SAP Roles

[FICO]

I've found the market very quiet since finishing my last contract in Dec 2008.

I haven't seem many roles and have been looking daily.

I have 3 years FICO experience but have noticed many of the job roles are looking for 5+ years experience at this moment.

I am considering going back to a perm role for the time being whilst the market is quiet the freshen up my skills and stave my boredom and have been applying for these very recently.

[rootsnall]

I'm a ABAP / ABAP Objects developer and BI modeller. Currently on highest rates since I began SAP in 1997 (especially when factoring in exchange rates), and have two large contracts for this year

You are doing well. I'm on 60% of my 1997 peak as we speak ! I missed a good chance to do BI in the early days

I've just joined a latest greatest project doing as much OO stuff as possible, what a dogs dinner the code is with the OO and non OO mix, the latest stuff produced by the vendor themselves is even more of dogs dinner. I suspect my rate will climb post depression

[NotAllThere]

While coding with Objects can lead to much more robust systems, if someone who doesn't know what they're doing attempts it leads to several dogs dinners. Which is where I get to clean up...

[rootsnall]

While coding with Objects can lead to much more robust systems, if someone who doesn't know what they're doing attempts it leads to several dogs dinners. Which is where I get to clean up...

I have my doubts about OO even in a properly designed pure OO system.

In the .Net hybrid world I have no doubts at all that it is a dogs dinner come what may.

[SAPRec]

State of the market

I couldnt help noticing the site whilst doing a bit of ground work into SAP roles tonight & wanted to offer the following comment in reference to the original post.

I work for an SAP Recruitment Specialist & there is certainly an element of truth in what you say regarding the job boards being flooded with 'bogus' ads or ads for roles that are not live. My experience within this area of recruitment (which is 8 months) is that companies will tend to put 'feeler' ads out to see who is available if they have 'potential' roles that they believe may be coming up.

The ads will vary from the size of the agency & the quality of their own database, the company I work for has a database of in excess of 10,000 candidates which is searched prior to any ad going on the job boards. With contract positions my personal experience whether it be for end user or consultancy company would suggest that the client will look for a contractor who's skills are 100% spot on for the role ie you have had the relevent experience in the role that is being advertised & more often than not on 2 or 3 projects. Therefore the numbers of ads being submitted by agencies would only ever be in relation to the quality of candidates they already hold on their own database.

Recruitment agents generally tend to have a good memory of who they have placed into roles previously & their skills so would try to maintain a working relationship with those individuals or even ask for referrals if that individual cannot assist at the time.

The way the market looks in the UK is not great presently, but as a previous poster mentioned its going to be a good year for contracting as a number of publically listed companies will have share-holders to appease, be trimming the wage bill down for permanent staff but still be left with the requirement to bring people in...so they have to turn to contractors.

Most of the larger organisations have now turned to purely in house recruitment to cut costs & if they are using agencies are operating to a strict Preferred Supplier List so this should hopefully eliminate a lot of the crap that is being posted to simply snare candidates in.

Mainland Europe looks to be the place to go over the next 12 months or if you have language skills the South American market is also extremely buoyant.

[NotAllThere]

Yes, but how much does the South American market pay?

[NickNick]

Hmm, skiing in Bariloche. And where are we talking?

[rootsnall]

Yes, but how much does the South American market pay?

I tried to land a contract in South America in the boom days but could never quite pull it off, the money was OK back then.

I suspect the South America boom, if there is one, is due to one or two roll outs as their economies are I think as stuffed as ours.

[NotAllThere]

In '98 I was offered one in Columbia. £1000 a day, three weeks in, two weeks out, flights paid for. Secure compound + bodyguard.

That's what clinched it - if I need a bodyguard and a secure compound, forget it.

[Brussels Slumdog]

UK verses Europe job market and job adds

[QUOTE=SAPRec;794052].

I work for an SAP Recruitment Specialist & there is certainly an element of truth in what you say regarding the job boards being flooded with 'bogus' ads or ads for roles that are not live. My experience within this area of recruitment (which is 8 months) is that companies will tend to put 'feeler' ads out to see who is available if they have 'potential' roles that they believe may be coming up.


Some of the adds are a complete give away and you dont even need to apply. Just phone one or two of the agencies you have a good relation with and ask about the postion.
eg Included in the add are the words " FICO consultant" "Maccelsfield" and "must have pharmaceutical experience"
Answer just how many Mutinational pharmaceutical companies are there in Maccelsfield?

One job site seems to contain adds only by one or two agencies who I have been told are actually the same company.

In europe all the SAP jobs suddenly require you to speak the local language