Find and Hire a Professional SAP Consultant
Have you ever wondered how you would actually find and hire a professional SAP Consultant? If you have a 9 month project coming up with your career on the line, you don't want a bad consultant! Here is how to do it in a few easy steps.
Contents
Steps
Checking References
- Gather references first. References are the bread and butter of any professional who sells his or her services. While it's possible for consultants to have few or no references, the very best ones usually have outstanding references.
- References can be hard! Some SAP consultants get their friends or relatives to be the reference provider. Calling consultant groups for resumes in the first place helps to guarantee honest resumes because their company reputation is on the line.
- Make sure to speak with the person who the SAP candidate actually worked for. Go over the candidate's CV and get the Project Manager's or IT Director's name via the company switchboard.
- If you feel that the consultant is not forthcoming with the references, be a little wary and ask for the reason/s why. If the consultant is employed but looking to leave his current employer, he will not be too happy to provide his current employer's name prior to having secured a new position, hence we can understand that he might be a little hesitant, but if there is no "real" reason - simply drop that candidate!
- Check if the SAP consultant has worked with a former colleague or friend of yours. If so, send them an email or phone them and ask them for their opinion! It's easier to vet the reliability of references from friends or colleagues than from strangers.
- Find out who the SAP consultant's former SAP project team mates were. This can be very helpful as it provides a better understanding of the candidate, due to the fact that every team tend to get to know each others weaknesses and strengths even better than the project manager or IT director does.
Finalizing the Deal
- Confirm the consultant has expertise on the same modules of SAP as you need. If you are looking for an SAP APO consultant, but the candidate (or their references) talks about work on SAP Financials, then expertise may be lacking.
- Arrange the first interview only after you have got the required references satisfactorily. Video conferencing is one of the better ways to conduct a first interview. The reason for this is simply that you are able to see the candidate, ensuring you will recognize the consultant once on site.
- Once the interview has been conducted and the SAP consultant is a candidate worth hiring, make sure you take note of how he/she deals with the signing of the contract.
- Is the candidate careful, quick or awkward? This is a telltale of how the person will normally act on a project.
- Following the above procedure, know that some "not so good" consultants will still sneak through the net. Offering an initial short term contract with the possibility of extension enables an easy opt-out clause!
Tips
- To find a Professional SAP Consultant, try to use an agency or website who are known within the SAP industry as providers of reputable consultants. The website and/or agency should also conduct them self in a proper business manner, basically working with integrity and honesty as well as providing a good quality recruitment service to both clients and consultants alike.
- Linkedin is a great way of finding backdoor references for the consultant. If the person tells you they did a project at company X, simply search Linkedin for that company and keywords like "SAP Project Manager."
Warnings
- DO be aware of unprofessional consultants and agencies alike - there are many who abuse the system by over charging for their services as well as providing untrue resumes or CVs
Things You'll Need
- Patience
- Experience
- The ability to learn fast
- A good sense of humor
