The Ultimate Workday® Recruiting Testing Guide: Ensuring System Excellence

Testing isn't just a phase. It's the foundation of successful Workday implementation. While other project phases focus on building and configuring, testing is where we prevent costly mistakes from reaching production. Consider this: fixing a bug after deployment costs 30 times more than catching it during testing. More importantly, testing protects your organization from compliance issues, security breaches, and workflow disruptions that could impact thousands of employees.

Core Testing Principles

Before diving into specific test scenarios, remember that thorough testing is your insurance policy against system failures. Every hour spent testing saves countless hours of post-production firefighting.

The Basics: What You Need to Know

Security Testing

Start with these essential checks:

• Make sure managers can only see and do what they're supposed to

  • For example, a manager from Sales shouldn't be able to edit job postings for Marketing

  • Check that people can't create new positions unless they have permission

• Think about who needs to see what

  • Does HR need to view offer letters?

  • Should Payroll have access to candidate information?

  • Write down who needs access to what (this will help you stay organized)

Making Test Candidates (The Easy Way)

Save yourself time with these tricks:

• Use the same password for all test candidate accounts (like "Testing123!")

  • This makes it much easier to log back in when you need to

• You don't need to use real email addresses for test candidates

  • Pro tip: Keep a list of the test accounts you create

Testing Email Notifications

Workday sends lots of emails automatically. Here's how to test them:

• Check all the important emails, like when:

  • Someone applies for a job

  • An offer is sent out

  • A candidate is declined

• Look at how the emails are formatted

  • Do they look professional?

  • Is all the information showing up correctly?

• Watch out for any [not available] text in emails

  • This usually means something isn't set up quite right

Making Things User-Friendly

Look for places where people might need help:

• Check if instructions are clear when:

  
  

  • Creating job postings

  • Making offers

  • Filling out job applications

• If something seems confusing, make a note—you might want to add help text there

Calendar Testing (If You're Using It)

If you're connecting Workday to Google or Outlook calendars:

• Only test with other people who know they're part of the testing

• Make sure interview invites show up correctly

• Check that times are right, especially if you work with different time zones

Setting Up for Future Tests

Think ahead and create:

• Test job postings

• Test candidates

• Special cases like:

  • Executive hires (they often have different approval processes)

  • Union member hires

  • Contract workers

Forms and Fields

Decide for each form:

• Which fields must be filled out

• Which fields should be hidden

• What information is optional

  
  

Tips for Success

• Don't rush—testing is not a race

• Write down everything you test and what happens

• Test things more than once

• If something seems odd, make a note of it

• Test as if you're a new user who's never seen Workday before

  
  

Remember: It's much better to find problems now than to have employees run into them later. Take your time, be thorough, and don't be afraid to ask questions if something doesn't make sense.

Quick Start Checklist

1. Start with security testing

2. Set up some test candidates

3. Check all the automatic emails

4. Look for confusing spots that need instructions

5. Test any calendar connections

6. Create test scenarios for special cases

7. Review all your forms

8. Document everything you find

Think of testing like proof-reading an important email. You want to catch any mistakes before hitting send. In this case, you're making sure Workday will work smoothly for everyone in your company.