SAP SuccessFactors Compensation Exam – How I Passed it

The SuccessFactors Compensation Exam Certification: How I passed it and how I prepared for it

This article has three parts. In the first part I write about my personal experience of the test. In the next part I talk about my learning journey and in the last section I speak about my learning strategy. I will also share my key learning’s recommendations.

• The certification test experience

I have written in detail about my test experience of the SuccessFactors Employee Central Exam in a previous blog post. I have learned from my past experience and now had the smoothest log in ever.

Again I had 180 minutes time to go through 80 multiple choice questions and I needed to answer at least 44 (55%) of the questions correctly to become certified. For each multiple choice question it was indicated in writing how many answers were expected. A radio button tells you if only one answer is required. Boxes are used if more than 1 answer is correct. 3 were the maximum answers I came across.

SAP provides a lot of information on the certification exam here: https://training.sap.com/shop/certification/c_thr86_1502-sap-certified-application-associate—successfactors-compensation-g/

As well you will find a link to 9 example certification questions. https://training.sap.com/uploads/Sample_Questions_C_THR86_1502.pdf

Overall it took me 80 minutes to pass the test. I went through question by question and I skipped a question when I was not sure about the answer yet. Then I went backwards from 80 down to 1 and checked each question again if I was confident about my answer(s) and reworked those that I was still not 100% sure of. Of course I answered all the ones that I had skipped. Each question I read at least two times before I made my choice.

• Learning Journey

I began with the course THR86_EN_Col52 SuccessFactors Compensation Academy on October 9th and finished by October 15th. I scheduled my exam for October 23^rd at 13.45 hrs CET.

In the week before the exam I read the Compensation Implementation Handbook carefully. I further read the chapter about Compensation in the book “SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM” by Amy Grubb and Luke Marson https://www.sap-press.com/successfactors-with-sap-erp-hcm_3702/.This was very helpful because it gave me the big picture. This way I could much better structure and oversee all the details given throughout the course and in the Compensation Implementation Handbook.

Further I watched 4 Videos on the SAP Learning Hub in the Compensation HCM Academy Learning Room. The videos were XML Plan Navigation Guide, Setting up YouCalc in Comp Form, Adding Custom Fields, and Adding Guideline and Catch All Formula. If you do not have access to a sales demo instance of SuccessFactors I would highly recommend you to watch at least the XML Plan Navigation Guide video. This is an excellent walk through of the Compensation Configuration XML file by Kate Wilson. The videos are all located in the Content area in the folder Video Tutorial Library.

2 days before the exam I went through my notes three times. I passed the exam on October23^rd at 15:05 hrs.

My timing worked perfectly. I had one week to prepare between the end of my course THR86_EN_Col52 SuccessFactors Compensation Academy and the exam.

• Learning Strategy and Recommendations

I have written in detail about my learning strategy in the a blog post and what research it is based on.

Again for everything exam relevant I created practice questions for myself. In total I came up with 321. I have published my practice questions this time in a blog post here: http://bit.ly/SFCompExamQs

I would recommend you to read at least the Employee Central Implementation Handbook. Pay special attention to the info section that are highlighted in light red / pink colour.

If you do not have access to the SAP Learning Hub yet I have collected also some free resources on Successfactors here: https://ppalme.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/free-learning-resources-to-help-you-to-become-a-sap-successfactors-consultant/

Further Reading:

Successfactors Employee Central Delta Exam How I Passed and How I Prepared For it

The SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Certified Application Associate Exam: How I passed it and how I prepared for it

Becoming a SuccessFactors Consultant Part 1 and Part 2

About me:

My vision is to build a truly integrated HR in the cloud. A truly integrated HR is the key enabler for organizations to maximize their business outcomes.

Tags: Compensation, SAP, SuccessFactors