Some of the brightest minds in HR call British Columbia home.  They also recognize the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation as a key component in developing both their careers and organizations.

Nearly 1,300 aspiring HR professionals sat down on October 1, 2011 to write the National Knowledge Exam (NKE), the first of two exams required to obtain the CHRP designation.  Helen Johnston, HR advisor, District of West Vancouver, topped the tables with the highest NKE score in the country.

Johnston moved to Canada in 2008 with a MSc, Applied Psyschology, a post graduate diploma in Industrial and Organizational Psyschology and a strong desire to continue an HR career already established in her home country of New Zealand.  Her decision to pursue the CHRP designation was grounded largely in establishing recognizable credentials to help evolve that potential.

“Once I started working in Canada, a number of people I talked to had the CHRP designation.  Gaining Canadian qualifications has been a primary motivator,” said Johnston. “Another key motivator has been my colleagues at the District of West Vancouver most of who either hold or are going after their CHRP.  That really started the ball rolling for our team.”

As for her nation-topping score, Johnston is both humble and honest about its achievement, crediting hard work, good people and maybe a little extra help.  Five-months pregnant at the time she wrote the National Knowledge Exam (NKE), Johnston credits part of her success to the fact that there were two brains as opposed to one at work that day.

“There was no magic bullet. It was pure grunt work,” said Johnston who credits the BC HRMA prep course for providing a strong assist. “The prep course definitely put me in the right direction and those were the materials I studied the most, together with some Internet research and a couple books from the library.  That said, since the NKE is knowledge-based, the rest of my education and experience gave me a good foundation to build upon.”

To learn more about the CHRP designation, please visit www.bchrma.org/chrp.