Review these important essay tips or read the
FAQs
Essay activities are free and open to all SHRM-certified professionals.
Try to submit your essay as soon as you finish reading the book -- especially if you are reading the book near the end of the year when books no longer meeting the program criteria are
removed.
WRITING
An essay must be about 500 words to meet the activity criteria.
The activity will prompt you to answer the question "What lessons have you learned by reading this book and how will you apply them in your work?"
Do not write a book review or summarize the content. Instead, focus on how the information has changed or will change your work, professional relationships, career plans, and perspective.
UPLOAD
Important! The SHRM eLearning portal activity form does not count words, check spelling and grammar, or save draft versions of your essay. To protect against data loss and access text editing features, write and save your work on your own device then copy the text into the form.
Use an updated version of the Mozilla Firefox browser to register for the activity and submit your essay in the eLearning portal.
Important! Register for the activity with the same email address you use with SHRM Certification to ensure that your PDC history is correctly updated when SHRM Books accepts your essay as "Completed".
To submit your essay in the eLearning portal activity form:
1) click on the book title below
2) follow the prompts to enroll in the activity3) open the activity in My Courses
4) paste the essay into the activity form then
5) agree to the terms and submit the form.
You can edit your essay while you are still in the eLearning portal or you can return to the activity by logging in through the same link you used to enroll.
Important! If you try to edit your essay in the eLearning portal, your original text could be erased. Please save a copy of your essay on your own device then paste the updated text into the activity form.
You can change your submission until SHRM Books has accepted it and locked the activity. Contact
books@shrm.org if you need to edit a locked essay.
EVALUATION
Your essay will be reviewed for word count and whether it answers the question.
There is no evaluation of punctuation or other technical aspects of your writing.
The SHRM Books program will contact you directly if there are any questions about the essay.
SHRM Certification may select your essay for auditing and contact you for more information at your time of recertification.
PDCS
Once your essay is reviewed and accepted, your recertification record will be updated within ten (10) business days with the PDCs earned for this activity.
If your eLearning and SHRM Certification email addresses are different, you can self-report the completed activity to Certification. Find the activity ID on the Certificate of Achievement in your eLearning transcript (in the bottom-right corner above the SHRM logo).
QUESTIONS
Send questions about the essay activity or the Read-for-Certification Credit program to
books@shrm.org.