Follow-up report: "SAP certification - and then?"
At the joint cooperation event "SAP certification - and then?", the organizers erp4students, INSIRE Consulting and full.stop consulting brought students and business together and also trained the participants in the social skills that are necessary for the everyday work of an SAP consultant a workshop.
Collect information about SAP certifications, network with experienced IT consultants and improve social skills in a playful way? This is exactly what the participants of the event "SAP certification - and then?", which was organized and carried out by erp15students, INSIRE Consulting and full.stop consulting on September 2017, 4, experienced. The venue was the Triple Z in Essen-Katernberg. There, students and future young professionals were given the opportunity to find out about SAP certifications and the everyday life of an IT consultant. Everyday life as a consultant requires a high level of social skills; For this reason, the participants went through a typical communication workshop, which is also carried out with employees at INSIRE Consulting. The lectures and the workshop were held by employees of all companies and projects involved.
Made the beginning Daniel Schnaithmann, who works in PR and marketing at erp4students and presented the e-learning program. The program at the University of Duisburg-Essen, which has been running successfully since 2006, offers students, in cooperation with SAP University Alliances, the opportunity to deal intensively with the topic of "Enterprise Resource Planning" with SAP solutions and the corresponding theoretical and practical skills during their studies build up. Daniel Schnaithmann sensitized the participants to the advantages that SAP knowledge can have on the job market. After the three-quarter-hour presentation, there was a question and answer session, in which lively interest in the courses offered, the various career opportunities and the SAP areas addressed was shown.
Rainer Wollmann, managing director seamlessly at this point. INSIRE consulting is a highly specialized consulting company at the interface between group accounting, corporate planning and their implementation in appropriate software solutions. INSIRE consulting advises large corporations and medium-sized companies. Using practical project examples, Rainer Wollmann presented what the day-to-day work of a SAP consultant with a focus on group accounting and corporate management looks like. Everyone present was able to see how the theoretically learned SAP knowledge is applied in practice in companies. In addition, the participants gained an insight into the dynamic, appreciative corporate culture and the on-boarding program for graduates at INSIRE consulting. The participants showed great interest and asked a wide variety of questions about the on-boarding process, customer contact, how important knowledge of German is and application deadlines. Mr. Wollmann emphasized the importance of the consultants being able to talk to the customers on site and convey complex content. That is why INSIRE consulting offers its employees regular training tailored to their needs. Rainer Wollmann: "We create the optimal conditions for learning and personal development". One of the participants asked: "How important is a SAP certificate if I want to apply to INSIRE as a graduate?" Rainer Wollmann answered: "A SAP certificate is a great plus, but not a must, since we also train internally technically and professionally; nevertheless, it makes it easier for both sides to get started. University graduates who study modules such as ERP, BW or ABAP online at erp4students and deal with the subject for 180 hours have completely different starting conditions, and INSIRE consulting rates that very positively.” Another participant wanted to know how the opportunities for advancement at INSIRE consulting look like. Rainer Wollmann explained the career stages at INSIRE and the respective criteria associated with them and said that university graduates are classified as junior consultants.” The question also arose as to whether one could apply at any time or only apply for certain phases . Mr. Wollmann explained that you can apply at any time and, as you should be taken, go through an individually tailored on-boarding program. The question of the classic applicant profile was also asked. “The classic application comes from a person who has either studied business administration with a focus on accounting or controlling, business informatics or computer science. It is important that there is an interest in acting at the interface between accounting/controlling and IT; Of course, career changers are also welcome."
During the lunch break, the focus was on the network concept. Here, all those present got closer to talking with snacks and drinks and exchanged ideas, e.g. B. about your studies, career or everyday life.
Amina Wollman, business coach and managing director of full.stop consulting, conducted the communication workshop after the lunch break. full.stop consulting offers management-level coaching and training in the areas of HR management, leadership and corporate communications. Business coach Amina Wollmann playfully drew the participants' attention to an important component in the consulting profession: social skills. After a short self-analysis of the personality based on the DISC model, the participants could finally become active themselves in a group game. The core of the game was to communicate with each other without using words and thereby achieve a common goal. The game revealed the often unconscious strengths and weaknesses of the participants. In the subsequent exchange with Amina Wollmann, these points were discussed and it was explained how important it is to position yourself in a company with certain character traits in order to be able to form a team. Participation in this workshop was certified accordingly. Finally, at the end of the day of the event, business cards and e-mail addresses for application documents were also exchanged in order to create added value for everyone involved beyond the day of the event.
Overall, everyone involved looked back positively on the successful and informative day. "I have successfully completed modules at erp4students and the question in the title 'what then?' approached me immediately to take part in this workshop,” recalled one of the participants. One of the participants explained: “I didn't have any concrete ideas about the workshop, but wanted to know which paths would be open to me later with SAP knowledge. The workshop made this clear to me." Both the lectures and the workshop were an enrichment for the participants, which is why this should certainly not have been the last event of this kind.