Robert Olinger, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, specializes in human resource management (HRM). He has more than 20 years of HRM experience in the Iowa Army National Guard, but he didn’t have the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Certified Professional (CP) credential until recently.
SHRM is the professional organization for HR and serves as the foremost expert and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolving workplaces.
“I signed up to take the SHRM-CP exam and took part in an instructor-led course, but eventually skipped the exam because I wasn’t ready,” Olinger wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “In 2022, some students at Iowa State University started a study group, so I joined them. One of the students signed up to take the test in February 2023, so I did too. We took the pre-test, several quizzes, and the practice exam before taking the real thing — and we passed!”
“Having experienced the exam, I feel more confident advising and helping them prepare for it.”
— Robert Olinger, assistant teaching professor in management
This certification is something many of the HRM students at Iowa State are working toward, Olinger explained. “Having experienced the exam, I feel more confident advising and helping them prepare for it.”
Maggie Carbaugh, the student who signed up to take the test with Olinger and an organizer of the first Iowa State study group, said it meant a lot for her to go through this experience with her professor.
“It might feel weird for some of the younger students, but for me being a non-traditional student and having been in the HR field for about 10 years already, I felt like I was taking this exam with my supervisor,” she said. “It just showed me the passion that he has for teaching. Really, getting his CP doesn’t do too much for his work. But it’s an additive. He can now mentor other students who are going through this and he knows how it’s done.”
“I was 100 percent burnt out. Robert made it fun again. We started talking about the SHRM-CP, and we started the study group together. He became one of my mentors.”
— Maggie Carbaugh, human resource management
During the pandemic, a lot of HR professionals were laid off, including Carbaugh. “There weren’t a lot of other jobs hiring in HR, especially recruiting. So, I decided to go back to school,” she said.
Starting as a management major, Carbaugh learned that the new HRM major would soon be an option. She went for it. That’s when she met Olinger.
“He is somebody that has the ability to reignite that HR passion, especially for me again. Coming from a recruitment world, and coming right after the pandemic and all of that chaos, I was 100 percent burnt out. Robert made it fun again. We started talking about the SHRM-CP, and we started the study group together. He became one of my mentors.”
Olinger and Carbaugh recommend that HRM students consider taking the SHRM-CP exam when they are close to graduating. It’s easier when students are in the test-taking mindset. Students also get a discount on exam fees.
Learn more about the human resource management program at Ivy.
March 20, 2023
