Category Archives: Back to School

Slacker and Fun Weekends!

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EEEK! I’m turning into one of those horrible bloggers that are too busy with their lives that they forget to document it! :) Well, how are you everyone? I’ve missed you. I really have. I’ve been super busy at work – I’m in campus recruiting so it’s gearing up to be that time of year for fall career fairs and planning travel and all of those fun things that happen when you’re in the midst of busy season at work. Think of it like Tax season for CPA’s…only it happens to me twice a year (fall and spring). But I digress.

I had a great weekend this past Saturday and Sunday! JP and I were invited to attend the civil union ceremony of two really great friends in Chicago. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I had tons of F.U.N. with their photo booth! OMG. Best thing ever!

JP and I with some good friends at the wedding this weekend.

After dancing the night away, we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to move me out of the city. Yup. You heard it right. I belong to the ‘burbs now (holds head down in shame). I have a few loose ends to tie up back at my Chicago apartment but about 95% of my belongings are outta there. JP was a MASSIVE help in getting everything all moved in and saved me loads of money instead of hiring movers. But after Sunday’s experience (Queen mattresses are the devil) we will be hiring professional movers in the future. It’s a hands-down must.

So what are you guys up to? I love comments so I actually would like to hear about it! I know kids are going back to school soon? Anyone send them off this week?

Hey Stranger!

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Did you notice I was MIA last week? I did. I was immersed in full-out panic study mode trying to prep for my upcoming PHR exam that was on Saturday. I enrolled in a HR Professional Certification class in March, all to really prep me for a major certification exam on the HR field which is granted by HRCI. The class was online and although it cost an arm and a leg, it was pretty easy to pass (hello open book). But when the class ended in May and I learned I passed, I was suddenly worried that I had almost exactly one month to REALLY prepare for my actual exam.

The PHR testing period is usually in a 2 month time frame twice a year. It costs about $300 to take this exam, and it has a 59% pass rate. Wonderful. So, let’s just say I was a bit nervous to actually absorb this material I’ve been reading over the past three months. As the date for the exam edged closer, I realized that I didn’t feel prepared. I took the pre-exams offered by SHRM’s prep website, I reviewed flash cards on quizlet.com and played the Scatter game (word match) until my eyes fell out.

I was very nervous going into the test. I just wasn’t confident in my ability to memorize everything that I needed to pass the test. As I sat in front of the computer screen, I felt my mind begin to jumble everything, my eyes begin to cross and my finger magically began to skip answers (you can skip and return to them later). After I got through the entire exam, I went back and completed the questions I skipped. After that I still had about an hour left so I went through the entire exam from the beginning to make sure my answers made sense to me. And then after all the questions were answers, my heart pounded in my chest as finally called it and submitted my exam. There was a little awkwardness from submitting the exam and anticipating the results from the facilitator. I was so excited that I forgot to completely close out of the exam…but once the paper printed, she turned around with a big smile and said, “Congratulations! You passed!” I seriously almost threw up. It was one of the most accomplished feelings I’ve ever had in my life, and I’m so grateful that I made that goal for this year and I accomplished it!

Next up is joining SHRM and getting AIRS training. Hopefully, I’ll be able to complete that before the end of the year! What neat things have you accomplished this year so far? Can you believe half of the year is already almost over!?

source: http://clonehardware.com/blog/?p=316

Memorial Day & An Accomplishment

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Happy Memorial Day to all of you veterans out there!I hope everyone has a great time enjoying the weather and a day off with friends and family. What a great way to celebrate the unofficial first weekend of summer! It also happens to be my bday! :)

source: http://images.search.yahoo.com

I also wanted to share some fun news with you. I passed my certificate program class! WOO HOO! Now, time to study for my big exam coming up in June! See ya after the hol

School’s Out for the Summer

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WHOA! Remember waaay back in March when I announced my plan to jump back into school (kinda)? I enrolled in an HR prep class to help me study for the PHR exam in June. Well, I’ve made it through the 8 week program and am still hella nervous to take this exam. The prep class was completed online, which meant that I could take my exams and readings and everything else at my leisure. I have diligently read the books and completed all assignments, but I can feel my eyes glaze over at the thought of Laws that impact employment regulations. So, yeah. I’m nervous to take this exam.

Strategically, I signed up for the exam on June 16th which gave me just under 1 full month to go balls to the walls studying for the exam on my own terms. I mean I had 8 weeks to get a general understanding on HR concepts, right? So now I can really focus on diving back into the readings and really absorbing the concepts. Right. Wish me luck!