One of the pieces of information SAP Rankings provides is an experience ratings for the consultants.  

Let's be honest. It is difficult to rank SAP consultants based on quality.  There are so many variables that would go into tracking quality of an SAP consultant, and most are subjective. One of the characteristics we attempt to rate is experience. There are a few attributes that are objective enough to support an experience rating calculation also.

Here is a list of the current items we track for SAP consultants:

• number years of SAP experience
• year first started using SAP
• number of go-lives
• number of rollouts
• number of upgrade
• number times lead consultant
• SAP certification
• worked at SAP America as employee or contractor
• number years of industry experience

We are open to tracking more attributes but have found (after feedback) that this set is pretty fairly representative for calculating a good experience rating.  Perfect? No.

One of the attributes that was added after recruiter feedback and discussion was the industry experience attribute.  For example, let's say an SAP Quality Management consultant has been consulting for four years.  Not overly impressive by itself.  However, when we learn that the consultant spent 15 years in industry in a quality department and implementing SAP as an employee, that person is much more valuable.  Some companies would choose to have an industry guy with practical experience and limited consulting experience instead of a ten year Wharton theory consultant who has never physically moved product into a hold area for testing.

This SAP Rankings experience rating is not the panacea for measuring a consultant fit, but rather another tool in helping to evaluate.  It will augment your current process in sizing up the person you need for the job you have. You will still need to go through the interview process, but maybe the experience rating will help you select a better candidate or get the proper rate for the consultant's experience.

Have you ever given much thought to how recruiters do their jobs? At least when it comes to SAP recruiting, it is absolutely a numbers game with the first to the finish line with a good enough candidate getting the hire. The SAP recruiters go about filling jobs in a remarkably similar fashion to the way consultants go about finding their next projects.

As an SAP consultant looking for a project, you probably do the same thing most other consultants do: you let the recruiters that you've successfully worked with in the past know you are coming available, you update your resume / profile on Dice and LinkedIn (or the online job boards of your choice), you may check with other consultants to see if there are any needs on their projects, and possibly with former clients to see if any additional projects there they could use you for. Hopefully this will turn into a potential opportunity. 

This is almost exactly how recruiters find their candidates when they get a new hob requirement opportunity: they check it against consultants that have worked for them successfully in the past, they hit the job boards and LinkedIn, they work people that aren't currently available for referrals, and they may call into clients that have recently done similar projects. The one thing they will also do though if they don't get 2-3 good candidates quickly (i.e. 24 hours) is to contact other recruiters. No recruiter wants to go that route or working with other recrtuiers, as it adds layers and squeezes profit margins, but once again it is a numbers game that must be won quickly, or they lose the opportunity. The recruiters often times have 24 hours or less to get 2-3 candidates per opening that match up in terms of skill and rate, and get them submitted. Hopefully that leads to interviews, and hopefully that leads to a hire.

What that means to you as SAP consultants is that you may be missing out on excellent jobs that you never even knew were out there. Simply because you could not be found fast.  You may be the best candidate for numerous opportunities, but if it takes the recruiter more than 24 hours to find and communicate with you, you will never get the opportunity because you won't get submitted. By the time the recruiters gets 2-3 "acceptable" candidates, it is time to move on to the next job requirement opportunity. The placement game is all about speed and not necessarily with a focus on quality.  The recruiters are competing against other recruiters to find you, and then competing against time to get you in to the hiring manager before the deadline submital hits. If the recruiters do find you but it is through another recruiter, that means less money for everyone (including you), plus waiting longer to get paid.

How do you get found faster as an SAP consultant?

SAP Rankings offers the best way to get in front of literally several hundred of SAP Recruiters. We do this in 2 ways.

1) We Top List you in your SAP categories of expertise. When jobs are available in your area, recrtuiers see you FIRST.  Multiple internet search studies show that 80%+ of people only use results on the first returned page.  If you are not on the first page of an SAP category, chances are your competition will be contacted first for the job.

2) We actively send out profile information of our currently available Top Listed consultants in our weekly hot list report to 1000+ SAP recruiters ranging from SAP America, Big 5, niche companies, boutique and staffing companies.  This way you have immediately visibility to recruiters looking for a specific need.

SAP Rankings is an online directory and target marketing service. We can't guarantee you a job, but we get you in front of the right people at the right time to give you way more opportunities than ever before.  When you are looking for your next job, use SAP Rankings and wildly increase your visibility to the SAP world.

• SAP Rankings has the largest SAP consultant-specific publicly available online database of US and Canadian citizens available.
• You connect directly to the consultant. Reduce or eliminate layers.
• We include experienced based rating for consultants. If you have a 5 star need and can pay 5 star rates, pick a 5 star consultant. If you have a need that doesn’t require the most experienced consultant, and a constrained budget, try a 3 star experienced consultant.
• Consultant reviews are provided; not just glowing remarks from their friends. It’s like Trip Advisor for SAP Consultants.
• You get immediate access to consultants via email AND text (if the consultant has provided a mobile phone number).
• SAP hourly rates are included for all consultants that supplied that information.
• We have SAP-specific categories available to search to help you find the right consultant FAST.
• Consultant's availability is listed for premium accounts.
• We have a highly targeted database towards consultants. You don't have to wade through Big 4/SAP America types.
• It is very easy to find and communicate with target candidates. There is no need to wait for a connection.
• We track valuable info for you like the # of full lifecycle implementations, years of experience in their target areas, etc.
• We proactively weed out the fakes to save you time and effort.
• We have Market Maker accounts available for boutique firms looking to expand their brand visibility and/or advertise their bench consultants.

You need to be listed on the first page on SAP Rankings for your SAP specialization.

Of course it is nice to be listed on the first page of search results.  However, do you know it is absolutely critical?

Study after study shows that as we progress in the internet search world, the user is less likely to click to page two or page three to find what they are looking for.

Here are some  articles that should convince you how incredibly important it is to be listed on the first page for search results:

• 95% of traffic comes from first page of search results  

• First Page Search Engine Results

• If You Are Not On The First Page, You Are Dead To Us   

• First Page Or Bust: 95% of Non-Branded Natural Clicks Come From Page One   

• 2nd Page Rankings: You're the #1 Loser

So how does this relate to you and your SAP career?  If you want SAP job opportunities, you give yourself a HUGE ADVANTAGE over others if you are listed on the first page.  You may not even get noticed if you are on the second page of search results.

So make sure you as an SAP consultant are listed on the first page of SAP Rankings in your appropriate category. A small investment in your visibility to 6000 companies and 1000 recruiters could mean big dollars.

You can find SAP consultants to fill your SAP jobs on SAP Rankings.  This service is now free.  Just log on to browse the consultants that are categorized and ranked.    Contact the consultants directly about your SAP job opportunities.

You talked and we listened.  We added this free functionality so everyone can direct contact SAP consultants. That mean SAP companies, SAP recruiters, SAP consultants, SAP analysts can  use SAP Rankings to find SAP resources.