MySAP Career: HCM Functional Lead Consultant

I am giving SAP career Progress of experienced SAP Practitioners as MySAP Career  in my blog. The intention is to get a SAP Career summary of successful SAP practitioners in brief. I am sure this will help candidates who are planning to start SAP Career as well as those who are already working in SAP Consulting area..

MySAP Career: HCM Functional Lead Consultant :

1. What is your current position/position last held?

Functional Lead (Human Capital Management Module)

2. Your Qualification

Commerce Graduate with three Post Graduations. All from Pune University

First one in Commerce, another one in Computer Management followed by Business Administration.

3. How long you have been working in SAP Consulting area?

Started working in SAP area since May 2013. Its 2.5 years now.

4. What was your professional experience before you moved to SAP area and how long?

I was working as a recruitment professional for 10+ years with top IT companies. I have handled Campus & Lateral Hiring and Recruitment Analytics in my past stint.

5. How you started your career in SAP?

While working with all these top IT companies, I realised that Online HR systems and good reporting helped management and HR function specifically to do a lot of Analysis. This Data Analytics further triggers good support for HR decision-making.

Strong ERP system like SAP helps achieve this via a central database globally.

I joined one of the top engineering services company as a Functional Lead for HCM module.

As my core area of interest and domain was recruitment, I was assigned for SAP eRecruitment Module.

6. How you got your initial SAP training?

I got trained through SAP Authorised Training partner at Pune. It was online training as I was working at the same time. Online Training had the flexibility to attend the training anytime during the day and late evenings as well from Training partner’s location.

7. How you started working on your initial SAP Projects?

After joining this Organsiation, I started supporting different HR sub modules and simultaneously started working in functional role through small enhancements required in system.

8. Have you done SAP Certifications?

Not as of now. This is in process and will be completed shortly.

9. What are subsequent SAP trainings which you did for your SAP career?

Within our organisation I got trained on Training and Event Management and some custom modules.

10. What are the important/Critical points one should keep in mind for SAP Career progress?

• Good Domain Knowledge
• Patience to learn and grow in Organisation
• Connect with SAP via SCN and SDN websites and building good network outside organisation as well.
• Constantly in touch with Latest Info via release notes from SAP.

I want to work as SAP Pre Sales Consultant.

I want to work as SAP Pre Sales Consultant.

There are many SAP Consultants who want to shift their career from Consulting to Pre Sales or Sales function. I meet many SAP Consultants who are working in SAP Projects who feel that they want to move to Pre Sales area. Many of them are not aware about the role, the pre-requisites and the responsibilities associated with a Pre Sales job in SAP practice.

The Pre Sales function in SAP Practice, in any Organization depends on the size of SAP practice, the various products/services offerings and the size of the projects, the practice is handling. There may be other criteria also.

In many organizations the Pre sales function is part of Sales function or in some cases is part of Delivery organization. It depends on the organization and will vary from org to org.

Now let us understand the Pre Sales Consultant profile in a general:

• The Pre Sales Consultant is expected to possess an expert level knowledge of SAP product and the various solution offerings. In most of the cases, he is part of Sales team formed for an opportunity in sales process.
• Th Pre Sales Consultant normally gets involved in meetings with Customer to understand Customer requirements, expectations from SAP product solution.
• He gets involved in Product/offerings presentations and demonstrations if required.
• He is considered as Solution expert and if required, will get further inputs/support from delivery team.
• He gets involved in proposal preparation and subsequent discussions as & when required till closure of the deal.
• Gets involved in post sales support for project delivery initiation. He is the link between the Sales cycle and the delivery execution.
• Depending on size of organization and the sales opportunities, he may get involved in multiple engagements.

If the SAP practice is large enough then many organizations have a large team of Pre Sales and there are various roles within the Pre sales team. These are Pre Sales Consultant, Expert Pre sales Consultants, Solution Architect etc..

Looking at the above, it’s very clear that unless you have a good understanding/knowledge of SAP product/solution offerings of your organization, it’s very difficult to perform as Pre Sales Consultant.

 

I have just completed my SAP Training.. What should I write in my Resume?

Good demand for SAP consultants motivates many people to get into SAP and complete SAP training in a particular module.

Once they complete their training & start looking for a job in SAP area, many of them face a dilemma about writing their resume. Most of them are confused about how to project their profile for SAP consulting role.

The normal question asked is, what should I write in resume for SAP related role?

( I am assuming a candidate who has Functional/domain experience & has completed SAP training & Certification)

Always remember that, your resume has to give you an opportunity for an interview..Then during the interview, you have to show your competency in your functional area & your SAP knowledge. Also see https://suhasagashe.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/what-is-the-typical-role-of-sap-functional-consultant/ for understanding the SAP Consultant Role & prepare for your interview.

The Resume format can be chosen by individual, as per his/her choice but MUST cover the following:

Profile Summary:

• Your Name, Email & phone contacts

• Profile Summary which highlights your Domain Experience prior to SAP training, SAP training & Certification done , & your SAP project experience.

• Your basic & professional Qualifications., Certifications Completed.

Details:

• Start the detail of your Resume with your experience in SAP area.. (if any). If you have worked on a SAP project as Trainee, give details about it & your role in it. If as part of your training, you have done a Project, do mention it with details. You may be strong or having in-depth working in a particular sub module, do highlight that so as to get more discussion on it during interview..

• SAP Training completed : Give details about Institute from where you have completed SAP training & the status of Institute. It is always advisable to complete the training from SAP authorized training institutes. You can get the list on SAP’s official website.

• Anybody who wants to move into a particular SAP Module/consulting must have working experience in that area. The domain experience in your chosen SAP Module provides you to understand SAP in a much better way & is valued by organizations. .Please highlight your Domain experience and the areas in which you have worked before SAP training.

• If you have some exposure in supporting and/or using any ERP systems, do mention those details.

• Many people are involved in ERP deployment,testing or working as actual user for their daily functions. This gives them good exposure to ERP systems which is very beneficial while working in SAP area. Awareness about systems in general and ERP in particular will be helpful. e.g.those of you who plan to get into SAP HR payroll, TM, must be knowing the existing systems thoroughly & you must mention this.

• If you have any exposure to understanding of Codification Schemas followed in your function/systems.

• Your Computer proficiency-.A very good hands on in MS Office helps..

• Soft Skills & any special Language proficiency .

  One of the areas where many aspiring SAP Consultants lack is the Soft Skills area. You will have to communicate with people at all levels and that will cover written, verbal and many presentations…..If you were involved in pre-sales, presentations etc. do mention it.

• The other common personal details such as address, age,…..etc. Etc.

I will also suggest, not to wait till you complete your Training & Certifications. Start preparing your resume when you are nearing your training.. Also browse thru’ job portals of reputed Consulting companies giving profile requirements for Junior SAP Consultants…This helps in modeling your resume.

 

What is the typical role of SAP Functional Consultant?

What is the typical role of SAP Functional Consultant?

Every candidate who is considering Career shift to SAP has an anxiety about role of SAP Functional Consultant. Many of them are having Functional experience as part of their career and want to understand what they will be doing post SAP training & Career shift to SAP. The role of SAP Functional Consultant will vary based on the type of project he is working. The Project may be SAP Implementation, SAP Support (post implementation), Upgrade, Roll out etc….

I have given below the responsibilities of a SAP Functional Consultant for SAP implementation project. These will vary based on Project size, scope etc. but I have tried to cover the main responsibilities.

• Provide expert advice on SAP functionality. The Consultant is supposed to be expert in his SAP module and should be able to provide in detail the functionality available in SAP. He should advice customer on how to use the best business processes as provided in SAP.
• Collect & analyze customer requirements on the following:
  • Business processes and parameters: This is important for business processes to be covered in SAP and compile the various parameters required for subsequent Configuration.
  • Assist in data transfer mapping: Data is required to be transferred to SAP from the legacy systems (e.g. Master Data like Material Master, Customer/Vendor master etc..)
  • Determining reporting requirements: Standard SAP Reports and any Customized Reporting required.
• Determine printed forms requirements
• Suggest solutions to customer based on best business practices so that Customer gets Business benefits by following these SAP processes.
• Assist in the development of business process descriptions
• Conduct implementation & training workshops: This is particularly required for SAP Power users and then guidance for end-user training. Most of the implementations follow ‘Train the Trainer’ approach..
• Provide guidance on end-user documentation.
• Provide guidance on test plan. : How to test SAP functionality for the required Business processes and ensure that all scenarios are covered.
• Conduct unit tests based on customer defined scenarios
• Coordinate with other module SAP Consultants for Integration requirements.
• Provide Functional Specifications to Technical team for any Customized developments..