With the supply of SAP contractor talent at a high, especially during the current pandemic, it is more important than ever to make the best hiring decisions. Although a good recruitment agency will find a handful of strong candidates for the interview stage, it’s critical to know what interview questions to ask in order to pick the best talent for your organisation.

You’ll need to fully define what kind of job you want your new hire to deliver. Once you determine exactly what the role will entail, you will have clearer expectations of what background, experience and even personality the interviewee needs to have to fit the bill. It is then easier to modify the questions to fit your needs.

RED’s Recruitment Consultant Kajal Waroo says, ‘An interview is a great platform for a customer to communicate their expectations on what they need from a Consultant to achieve their project goals. It is also an excellent opportunity for the Consultant to determine if they have the correct skillset and experience to help the customer achieve these goals. Both parties need to be honest and concise to accomplish the best overall outcome.’

Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are certain question types that can be helpful in an SAP and job interview. After consulting with our top SAP recruiters, here are our best picks to help you find the candidate that is right for your SAP needs.

1. Test Their SAP Competencies

A strong SAP contractor is usually expected to start off strong from the get-go, showing tangible results and impacting the current projects positively. So you need to know the competency level of the candidate in the different SAP areas that their role is based around.

Here are some questions to consider asking in order to gauge such information:

• What is your experience with X module and its natural integration points with other modules?
• What would be your suggested implementation roadmap for SAP module X? What steps would you take?
• Our challenges for this project are X. What would your solution be and how would you implement it?
• What are your expectations for the future of SAP module X? Where do you think the technology is heading?

2. Identify Their SAP Project Experience

If you want your new contractor to hit the ground running in a specific area within your organisation’s SAP implementation project, you need to find out about their specific SAP project experience. Here are some options:

• When was the last time you did something like our project X? What were the challenges you faced and solutions you came to?
• When was the last time you had to design a new solution to an issue because the initial blueprint suggestions weren’t feasible?
• In your latest project, how did you manage to deliver within the timeframe? Any constraints or compromises you had to make with the final product?
• Give us an example of when you had to explain a detailed SAP architecture plan to someone without an SAP background.
• Which one of your projects are you most proud of and why?
• Can you give us an example of when you had to take on more responsibility than expected (i.e. architectural design or blueprinting, team lead or SME roles)? How did you handle that situation?

3. Determine The Personality-Character Fit

Whether it's company fit or simply being right for the role, you might want to find out about the personality of the candidate in order to determine their suitability especially if it’s a longer-term contract. First off, define what traits the person should ideally have, and then consider the following questions:

• Tell us about a successful scenario in your last SAP implementation cycle and how you dealt with it. 
• Could you tell us about a time you excelled in your previous role? What personal qualities drove your success?
• Tell us about a scenario in an SAP implementation project that had a negative outcome. How did you deal with it?
• Tell us about a time you dealt with a significant change in your SAP recipe development project in a fixed timeframe?
• Could you tell us about a situation where you had to deal with conflict in the workplace? How did you handle it? 

4. Test Their Company and Role Knowledge

A candidate who is serious about taking up the role will do research into the company, as well as the role, making sure they go into the interview prepared. Furthermore, if an employee is excited by the company and resonates with its values, this will act as an incentive for them to excel in the role and deliver their best performance. Test their knowledge and expectations for the role by asking the following questions:

• Describe in a few short sentences what we do.
• What key challenges do you see for our industry from an SAP perspective? How would you go about helping us alleviate them?
• What do you think you need to succeed in this role? What made you want to apply to this role?

 For more business advice as well as SAP and tech hiring insight, please visit RED’s blog page or get in touch with a consultant for a confidential conversation.