How to Become an HRIS Analyst without Experience
Are you looking to become an HRIS analyst? This article provides steps that you can follow to become an HRIS analyst.
An HRIS analyst is an HR professional responsible to administer the HR data and information inside an HR department so they can propose insightful suggestions and strategies for better business growth.
A bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or human resources is required to become an HR analyst. Some organizations prefer several years of experience for a senior HRIS analyst role.
If you’re looking to know more about the steps to become an HRIS analyst, then this article is suitable for your needs. We provide a step-by-step guide below on how to become an HRIS analyst.
To learn more via video watch below. Otherwise, skip ahead to continue reading.
Step 1: Fulfill the Qualification Criteria and Become a Certified HRIS Specialist
Qualification is the most general requirement and core competency to become an HRIS analyst. In general, a bachelor’s degree in computer or a master’s degree in information technology is mandatory with a major in human resources or business administration. If you’re interested in the position of an HRIS analyst, then you must fulfill the least qualification criteria to become eligible for the role.
A bachelor’s degree in computer science with a major in human resources teaches you the fundamentals of a human resource information system analyst’s role. Qualifications nourish your abilities to master the skills, thus the same should be your goal to become an HRIS analyst professional. With a degree in the relevant field, you can master these fundamentals of the HRIS role:
- Human resource federal and state laws
- Analytical reasoning
- Human resource project management
- Human capital management
- Management of employee records and HR databases
- Network and HR administration
However, a degree in computer science or HR is just a push for you to dive deeper into the world. Know that a business degree program only teaches, learning is all dependent on you. Thus good research with better studying habits will increase your chances to master the skills required for a data analyst role.
Furthermore, you can nourish your skills even further with a specialization or certificate in human resource analytics and HR administration. Certification in the relevant field not only enhances your job application and increases your points, but also allows you to learn the skills from a professional and more technical standpoint. With a certification in human resources, you can master:
- Analyzing the employee performance evaluation sheets
- Maintaining employee records and extracting trends from the records
- Employee discrimination and harassment
- Methods to provide valuable insights for better business growth
- Strategies to target short-term and long-term HR goals with better productivity and a quicker turnout
However, the learning outcomes are much broad than these few points, and thus all contents cannot be mentioned here. If you’re willing to join a course then take a look at the contents and learning outcomes for this HRIS Certification at HR University:
Step 2: Learn to Analyze the Data and Extract the Desired Metrics from it
Data analysis is one of the most basic duties of an HRIS analyst in the HR department. They are responsible to research the employee data their receive and extract out valuable results and metrics from it.
Thus, you must have a sound grip on how to analyze the data from reports such as employee feedback reports, evaluation sheets, and departmental progress reports to exclude the meaningful results that you can research further and suggest valuable strategies and recommendations for better employee productivity and business growth.
Keep in mind that for an HRIS analyst, data research and analysis are the most basic and crucial responsibilities, thus you must professionally master scientific computing and your computer skills to enhance your chances of becoming an expert HRIS professional.
Step 3: Learn to Prepare the Presentations and Reports with Detailed Statistics
Once you master the tactics to analyze the data and extract meaningful results, it is your responsibility to convey these metrics to HR seniors and professionals to make them aware of how well the business, departments, and employees are individually performing.
Thus, you should have a sound grip on preparing presentations that allow the audience to pick the results you want to convey to them. You must learn the ways to break down the technical statistics into easier, and more comprehendible reports, so a non-technical investor or enterprise executive can easily comprehend the meaning.
This is why you must have the skills to present the statistics and metrics in a way that everyone can understand them clearly without any ambiguity. This skill is also one of the most crucial skills required for an HRIS analyst’s role.
Step 4: Learn to Collaborate with HR Employees
One of the fundamental job duties of most HRIS analysts is to effectively collaborate with other senior professional workers and teammates in the HR analytics department.
Master the HRIS analysts’ skills with this fact in mind that their role is highly collaborative, as they have to gather insights through teamwork, meetings, and discussions with senior qualified staff. In addition to that, collaboration is mandatory for higher productivity and quicker project turnouts. Thus, you should master good verbal and written communication skills before jumping into the HRIS analyst role. Furthermore, to ensure that the extracted results and metrics are not one’s personal opinions, this is why teamwork is mandatory for fact-based results instead of opinionated results.
Step 5: Familiarize with HR Programs and Processes
Until or unless you’re not well-versed in the HR programs, and operations you cannot develop analytical thinking in the best favor of HR. Thus, you must understand how an HR department works. Generally, the HR operations are:
- Talent acquisition
- Recruitment
- Onboarding
- Payrolling
- Employee retention
- Employee relations
- Business records
You must learn about these processes in detail to completely master HR skills. Only then you can contribute effectively like an expert towards providing insights and recommendations for changes in the departmental policies for better employee and business development.
In addition to that, once you have complete knowledge of how the HRIS software and other processes work, your mindset and work methodology will ultimately start to adapt to the goals, and thus your contribution to the department with meaningful metrics and analytics will become even more effective and realistic.
Step 6: Learn to Develop Strategies for Business Goals based on Metrics Extracted from Data Analysis
HRIS analysts are responsible to provide recommendations and ideas for achieving long-term and short-term business goals based on the trends and results they extract from the department’s progress, labor statistics, and employee evaluation reports. Thus, you must learn the tactics to contribute genuine suggestions and valuable ideas that may help your organization to achieve goals more productively.
In addition to that, learn to develop insightful strategies based on the trends you capture from the data records. Keep in mind that the strategies should be realistic, not opinionated, well-researched, and ideally implementable.
Furthermore, the data you capture from the metrics allow you to understand whether the progress is according to the business goals or not. If not then how can you mold the work and employee progress with a strategy that directly targets the business goals? Thus strategic skills are crucial for you to master to become an expert human resources information systems professional.
Step 7: Gain Knowledge about Providing Insights for Business Growth
Although this may seem easy, providing truly valuable and effective insights is not as easy as it may seem. Only an expert with good communication skills, and persuasive habits can prove the point they want to convey. Thus, knowing that learning and researching the data is not enough, you must learn how to participate effectively by developing strategies for better employee and HR growth and recommending them to the stakeholders. Also, convincing them to believe in your strategies and viewpoint is as important as developing strategies, thus familiarizing yourself with the tactics to provide the best insights is also necessary.
Step 8: Practice the HRIS Analyst Skills and Gain Experience (Optional)
No doubt that with practice you can nourish and test your skills. Thus, if you’re on the way to becoming an HRIS business analyst, then make sure that you test your knowledge and information by working as an intern or a volunteer in an organization.
With practice, you can gain experience and also upskill your knowledge based on the practical challenges you face while accomplishing your responsibilities.
Although, gaining years and years of experience is not a fundamental requirement to secure this seat, however, it is beneficial for candidates who have only a bachelor’s degree with no specialization or certification in human resources.
Furthermore, the experience will complement your job application, this will increase your chances of selection for the role along with certifications, perfectly nourished HR skills, and specializations.
Apart from that, you can build your HR portfolio when you practice in real-life. A portfolio allows you to showcase your skills to potential recruiters, thus again increasing your chances to secure the seat.
Thus, we recommend you either opt for an HR analyst internship, volunteer the HR projects for startups, or start practicing your skills by winning freelance projects.
Step 9: Apply for an HRIS Analyst’s Role
Once you fulfill the general competencies such as minimum and preferred qualifications, suitable skillset, certifications, and specializations, then it’s time for you to start your hunt for the role.
Read the complete HRIS analyst job description for each position you apply for, and then mold your resume and job application in correspondence with the organization’s preferences. Also, try to research the organization, its goals, culture, and preferences on the online platform. This way, you will have a broader idea of what the organization is about, and what kind of talent are they interested in.
Keep your knowledge and skills up-to-date with the market trends and demands to increase your chances of winning the HRIS analyst job openings.
FAQs
Here are answers to some of your most frequently asked questions regarding the human resource information management system analyst’s role.
Is a degree in CS mandatory to become an HRIS analyst?
No. Although having a bachelor’s degree is a mandatory requirement to become an HRIS analyst, there’s no restriction to obtaining a degree in the only computer science field.
If you have a bachelor’s degree in information technology or even business management, you can become an HRIS analyst as long as you have the necessary skills for the role. Thus, your only goal should be to develop the required skills no matter what educational background you have.
Hence, having a degree in computer science to become an HRIS analyst is not a mandatory requirement.
What makes a good HRIS analyst?
Skills are the most crucial factor to become an HR professional. If you’re already working in the HR department, and want to progress your career to become a better HR professional, then we recommend you nourish your skillset. Some knowledge of software development, computer systems, and hardware or software issues for the HRM also makes you a better HR professional with quality control traits. Jump into the market research to know what’s in the demand and what are the industry trends. Mold your knowledge and skills based on your research, and work on self-secured projects to practice your skills. Good skills with time will ultimately make you a better HRIS analyst and professional HR worker.
If you are new to human resources and are looking to break into an HRIS analyst position, we recommend taking our People Analytics Certification Courses, where you will learn how to build your skillset in analytics, build your human resources analysts network, craft an excellent HR analyst resume, and create a successful job search strategy that lands you a sought-after HRIS analyst job.
