How Canadian Companies Hire SAP MM Consultants: Skills & Interview Process

How to Secure SAP MM Talent in Canada If you’ve tried hiring SAP MM in Canada, then you already know it’s not just a simple process of advertising an SAP MM position and simply waiting for a flood of resumes to pour in. SAP Materials Management is a specialised SAP area of expertise and it takes an employer who knows a lot more than just how to add an SAP Materials Management role to a CV. Canadian employers are a lot more aware of the need to develop SAP teams to an effective level, with the focus on what skills to look for, the interview process and the challenges associated with attrition.

What Does an SAP MM Consultant Actually Do?

An SAP MM consultant oversees the SAP procurement and inventory processes – purchase orders, goods receipts, invoice verification and inventory valuation. In reality, it’s the analyst who keeps materials flowing smoothly through the organization’s supply chain, and maintains accurate system data on what’s happening on the warehouse floor. For Canadian organizations with intricate supply chains, the SAP MM analyst is likely to be the person in the middle of the finance, logistics and IT departments – and an even more critical hire than a listing might suggest.

Which Skills Should Canadian Employers Actually Look For?

Every SAP MM consultant is a different person, and the combination of skills you need is based on how complex your business is. However, there are several factors that usually distinguish an excellent candidate from the average:

• Excellent knowledge of procurement processes that include purchase orders, RFQs, and vendor assessment
• Ability to configure inventory management, such as stock classification and flow of stock
• Knowledge of bill confirmation and how it is linked to finances (MM-FI connection)
• Experience with S/4HANA because many Canadian firms are in the process of moving to and/or have already adopted it
• Comfortable working with areas like SD and PP
• Proven experience related to SAP Certification, which makes it easy to check the basic skills of applicants.

Certification is a guide to useful knowledge but not the only proof of training received through special SAP programs.

How Do Canadian Companies Actually Structure the Interview?

In Canada, the majority of SAP MM hiring processes tend to be conducted in a similar way. Even though the stages of the process depend a lot on the size of a company, most companies follow the same pattern that are:

• The primary screening call: At this stage, the recruiter or others will evaluate candidates’ basic information such as workforce eligibility, years of SAP MM experience, the industry segment, and availability for work. The focus is not much on technical knowledge but rather a fit for the company and a few logistics.
• Technical assessment: Here, the details become important. A candidate may be required to describe a situation concerning procurement, change a specific movement type, or troubleshoot a typical problem in MM. In certain cases, a written exam can be replaced by the technical session in real-time.
• Scenario interview: Instead of asking, “What is a purchase order?” either a person or an organization would ask them to give a price and delivery case and explain it in SAP. This way they will evaluate more practical skills rather than knowledge.
• Stakeholder interview: For higher-level roles, candidates will meet with more than one interviewer who might work in either finance or operations and not just IT. This way would evaluate whether a consultant can talk to other stakeholders and be effective in operations.
• Credential verification: Before making an offer, most companies will check their track record before hiring them.

What Makes This Process Different in Canada Specifically?

Compared to other regions, Canadian businesses tend to value communication skills and teamwork to a greater extent. This can in part be attributed to the fact that SAP teams in Canada tend to be small so consultants are required to perform a wide variety of tasks. This is particularly true in Quebec, where it may be advantageous for consultants to be bilingual. Furthermore, as many Canadian companies are currently in the process of migrating to S/4HANA, experience with similar migrations is often considered more valuable than it was five years ago.

Getting the Hire Right the First Time

Hiring an SAP MM consultant: More than keywords on a resume, companies need to know they have a peer who knows how to work inside your supply chain environment, under real pressure, with real business stakeholders watching on. Using a structured interview technique that incorporates both a technical and a scenario based problem solving can find you the right candidate much more reliably than a traditional Question & answer session. When we place SAP consultants into companies, we do so with a knowledge of how the SAP recruiting market in Canada works and Nextnow can help you recruit your SAP MM consulting team.

FAQs

Do I really need an SAP-certified consultant, or is experience enough?

You may be more interested in their daily experience and regular work, but certification is much more than just a piece of paper. Anyone who has been formally SAP trained and certified as an SAP consultant has learned the core principles systematically instead of clambering for fragments of knowledge here and there on the job. Aim for a combination of project experience and SAP certification.

How long does it usually take to hire an SAP MM consultant in Canada?

It depends, but if you’re doing it properly, with screening, a technical interview, scenario interview and reference checks, it should take quite a few weeks, not just days. You don’t want to cut corners with this one – a bad MM hire can wreak havoc with procurement and stock control long after they’ve arrived in the system.

What’s the biggest mistake companies make when interviewing SAP MM candidates?

Relying too much on common questions like ‘what is a purchase order’ as opposed to putting them through their paces by asking them to actually think through a problem. A candidate could have memorized the relevant info and never actually made something work before. Problem solving questions – such as what you would do in the event of a vendor delivery mismatch – often reveal the issue fairly quickly.

Should I look for S/4HANA experience specifically, or is ECC experience enough?

It depends on where your company is in the journey. If you’re still on ECC, you’re OK for the time being. But if you’re leaping to S/4HANA next month (or you’ve already done it), you need to find someone who has experience working with the technology in the real world.