Updated on 29 September 2026. What’s new: exam fee corrected to $399 for members and $499 for non-members, and content-area weightings now follow SHRM's published score split
SHRM-SCP stands for SHRM Senior Certified Professional, the credential the Society for Human Resource Management awards to HR practitioners working at a strategic level. To sit the exam you need three years of strategic-level HR work, at least 1,000 hours in each of those calendar years, and no degree or HR job title. The exam is 134 questions in 220 minutes, and the winter 2026-27 window closes to new applications on 24 December 2026.

What does SHRM-SCP stand for, and what does the credential certify?
The letters are SHRM, for the Society for Human Resource Management, and SCP, for Senior Certified Professional. Searchers often type "shrm-scp designation" because that is exactly what it is: a designation you may add after your name once you have passed SHRM's exam and while you keep it current. It sits above the SHRM-CP, the Certified Professional credential, and the difference between the two is a difference of job level rather than of subject.