Five Tips On Finding Professional SAP Consultants

Tip nr 1. The first thing you do is kind of obvious, you take references - it is not as easy as you may think, as we now know, some consultants get their friends and/or relatives to fill out the reference letter/email or to take the reference phone call from us. What you need to make sure is that you actually speak with the right person and/or that the person is who they claim they are. This is easiest done by going over the candidate's CV and get the Project Managers or IT Director's name via the company switchboard. Yes, this is more work but at least you know that you will be/are speaking with the correct person. By the way, if you feel that the consultant is hesitant in providing you with the references you need, then be a little wary and try to find out the reason/s why. If it is because 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, but if there is no "real" reason - simply drop him/her! It is a sure sign of a non professional consultant.

Tip nr 2. If you know that the SAP consultant you are thinking of hiring, has actually worked with someone you know yourself, then just drop them a line or pick up the phone and ask for their opinion on your candidate. This way is the very best and easiest way I know for getting a "true and accurate" reference. And of course, it is also nice to catch up with one of your old colleagues or friends.

Tip nr 3. Another way of getting references is to find out who the candidate's team mates were in the last couple of projects, I find this helpful as I get a better understanding of the candidate as the team tend to get to know each others strengths and weaknesses sometimes better than the management does.

Tip nr 4. Once you have got the required references and you are satisifed so far, then it is the first interview stage. I have learnt the hard way that the best way is to conduct the interview is on a video conference. Why?? Well, because you can then see your candidate so there will be no surprises when he/she turns up at the project, the reason I am saying this is because I know several consultants who have "a friend" taking the telephone interview for them, and that is how they manage to get the job or contract. This is quite a worry as I can see it becoming something of a trend. Once you are happy with the interview and you actually want to hire the candidate, watch out for how he/she deals with the signing of the contract. Is he/she careful, quick or awkward as this will normally give you an idea of how that consutlant will be or act while on a project

Tip nr 5. I do understand that, even if you manage to do everthing as above some "not so good" consultants will sneak through the net. This is why I tend to offer an initial short term contract which has the possibility of extension later - it's an easy opt out clause!

Well, I hope you found this helpful and I look forward to hearing your views and any tips you may have on the above subject.