How To Hire The Right SAP Consultants: A Guide

As technology and cloud adoption continue to evolve, there’s a significant increase in demand for SAP professionals.

Systems Applications and Products in data processing (SAP) helps to streamline and ‘revolutionise business operations through software’, from manufacturing to customer service and more.

SAP's ERP software ‘is the most popular in the world and the company has been used by over 437,000 businesses in 190 countries’, emphasising its impact. However, selecting the right SAP talent for your company is critical.

While SAP software has the power to transform businesses and maximise efficiency, without the right team on board, even the best technology can fall flat.

In this guide, we’ll cover some key tips to help you ensure you hire the right SAP consultants.

Before we get started, let’s first break down what SAP consultants actually do.

What Do SAP Consultants Do?

In short, SAP consultants work with businesses to identify the right software solutions to meet their business requirements.

Their role tends to focus on the implementation, customisation, and optimisation of SAP solutions. They can provide support, training, and guidance for projects involving SAP.

The majority of SAP consultants specialise in one or two areas within data processing: functional or technical.

How To Hire The Right SAP Consultants

To hire the right SAP consultants, it’s recommended that you:

Look for the right skill sets
Work with digital transformation recruiters
Look for excellent soft skills
Prepare for the interview
Check references

1. Look For The Right Skill Sets

Considering there are multiple types of SAP consultants in the industry, you should be specific about the consultant you require.

You need to know what skill sets you’re searching for from the beginning. Knowing what skill set you’re looking for is important because the SAP product suite is broad, and SAP consultants tend to have narrow areas of expertise. Perhaps you’re looking for a consultant for an implementation, upgrade, or optimisation.

Alternatively, you might be searching for expertise in a specific area of SAP, such as SAP S/4HANA, the next-generation ERP system that offers real-time data processing and a host of other benefits.

Be sure to consider the skills you need when asking for recommendations and interviewing SAP consultants.

Knowing what skill set you’re looking for is important because the SAP product suite is broad, and SAP consultants often have narrow areas of expertise.

2. Work With Digital Transformation Recruiters

The next tip is to work with digital transformation recruiters.

Finding the right SAP consultants takes research and connecting with the right people.

While it’s great to get recommendations within your own networks, working with a specialist digital transformation recruiter will give you access to a higher quality pool of active and passive SAP candidates.

Digital transformation recruiters who specialise in SAP will not only have a comprehensive understanding of the technology, but will also understand the importance of finding the right person for the job.

Are you looking for the ideal SAP consultant? Conexus DX can help. Our experts have years of experience in the SAP sector and champion the benefits that SAP can bring to businesses.

Get in touch with our team to find out how we can assist you.

3. Look For Excellent Soft Skills

You will also want to look for a candidate with excellent soft skills, such as communication.

The Importance Of SAP Soft Skills

A key part of an SAP consultant’s job is working with clients and team members, listening to their requirements as well as developing SAP software solutions, so the importance of the soft skill of communication cannot be overstated.

Other soft skills to look for include critical thinking, problem solving, and being able to work well in a team. After all, although SAP offers ‘seamless collaboration’, this only goes so far if your SAP consultant can’t work collaboratively.

Without these soft skills, you risk miscommunication and a whole host of problems that will undoubtedly impact the success of implementation.

Moreover, your chosen candidates should be passionate and prepared to stay ahead of the curve. Technology is ever-evolving, and even the best tech talent needs to be willing to evolve and stay up to date on the latest trends.

4. Prepare For The Interview

The next tip might sound obvious, but when it comes to specialist roles, you can never be too prepared.

SAP software solutions are a tech-intensive topic, so it’s important to recognise you might not be the most knowledgeable person within your company to interview candidates extensively.

To ensure you’re as prepared as you can be for the interview, make sure you have a few IT members who have more knowledge on the topic to give you a more comprehensive understanding of the candidate’s skill sets.

Within the interview, ensure that a technical IT member asks them specific SAP questions.

Moreover, it’s important to make time for a pre-interview brief to ensure everyone is on the same page about the meeting and what to look for in a candidate beforehand.

5. Check References

Lastly, you will need to ensure that you check references thoroughly.

It is important not to rely on recommendations alone, as SAP implementation is often a complex process, and knowing each stage is ‘imperative for success’.

Speak to previous employers and clients to ensure prospective SAP candidates have what it takes.

If you don’t hear back from references, then you should proceed with caution.

References are key for cross-checking details on candidates and will give you the insight you need to ensure they’ll thrive as an SAP consultant in your company.

Ensure that you speak to previous employers and clients to ensure prospective SAP candidates have what it takes.

How We Can Help

If you’re looking to recruit SAP tech talent, look no further than Conexus.

At Conexus, our team specialises in all modular areas on ECC & S/4HANA, and recognises the importance of SAP.

Our specialists are dedicated to finding the right SAP candidates that not only support your digital transformation but can also help you remain competitive in the fast paced industry.

By partnering with Conexus, you can focus on your core operations with the confidence that we’ll find the right SAP consultant for the job, no matter where they’re based across the globe.

Get in touch today at info@conexusdx.com to learn more about our services.