The Mysteries of the SAP job market Revealed by Eursap

January 9, 2020

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Eursap’s SAP Thought Leaders asked some probing questions…

In this Blog article, I ask some of Eursap’s SAP Recruitment Thought Leaders some probing questions about their craft so that SAP Consultants can better understand some of the challenges facing recruiters. Gaining such insight, it is my hope that SAP Consultants can take advantage of insights gleaned here, to not only work more effectively with recruiters, but to also distinguish between those recruiters of higher quality (meaning those more likely to place you!) and those that may impose unproductive time burdens.

Interview your recruiters with the same questions as below and see if they display the same depth of experience, passion for their work and industry knowledge.

Recruitment, just like any other industry, should not be a mystery!

Today’s Eursap panelists are:

These ladies and gentlemen are at the top of their game. I ask the team a number of questions and each one in turn takes a shot at giving you, the SAP Consultant, the best guidance and insight:

1. How can you prove to me that the post you advertised is real, and not a CV dredging exercise?

It is difficult to prove this, however, we will discuss the position with you in detail over the telephone and provide you with as much information as possible. Providing your skill-set, availability and salary or rate expectation is in line with our customers’ expectations, we will disclose who our client is and confirm this via email. We always request your permission in writing before we submit your CV and we always inform you where your CV is going. I guess some proof could be the fact that we regularly request up to date CVs from our network, without making reference to any specific roles that might be available. We don’t need to invent roles to get CVs sent in to us.

Gerd Schuster – SAP Recruitment Manager @ Eursap

2. Do recruiters read my CV properly?

There are different types of recruitment and different scenarios, but for positions with a high volume of applications, the honest reality is that recruiters cannot read CVs end to end. Let’s consider that on a busy day an SAP recruiter might have to recruit for three SAP vacancies, and may receive 50 applications for each position. Will they read 150 CVs word for word, end to end, that day? No. The honest reality is that most recruiters (myself included) probably spend 30 seconds skim reading each CV and perhaps another 30 seconds using the CTRL-F feature to search the CV for some other keywords. An experienced recruiter should be able to get all of the needed information from a CV within a minute. This is why it is key to have a CV which is clear and contains the right keywords (those requested in the job description). I wrote a blog article a few years ago providing my tips on how to write the perfect SAP CV which you should find useful.

Daniel Patel – SAP Delivery Director @ Eursap

3. Do you propose the best CVs or the ones where you have the bigger margins?

The best CVs – always! You can’t make a margin if you don’t make a placement and quality is the most important criteria when selecting people to send to our customers.

Tony White – SAP Recruitment Manager @ Eursap

4. Why do SAP recruiters prefer to compromise on best talent and give more preference to local candidates?

This is not always the case; it all depends on the availability of the requested skills. Quite often niche SAP skills are not available locally and we supply contractors who commute onsite for the working week, or in the case of permanent positions, candidates who are happy to relocate. If the requested skills are available locally, however, clients often prefer this for several reasons: no work permit/sponsorship required; local language skills; higher likelihood of long-term onsite commitment; lower costs (as relocation costs/expenses are not required); lower risk of candidates not adapting to local culture/environment/climate etc…

Tony Young – SAP Recruitment Manager @ Eursap

5. What should candidates do during the Recruitment Agency process to maximise their chances of being considered/selected by the recruiter?

When applying for an SAP job through a recruitment agency, it is important to remember that SAP recruiters receive hundreds of emails every day and sometimes hundreds of applications for a single position! Considering this and also the logic that many recruiters apply filters and prioritise their selection of candidates to call first, here are some key things to increase your chances of selection:

Read the job description thoroughly before applying. Recruiters often receive CVs which do not match the role: essential skills are missing, or candidates do not have eligibility to work in the country the job is in (checking that you meet the minimum criteria first will save everyone time and save you unnecessary disappointment).
Make sure the subject of your email is clear e.g. “Job application for SAP FI Contract – Hamburg, Germany – Job Reference: 3192 – John Doe – CV” (this will help prevent it being overlooked or buried in a pile of hundreds of generic emails recruiters receive each day).
Make sure you attach your CV to your email application (this speeds up the process and recruiters often review applications with CVs attached first).
Where possible use an MS Word CV (recruiters prefer this as they often need to be able to format the CV according to client requirements or add their logo etc…).
Make sure your CV contains your full contact details (the recruiter needs to be able to know how to reach you).
Make sure your CV contains all of your skills which are relevant to the role. If the advert specifies certain skills and you have these, but have not mentioned them specifically in your CV, make sure you add them (recruiters are not psychic and many use CTRL-F to quickly search your CV for keywords).
Include other useful supporting information such as your availability, your salary/rate expectations, a few bullet-points to highlight the skills you have that match the skills asked for/desirable skills, a couple of lines to explain why you are interested/motivated and highlight anything else that supports your application e.g. I live 10 minutes away from this location, I speak fluent German etc…
Reply quickly to any follow up questions a recruiter may email you, and be available for a follow up telephone call (if you are not reachable for days or sometimes as little as a few hours, the role may already be filled by the time you eventually reply).

Suman Sandhu – SAP Recruitment Manager @ Eursap

6. Do recruiters need to know/ understand the modules of SAP Systems in detail in order to recruit technical profiles?

To a certain extent, yes. In my opinion it is important for recruiters to have a helicopter view of SAP and to know the names and acronyms of the modules, related technology, and tools. Good recruiters should keep up to date with these and also be aware of naming variations. It is good to have an overview of the different stages of an SAP implementation and to know where and when all of the various SAP resources fit in. We need to be able to credibly discuss project details with clients and candidates alike and ultimately to understand enough to be able to know what the client needs and who is the best person to do the job for them. That being said, I do not think it is essential for recruiters to be more technical than this. I have known some very successful SAP recruiters in my time who had never even seen an SAP system! I understand the terminology and the function of the modules but if you asked me to customize SAP, I wouldn’t know where to start! Recruiters should be continually learning, reading the latest SAP Blogs and the latest SAP news. Good recruiters should never be afraid to ask clients or candidates to explain if there are new areas they are not familiar with or a new name for something… SAP loves new names! 😊

Matthew Shaw – SAP Operations Director @ Eursap

7. Why can it sometimes take so long to get feedback on an application / why do I sometimes receive no feedback at all from some recruitment agencies?

Due to the sheer volume of the applications we receive per position, it is one of the most challenging tasks in our business. However, at Eursap every single CV we receive is read, we also respond to every candidate to provide them with feedback.

Candidates who have been put forward to our clients are always kept up to date regarding the process and are provided with as much feedback as possible. We are liaising with high level decision makers with hectic agendas and so at times it takes a while for us to receive feedback on CVs and interviews.

Even though, it is not always possible to provide detailed individual feedback to every applicant, we do apply a series of logical criteria to determine our shortlists (based on the match to the job description and the specified client criteria). Recruiters make their money from commission and successful placements, so rest assured if you apply for a job and are the best match you will be hearing back quickly. By the same note, you should be aware that recruiters are regularly chasing their clients for quick feedback for you.

Dean Malik – SAP Recruitment Manager @ Eursap

8. What makes Eursap any better than all the other SAP recruiters?

There are so many reasons, we’ve summarised the main ones here!

Bunga Shaw – SAP Operations Manager @ Eursap

Summary

In closing, the relationship between an SAP Consultant and a good SAP Recruiter is a KEY component for any successful career. It can open the door to a whole new range of possibilities – and then keep opening them for you as you move through your career.

There are many recruiters out there. It is critical to your sustainability to choose those who are:

Trustworthy.
Reputable.
Knowledgeable i.e. those who will portray your application professionally and represent your best interests during the process.
Experienced in the markets for which you have work authorisation.

The relationship is most effective when you work as a team. Ask yourself, are you helping your recruiter to help you?

When SAP Consultants understand the recruitment process, they can leverage it more fully to the benefit of their bottom line. Never be afraid to ask recruiters questions, Eursap’s SAP Recruitment Team is always happy to help and advise.

Stay tuned for more insights on Eursap’s Blog…

Author: James Olcott, SAP SD Lead Consultant

Are you interested in working with Eursap? Do you have any questions? Please feel free to contact us without obligation: info@eursap.eu