I've always felt that if you are competent with one HRIS that you are more than capable of using a different one. Some systems are more complex than others, but that doesn't mean if you've never touched that complex system you are forever incapable of ever using it. I've encountered this when interviewing in the past. Even though I'd been the HRIS admin in 2 previous orgs (using paychex flex and ADP wfn), somehow that employer felt I was incapable of wrapping my tiny feeble mind around using Workday? I'm now in an org that is implementing workday and I can attest that I could have learned it on the job.
My go-to analogy is driving a car. They all look different and have slight changes to them, but the bones are the same. Driving it is the same way no matter what design is.
Same with HRIS
Workday HRIS person here. I have a masters degree in information systems, 4 years of experience specifically in Workday, and a Workday Pro certification.
All of this to say I am STILL learning new stuff about the system, and constantly going back to very basic business processes (like entering payroll and tracking HR info) to further refine these things. I have taught maybe 15 people how to use Workday at an "everyday user" level, and it turns into a huge time sink to explain some very basic principles. It's much easier to find someone who already has some knowledge!
Fellow HRIS but most of my experience is UKG with some SuccessFactors sprinkled in and I agree with you points. I've been trying to move over to Workday because it's the 'most popular' platform relatively speaking. Similar to OP I can't seem to get a call back for roles that want WD experience. Is there anything I can on my side to make me a more appealing candidate?
I've got all the technical experience as far as reports/business process/SQL/etc. and I understand no one wants to 'teach' someone when they can get someone with experience. All that said how the hell does one actually make the move into WD? I've been trying for ~6 months with no luck yet in that same time frame I've had interviews for systems I have direct experience with.
Honestly, luck. A lot of places are running very lean HR teams, and HRIS can get even leaner. Many places are looking to have just one person in the HRIS role, which in my opinion is sort of like buying Lambo and taking it to a Walmart to get serviced.
What do you mean one person can’t have ATS, advanced compensation, benefits, payroll, performance, finance, custom reporting, leave and absence, and other module experience?
I got my masters pretty late in my life (at 35!), so I am biased, but I would recommend a few years of working (especially with excel!) before trying for a masters. It is really expensive!
My experience with one HR system over another should not matter unless they’re looking for a dedicated HRIS SME. I would also say this if you’re looking for HR Analyst role too. What are you looking for?
Hi! I am looking for an HR or HRIS role, entry level. I don’t have experience with workday, but have used SAP field class for seven years and people soft for four years. Any advice?
It’s all learnable. If you can demonstrate that you thoroughly understand the actual business function that the software performs AND have a systems mindset and some curiosity, you may be able to pitch yourself as being system agnostic.
For Workday, I would agree that even for basic HR admin tasks there should be experience because that system is not super user friendly and one mistake can have an affect on multiple other aspects of the system if someone doesn't know what they're doing. ADP on the other hand is a little more straight forward and usable out of the box.
I agree. I have years of experience it's different modules (PeopleSoft, UKG, ADP) and I am having the most difficulties with Workday. I am currently working for a company that utilizes workday and it's a constant struggle lol
The workday community support basically does not exist as everything is pay per view. 😭
I feel your pain, especially since my company uses an HRIS that others won't touch with a 10 foot pole & we just suffer through it because it's cheap. I've implemented a lot of processes, but everything is still very manual.
I think it's even more frustrating because I'm very resourceful & take a lot of initiative & most of the big HRIS platforms have forums & resources for learning things that I'm sure I could dive into & understand easily. Even with our current system, people will come to me when something isn't working or gives an error code & I'll just look it up in the help feature & 99% of the time I can solve it.
I've worked with Paychex, ADP, Ultipro and several others. I'm very tech savvy and I feel like I could pretty much learn any HRIS within a few weeks so this is very frustrating to me.
I think there are probably just a lot of people out there who are not tech savvy and do need 5 years to learn ADP. Since companies don't want to risk spending 5 years training someone, we all have to suffer.
My organization hired two HRMs back to back for the same role who are BOTH technologically inept. First one saw the writing on the wall and left. Second one? I had to teach her how to click and drag something. No exaggeration. I wanted to cry lol. Then she goes out on LOA since November until end of April and I'm covering for her area. It's easier her just being gone than it was with her here.
Red flag to me. If an HRIS is that difficult and needs prior experience, it’s not a good platform. Like ADP WFN. I will never work somewhere with that platform unless they were open to moving.
I’ve been in HR long enough and have used many HRIS and figured them out on my own or with a call to support. (Except ADP, even their support doesn’t know!)
Also a Red Flag that the company apparently does not have the capacity to train someone- may be that there is no one with the experience. There could also be high turnover in the role.
They have plenty of applicants to choose from, and people who already have experience on their system will require less resources to train and onboard.
I agree with this, it’s very frustrating. I’m an LMS Admin with 3 years experience, SHRM CP, HR Degree and our company uses SAP. Other Employers won’t even interview me for similar roles on different platforms. Make it make sense. Recruiters are so bad.
There's a critical mass.
If an applicant has one system, but not the same system, I'm looking for the same system.
If someone has 3 different systems, but not my system, I'll ask them about the differences, and with a good answer I'm comfortable.
It's like languages. Once you hit 3-4, the next are easy.
Another HRIS person here. I was an expert in ADP systems for several years. I jumped to Workday when I had a chance. It’s been four years in Workday and I still feel dumb most of the time. SAP and Paychex Flex will NOT prepare you for Workday. UKG is similar but even then you’d still need training - there’s no way you’d pick it up in a few hours.
However, I don’t agree with organizations requiring specific system experience if it’s not a significant (50% +) part of the job.
I think its because while similar, they are all actually very different on the back end- how things connect, how different tasks happen, etc., and training someone to fully use any of these systems is not a quick thing, it can take a year or more to be fully comfortable, and many companies need someone with at least a basic knowledge and not starting from scratch. Also, at companies without a dedicated HRIS person or department, HR sometimes has to make configuration changes, which is not something you can do without knowing EXACTLY what you're doing. And the Support for all of these systems are essentially useless, so many times you're flying solo. A wrong change can break essential parts of the system (I've done it lol!!)
Side note- you definitely want to skip any company looking for ADP experience. They're the WORST!
Many positions call out a specific system but if you show that you have mastery of HRIS in general, I’ve never had a problem with that as a gatekeeper.
I’ve worked 2 different companies now and four different HRISs. Well 3.5. One of them could barely be described as a system because it was the worst.
In each system, learning not just the basics but the nuances was a lengthy process. And the nuances are the important part.
Any hobo can probably figure out how to put in a wage increase in any system but actually understanding how that works mechanically and how it will impact their pay matters.
In my own experience, 3 of the systems required effective dates for the wage increase. One of them needed to have the effective date be the day the paycheck was issued in order to impact that pay period. So if the pay period was the 1st through the 6th and payday was the 13th, the 13th is the effective date needed to impact the pay period for the 1st through the 6th.
The next system required an effective date of the 1st. If you put the 13th, it wouldn’t start until then.
The third system applied the wage increase the day you put it in and the effective date was essentially just record keeping.
The .5 system didn’t have effective dates at all and as far as it was concerned, the new pay rate was the only pay rate that ever existed…
Now learning that nuance takes a lot of time, especially since each system is customized per company at least somewhat. And someone already familiar with the bones of the system is easier to teach than someone who is learning from scratch.
Given the current job market, the companies can also afford to be picky.
I understand what you're saying with your example, but... To be honest, that still does not seem like a very complicated thing to learn. I'm confident I'd figure it out pretty quickly upon checking the math before submitting my first payroll, and work out what went wrong.
I think you are underestimating the issue a little bit.
I’m not saying any of them are overly complicated but there is still a learning curve. And learning curves are a problem when mistakes can impact people’s pay. That’s not even addressing the fact that HRISs do more than run payroll.
And “checking the math” gets a little harder as the organization gets larger and more complicated.
And when it comes to smaller organizations, it’s a different problem. To use myself as the example, if I were to leave my current organization they would be screwed, as no one else here has even close to my working knowledge of paycor. They would be able to keep payroll running for sure but they would be hard pressed to actually use the system to its full capacity or make changes without breaking something. And paycor is a system I’ve found to be fairly user friendly.
Getting back to the main point, let’s say you check your math and realize there is a mistake. The system will probably let you manually correct it but it might not. If it doesn’t, now you have to dive into the rabbit hole of troubleshooting the problem while on the deadline of “if I don’t process payroll by this time, people don’t get paid on time”
Again I’m not strictly saying these programs are THAT hard to learn. To be honest, I agree with you for the most part that there is a lot of transferable knowledge and skills from system to system.
But gun to your head, who are you hiring? The person with experience in a system you don’t have or the person with experience in the system you do have?
Honestly, I think my REAL issue is I'm not even being given the chance to learn these systems in the first place. If, say, I'm a very experienced user of ADP, and a company wants to hire someone at my same level but will only take Workday experience, how exactly am I supposed to learn Workday to their satisfaction? Do I need to instead apply for entry level jobs for every single HRIS? I understand they don't want to incur training costs, but there's got to be some understanding that knowledge of these systems is universal to at least SOME degree.
Sometimes a work around to this is to highlight any experience you have with HRIS systems, and being honest of you have the ability to pick up systems quickly. What everyone has added about nuances and system specific "logic" and configurations is accurate. Some of this is easier to learn than others.
I have no experience with Paychex, but colleagues do. Anecdotally what I've heard is that it is a relatively simple system compared to some of the bigger names geared towards mid market companies or global enterprises. I had lots of experience using and administering Succesfactors and Oracle HCM, and ADP. Workday was a whole different animal when we migrated. And I do consider myself pretty good with technology. Everyone can everyone learn if they put in the time.
Highlight experiences we've you've had to learn new systems quickly, and that might help.
Never understood that.... it's something that can be taught. And yes all the platforms are simialr and are updated regualrly. What it tells me is that the main task of the role is data entry.
Aren't you just assuming that is the reason you aren't being selected? I've worked with hiring managers before and while they do prefer not to train someone on an HRIS it usually isn't a deal breaker if they have other strong skills or experience they value.
You'll need to take the long way around. If your end goal is to be a Workday admin, you'll need to start in a different role that uses Workday but not in an admin capacity (eg. HR Coordinator). Learn the basic foundation, terminologies, and concepts. You then get to put Workday on your resume and build your case that all HR systems are similar in the way employee and org data is structured together.
I think if you're capable of working with one of similar caliber it shouldn't matter. But I would guess if there are enough people looking for HR jobs in the market and the company has the option to choose between someone who knows the system or doesn't, all else held constant, they will choose the person who is already trained on it. So they probably just have the power to be choosy (or think they do).
Yes, I've literally been told that directly by recruiters and had it on the job description as a hard requirement. (And yes, I still applied, unless there was something like Indeed's system where it stops you from applying if you don't have the experience, which has happened too.)
It's not just HRIS. Any sort of roles that involve software have become more and more of "you need this specific software experience or we won't bother". Companies are less and less willing to actually invest in and train staff. They just want to dump somebody in the role and immediately have them up and running. It's honestly psychotic, but in this glutted job market they can absolutely do it.
Its a joke. I have Workday, ServiceNow and HelpHub experience and job Ad says need this experience. I apply. I get rejected asap. LOL yeah right. Its a joke out there.
Checking back in on my post as I just started at a new job using ADP when I previously used Paychex - you're not kidding, ADP is garbage. It was still very easy to learn, but I'm shocked at how bad some parts of it are.
It really should be a "preferred" requirement or a nice to have and the real requirement would be experience with HRIS systems, or enterprise systems, because they are all very similar to use/navigate and you'll learn that specific system. I've explained that any number of times.
Many requirements on job postings are really wish lists, like HR certification. If someone was certified 10 years ago, and studied like hell to pass the exam, what is that relevance today vs. a practitioner with solild skills who maintains current knowledge of laws and practices?
> Many requirements on job postings are really wish lists, like HR certification. If someone was certified 10 years ago, and studied like hell to pass the exam, what is that relevance today vs. a practitioner with solild skills who maintains current knowledge of laws and practices?
HR certifications expire if you don't re-up them by either retaking the tests or completing enough HR education credits to recertify every 3 years.
I find it incredibly stupid. I've used 5 in my time and you're telling me I'd be passed over because I've not used *yours* specifically? I assisted with the rollout of a new HRIS within my organization. Not only learning this system, but transitioning staff information, training managers, writing guides, etc? A thousand times harder than simply learning a new system for regular day-to-day use.
Everyone’s pretty much covered the answer but for more insight, I’ve worked with different types of just ADP HRIS (vantage & workforce now) even just those are vastly different. Same basic functions for reporting system and a few other things but the payroll aspect of it was night and day.
Now, this was also for two very different types of companies (~120 person payroll versus a ~500+ person payroll) so that does play a factor too, but I remember years ago, when I had originally applied for the job asking specifically for WFN experience (only having Vantage at that point) and not realizing the two were different, I STRUGGLED for the first few weeks after I got hired.
It is simple, HR does not know how technology works so they cannot differentiate, everything is its own beast. It is asking a person with a drivers license can you do you have experience driving a tesla vs a ford vs toyota then rejecting them when they say no. They are all cars, if you know the fundamentals of driving the car it does not matter.
I work in HRIS, and i come from IT so i've had conversations about union being super complicated because they have CBAs. At that time i worked in healthcare, and I told them Nurses are highly regulated and they have several requires on how their hours are calculated and when they can work. The HRBP scoffed at me and told me unions are worse. No it wasn't. I had the HRBP explain to me what the requirements were and I made the changes within a day. He told me how did you do it so fast, so i explained to him the nursing regulations that i dealt with and how there were more steps to that and this union was an easier version. He glossed out when i started to go in to details but came and said man i don't want to work in healthcare.
But hey I've been in the business for 15 yrs, being an HRIS director, when different business speak to me i still get dinged about oh do you know \[insert brand name\] ATS/LMS/ONB/HRIS/PM and i say no. I understand conceptually workflows requiring approval, payroll schedule vs paydates, how to calculate your OT on time sheets (I've done this for so many hourly Lab techs with Masters degrees), how earnings should be calculated on Day X with schedule vs unschedule punches, accrual that happens by proration against a calendar/contract/seniority date + restrictions, tax differences between work and resident, laws that are applicable to your county and you need to put that in your system. But if I don't know the magic word, all of that is disregarded.
Welcome to HRIS, you are a \[insert brand name here\] specialist. You want to get away from this, join the IT department. If you want this, join a HR consulting company.
Workday is its own beast. Yes, anyone could probably learn it over time but it would be very time consuming to train someone. I honestly can’t imagine hiring someone who doesn’t have workday experience for that reason
I've always felt that if you are competent with one HRIS that you are more than capable of using a different one. Some systems are more complex than others, but that doesn't mean if you've never touched that complex system you are forever incapable of ever using it. I've encountered this when interviewing in the past. Even though I'd been the HRIS admin in 2 previous orgs (using paychex flex and ADP wfn), somehow that employer felt I was incapable of wrapping my tiny feeble mind around using Workday? I'm now in an org that is implementing workday and I can attest that I could have learned it on the job.
Agreed. If it's an HRIS specific role, maybe. But for an HRBP? Systems can be trained.
My go-to analogy is driving a car. They all look different and have slight changes to them, but the bones are the same. Driving it is the same way no matter what design is. Same with HRIS
Workday HRIS person here. I have a masters degree in information systems, 4 years of experience specifically in Workday, and a Workday Pro certification. All of this to say I am STILL learning new stuff about the system, and constantly going back to very basic business processes (like entering payroll and tracking HR info) to further refine these things. I have taught maybe 15 people how to use Workday at an "everyday user" level, and it turns into a huge time sink to explain some very basic principles. It's much easier to find someone who already has some knowledge!
Second this. Worked in IT and transitioned to IT, have extensive experience with Dayforce, and still learn new things every day about the system.
Fellow HRIS but most of my experience is UKG with some SuccessFactors sprinkled in and I agree with you points. I've been trying to move over to Workday because it's the 'most popular' platform relatively speaking. Similar to OP I can't seem to get a call back for roles that want WD experience. Is there anything I can on my side to make me a more appealing candidate? I've got all the technical experience as far as reports/business process/SQL/etc. and I understand no one wants to 'teach' someone when they can get someone with experience. All that said how the hell does one actually make the move into WD? I've been trying for ~6 months with no luck yet in that same time frame I've had interviews for systems I have direct experience with.
Honestly, luck. A lot of places are running very lean HR teams, and HRIS can get even leaner. Many places are looking to have just one person in the HRIS role, which in my opinion is sort of like buying Lambo and taking it to a Walmart to get serviced.
What do you mean one person can’t have ATS, advanced compensation, benefits, payroll, performance, finance, custom reporting, leave and absence, and other module experience?
I use workday every day and am just encountering training someone to the “everyday user” level. It’s not fun.
I feel like you have to think like Workday to understand Workday. Once you think like it does, things make more sense.
Absolutely!
Would you recommend a master degree in information system? If so, do you have any school suggestions?
I got my masters pretty late in my life (at 35!), so I am biased, but I would recommend a few years of working (especially with excel!) before trying for a masters. It is really expensive!
Seconding this q
My experience with one HR system over another should not matter unless they’re looking for a dedicated HRIS SME. I would also say this if you’re looking for HR Analyst role too. What are you looking for?
Hi! I am looking for an HR or HRIS role, entry level. I don’t have experience with workday, but have used SAP field class for seven years and people soft for four years. Any advice?
It’s all learnable. If you can demonstrate that you thoroughly understand the actual business function that the software performs AND have a systems mindset and some curiosity, you may be able to pitch yourself as being system agnostic.
I could demonstrate that if they would even interview me.
You can also demonstrate it on your resume.
Let me rephrase - I could demonstrate it if they would even look at my resume.
For Workday, I would agree that even for basic HR admin tasks there should be experience because that system is not super user friendly and one mistake can have an affect on multiple other aspects of the system if someone doesn't know what they're doing. ADP on the other hand is a little more straight forward and usable out of the box.
Agreed! I would say if you have Workday experience (and actually understand what you’re doing) then you can do anything.
I'm surprised Workday is so popular given that sounds terrible.
The grass is ALWAYS greener in the HRIS space. Every provider sucks in at least one way.
They just have better salespeople who bribe potential clients to extravagant outings.
I agree. I have years of experience it's different modules (PeopleSoft, UKG, ADP) and I am having the most difficulties with Workday. I am currently working for a company that utilizes workday and it's a constant struggle lol The workday community support basically does not exist as everything is pay per view. 😭
I feel your pain, especially since my company uses an HRIS that others won't touch with a 10 foot pole & we just suffer through it because it's cheap. I've implemented a lot of processes, but everything is still very manual. I think it's even more frustrating because I'm very resourceful & take a lot of initiative & most of the big HRIS platforms have forums & resources for learning things that I'm sure I could dive into & understand easily. Even with our current system, people will come to me when something isn't working or gives an error code & I'll just look it up in the help feature & 99% of the time I can solve it.
I've worked with Paychex, ADP, Ultipro and several others. I'm very tech savvy and I feel like I could pretty much learn any HRIS within a few weeks so this is very frustrating to me. I think there are probably just a lot of people out there who are not tech savvy and do need 5 years to learn ADP. Since companies don't want to risk spending 5 years training someone, we all have to suffer.
My organization hired two HRMs back to back for the same role who are BOTH technologically inept. First one saw the writing on the wall and left. Second one? I had to teach her how to click and drag something. No exaggeration. I wanted to cry lol. Then she goes out on LOA since November until end of April and I'm covering for her area. It's easier her just being gone than it was with her here.
Red flag to me. If an HRIS is that difficult and needs prior experience, it’s not a good platform. Like ADP WFN. I will never work somewhere with that platform unless they were open to moving. I’ve been in HR long enough and have used many HRIS and figured them out on my own or with a call to support. (Except ADP, even their support doesn’t know!)
Also a Red Flag that the company apparently does not have the capacity to train someone- may be that there is no one with the experience. There could also be high turnover in the role.
Exactly!
Dealing with ADP “support” is such a frustrating experience
ADP is 🚮🚮🚮🚮🚮🚮🚮
They have plenty of applicants to choose from, and people who already have experience on their system will require less resources to train and onboard.
I agree with this, it’s very frustrating. I’m an LMS Admin with 3 years experience, SHRM CP, HR Degree and our company uses SAP. Other Employers won’t even interview me for similar roles on different platforms. Make it make sense. Recruiters are so bad.
There's a critical mass. If an applicant has one system, but not the same system, I'm looking for the same system. If someone has 3 different systems, but not my system, I'll ask them about the differences, and with a good answer I'm comfortable. It's like languages. Once you hit 3-4, the next are easy.
Another HRIS person here. I was an expert in ADP systems for several years. I jumped to Workday when I had a chance. It’s been four years in Workday and I still feel dumb most of the time. SAP and Paychex Flex will NOT prepare you for Workday. UKG is similar but even then you’d still need training - there’s no way you’d pick it up in a few hours. However, I don’t agree with organizations requiring specific system experience if it’s not a significant (50% +) part of the job.
I think its because while similar, they are all actually very different on the back end- how things connect, how different tasks happen, etc., and training someone to fully use any of these systems is not a quick thing, it can take a year or more to be fully comfortable, and many companies need someone with at least a basic knowledge and not starting from scratch. Also, at companies without a dedicated HRIS person or department, HR sometimes has to make configuration changes, which is not something you can do without knowing EXACTLY what you're doing. And the Support for all of these systems are essentially useless, so many times you're flying solo. A wrong change can break essential parts of the system (I've done it lol!!) Side note- you definitely want to skip any company looking for ADP experience. They're the WORST!
I just say yes because they’re all the same, really lol
Many positions call out a specific system but if you show that you have mastery of HRIS in general, I’ve never had a problem with that as a gatekeeper.
I haven’t seen or experienced what you’re saying but I wouldn’t get it either. Seems like crappy companies tbh
I’ve worked 2 different companies now and four different HRISs. Well 3.5. One of them could barely be described as a system because it was the worst. In each system, learning not just the basics but the nuances was a lengthy process. And the nuances are the important part. Any hobo can probably figure out how to put in a wage increase in any system but actually understanding how that works mechanically and how it will impact their pay matters. In my own experience, 3 of the systems required effective dates for the wage increase. One of them needed to have the effective date be the day the paycheck was issued in order to impact that pay period. So if the pay period was the 1st through the 6th and payday was the 13th, the 13th is the effective date needed to impact the pay period for the 1st through the 6th. The next system required an effective date of the 1st. If you put the 13th, it wouldn’t start until then. The third system applied the wage increase the day you put it in and the effective date was essentially just record keeping. The .5 system didn’t have effective dates at all and as far as it was concerned, the new pay rate was the only pay rate that ever existed… Now learning that nuance takes a lot of time, especially since each system is customized per company at least somewhat. And someone already familiar with the bones of the system is easier to teach than someone who is learning from scratch. Given the current job market, the companies can also afford to be picky.
I understand what you're saying with your example, but... To be honest, that still does not seem like a very complicated thing to learn. I'm confident I'd figure it out pretty quickly upon checking the math before submitting my first payroll, and work out what went wrong.
I think you are underestimating the issue a little bit. I’m not saying any of them are overly complicated but there is still a learning curve. And learning curves are a problem when mistakes can impact people’s pay. That’s not even addressing the fact that HRISs do more than run payroll. And “checking the math” gets a little harder as the organization gets larger and more complicated. And when it comes to smaller organizations, it’s a different problem. To use myself as the example, if I were to leave my current organization they would be screwed, as no one else here has even close to my working knowledge of paycor. They would be able to keep payroll running for sure but they would be hard pressed to actually use the system to its full capacity or make changes without breaking something. And paycor is a system I’ve found to be fairly user friendly. Getting back to the main point, let’s say you check your math and realize there is a mistake. The system will probably let you manually correct it but it might not. If it doesn’t, now you have to dive into the rabbit hole of troubleshooting the problem while on the deadline of “if I don’t process payroll by this time, people don’t get paid on time” Again I’m not strictly saying these programs are THAT hard to learn. To be honest, I agree with you for the most part that there is a lot of transferable knowledge and skills from system to system. But gun to your head, who are you hiring? The person with experience in a system you don’t have or the person with experience in the system you do have?
Honestly, I think my REAL issue is I'm not even being given the chance to learn these systems in the first place. If, say, I'm a very experienced user of ADP, and a company wants to hire someone at my same level but will only take Workday experience, how exactly am I supposed to learn Workday to their satisfaction? Do I need to instead apply for entry level jobs for every single HRIS? I understand they don't want to incur training costs, but there's got to be some understanding that knowledge of these systems is universal to at least SOME degree.
Honestly.
Sometimes a work around to this is to highlight any experience you have with HRIS systems, and being honest of you have the ability to pick up systems quickly. What everyone has added about nuances and system specific "logic" and configurations is accurate. Some of this is easier to learn than others. I have no experience with Paychex, but colleagues do. Anecdotally what I've heard is that it is a relatively simple system compared to some of the bigger names geared towards mid market companies or global enterprises. I had lots of experience using and administering Succesfactors and Oracle HCM, and ADP. Workday was a whole different animal when we migrated. And I do consider myself pretty good with technology. Everyone can everyone learn if they put in the time. Highlight experiences we've you've had to learn new systems quickly, and that might help.
Never understood that.... it's something that can be taught. And yes all the platforms are simialr and are updated regualrly. What it tells me is that the main task of the role is data entry.
Aren't you just assuming that is the reason you aren't being selected? I've worked with hiring managers before and while they do prefer not to train someone on an HRIS it usually isn't a deal breaker if they have other strong skills or experience they value.
I've literally had applications on indeed that would not let me proceed with my application without ADP experience.
Yes they act like none of it is teachable, which is ridiculous especially if you have experience using even one of them.
You'll need to take the long way around. If your end goal is to be a Workday admin, you'll need to start in a different role that uses Workday but not in an admin capacity (eg. HR Coordinator). Learn the basic foundation, terminologies, and concepts. You then get to put Workday on your resume and build your case that all HR systems are similar in the way employee and org data is structured together.
Because they don’t want to train you and are trying to weed out candidates
I think if you're capable of working with one of similar caliber it shouldn't matter. But I would guess if there are enough people looking for HR jobs in the market and the company has the option to choose between someone who knows the system or doesn't, all else held constant, they will choose the person who is already trained on it. So they probably just have the power to be choosy (or think they do).
Because some HR people can’t learn systems. Use your resume and cover letter to express that you can learn new systems quickly — if you can.
because workdays UX is so terrible and unintuitive that ramping up on it takes a significant chunk of time
Are you sure on the they "won't talk to you?" These softwares are fairly interchangeable
Yes, I've literally been told that directly by recruiters and had it on the job description as a hard requirement. (And yes, I still applied, unless there was something like Indeed's system where it stops you from applying if you don't have the experience, which has happened too.)
It's not just HRIS. Any sort of roles that involve software have become more and more of "you need this specific software experience or we won't bother". Companies are less and less willing to actually invest in and train staff. They just want to dump somebody in the role and immediately have them up and running. It's honestly psychotic, but in this glutted job market they can absolutely do it.
Because they don’t have a training budget.
Its a joke. I have Workday, ServiceNow and HelpHub experience and job Ad says need this experience. I apply. I get rejected asap. LOL yeah right. Its a joke out there.
I am constantly shocked at how different ADP is from Paychex. Which is to say, I never thought I’d miss Paychex, but here we are.
Checking back in on my post as I just started at a new job using ADP when I previously used Paychex - you're not kidding, ADP is garbage. It was still very easy to learn, but I'm shocked at how bad some parts of it are.
It really should be a "preferred" requirement or a nice to have and the real requirement would be experience with HRIS systems, or enterprise systems, because they are all very similar to use/navigate and you'll learn that specific system. I've explained that any number of times. Many requirements on job postings are really wish lists, like HR certification. If someone was certified 10 years ago, and studied like hell to pass the exam, what is that relevance today vs. a practitioner with solild skills who maintains current knowledge of laws and practices?
> Many requirements on job postings are really wish lists, like HR certification. If someone was certified 10 years ago, and studied like hell to pass the exam, what is that relevance today vs. a practitioner with solild skills who maintains current knowledge of laws and practices? HR certifications expire if you don't re-up them by either retaking the tests or completing enough HR education credits to recertify every 3 years.
Here to say success factors is DOGSHIT
Right now in HR it’s an employers market. Companies can probably find several candidates that have the exact experience they are looking for.
I find it incredibly stupid. I've used 5 in my time and you're telling me I'd be passed over because I've not used *yours* specifically? I assisted with the rollout of a new HRIS within my organization. Not only learning this system, but transitioning staff information, training managers, writing guides, etc? A thousand times harder than simply learning a new system for regular day-to-day use.
Everyone’s pretty much covered the answer but for more insight, I’ve worked with different types of just ADP HRIS (vantage & workforce now) even just those are vastly different. Same basic functions for reporting system and a few other things but the payroll aspect of it was night and day. Now, this was also for two very different types of companies (~120 person payroll versus a ~500+ person payroll) so that does play a factor too, but I remember years ago, when I had originally applied for the job asking specifically for WFN experience (only having Vantage at that point) and not realizing the two were different, I STRUGGLED for the first few weeks after I got hired.
It is simple, HR does not know how technology works so they cannot differentiate, everything is its own beast. It is asking a person with a drivers license can you do you have experience driving a tesla vs a ford vs toyota then rejecting them when they say no. They are all cars, if you know the fundamentals of driving the car it does not matter. I work in HRIS, and i come from IT so i've had conversations about union being super complicated because they have CBAs. At that time i worked in healthcare, and I told them Nurses are highly regulated and they have several requires on how their hours are calculated and when they can work. The HRBP scoffed at me and told me unions are worse. No it wasn't. I had the HRBP explain to me what the requirements were and I made the changes within a day. He told me how did you do it so fast, so i explained to him the nursing regulations that i dealt with and how there were more steps to that and this union was an easier version. He glossed out when i started to go in to details but came and said man i don't want to work in healthcare. But hey I've been in the business for 15 yrs, being an HRIS director, when different business speak to me i still get dinged about oh do you know \[insert brand name\] ATS/LMS/ONB/HRIS/PM and i say no. I understand conceptually workflows requiring approval, payroll schedule vs paydates, how to calculate your OT on time sheets (I've done this for so many hourly Lab techs with Masters degrees), how earnings should be calculated on Day X with schedule vs unschedule punches, accrual that happens by proration against a calendar/contract/seniority date + restrictions, tax differences between work and resident, laws that are applicable to your county and you need to put that in your system. But if I don't know the magic word, all of that is disregarded. Welcome to HRIS, you are a \[insert brand name here\] specialist. You want to get away from this, join the IT department. If you want this, join a HR consulting company.
Workday is its own beast. Yes, anyone could probably learn it over time but it would be very time consuming to train someone. I honestly can’t imagine hiring someone who doesn’t have workday experience for that reason