, a quick drill on whichever functional area your last score report flagged. Starting is free, and nothing this page or Bo produces is legal advice.
Written by the StudyPDF team. Last updated 2026-08-19.