Train on the Job as an Independent ERP Consultant Tips

There’s no shame in asking a superior ERP consultant to guide you. However, there is the potential for professional awkwardness in such a situation—for example, if your mentor is under the impression that you know more than you do, or if the mentor is too busy to be able to give you a hand. The situation requires the utmost tact and discretion on your part because, if mishandled, it can hurt you professionally, and hurt the project you’re on.

Thus, when looking for a mentor, first make certain that your target is someone who has both the inclination and the bandwidth to help you. Ask about the potential mentor’s attitude to this kind of situation in casual conversation first. And, it goes without saying, make sure you have an excellent relationship with the potential mentor, because this will minimize the chances of your being rejected. If worst comes to worst, wait until after the project, and ask the potential mentor questions by email and phone; it’ll build up your knowledge base more slowly, and outside the context of a project, but it’s better than nothing.

You can learn on the job by learning from the job itself; however, once you know the parameters of the ERP consulting job, you can proactively learn more about aspects of your consulting work. There’s a thin line here between being under-prepared coming in and wanting to sharpen your skills as you are actually applying them. If you’re genuinely under-prepared, you can’t catch up on the job, as the work is simply too intense and demanding to leave you the space necessary to plug major gaps in your knowledge.

That said, if you need to learn as you go, there are excellent knowledge resources in the marketplace. For example, there are many technical books on SAP and Oracle that can give you step-by-step directions for getting even the most complicated tasks done. The books are a better resource than websites, which often lack both detail and context. Amazon will help you find these books—but be aware that some can take well over two or three weeks to get to your door, so try to anticipate your learning needs beforehand.

If there’s a small gap in your ERP consulting knowledge, a new platform at CumulusIQ.com will let you find and download plenty of mini-training objects—e-books, articles, even video demos—that can help you at a specific task. CumulusIQ calls this approach "bite-sized training," and the platform currently includes hundreds of experienced SAP and Oracle consultants who have created a marketplace of highly targeted ERP training tools. Many items on the site are free, and some training tips are quite inexpensive.

CumulusIQ is a good source for not only project-specific tips—that is, knowledge you need on a specific job—but also as a way to plug up holes in your knowledge. College courses, traditional training, and books can’t give you exhaustive knowledge, and you can’t always access them easily. A searchable Web-based approach could be your best option when what you need is only bite-sized training, not a complete refresher course.

There are plenty of ERP consulting jobs, especially in the support realm, that offer you exposure to different ERP modules. This is actually a great learning opportunity. If you’re on the low rung of the consulting ladder, you’ll be able to sample a couple of different career tracks for you as you advance in the profession. Now’s your chance to begin preparing for that future. As early as you can, narrow down what you want to specialize in later on, and start tailoring your learning to that function. If you’re exposed to both SAP CRM and SAP HCM, for example, start thinking about which module is the best for your future career chances, and prepare accordingly.

This is not a luxury you’ll have if you’re higher up on the consulting ladder, so don’t waste your opportunity, and don’t think that your time in so-called lower level positions is wasted. On the contrary, it’s a free chance for you to learn what you want to do, and to become better at it while the stakes are lower.

The client may not be able to teach you much about technical stuff like configuration, but it’s a sure bet that they’re business process experts who can help you understand how an industry works. This knowledge is actually a treasure trove for you. Asking the client about their business, and the processes that distinguish it, will help you accumulate knowledge that will come in handy the next time you service the same kind of client in an ERP consulting job—which could be sooner than you think.

Now that both SAP and Oracle are moving towards more focused, industry- and process-specific versions of their enterprise applications, it’s a sure bet that any and all business process knowledge you can acquire will map directly on to a specific platform or product in the ERP world. Moreover, this knowledge will endear you to future customers, who will definitely love the fact that you can speak their language.

How much you learn on the job as an ERP consultant will also depend on the ERP consulting jobs you pick, or are placed on. A straight-ahead job that doesn’t contain many surprises for you won’t give you the opportunity to learn much. However, if you push your comfort zone, you’ll invariably find yourself learning more just in order to keep up.

To that end, look out for engagements with companies that are in different industries, modules on which you’re relatively new, and genuinely interesting business problems. Sure, there’s plenty of added stress involved in getting out of your comfort zone, but learning is not something that takes place in a stress-free environment. The trick is to find something just challenging enough to give you new learning opportunities without overreaching so much that you find yourself unable to deliver on the job. If you can find that balance, you’ll turn engagements into the most productive learning opportunities you’ve ever had.

There’s a way to cheat when it comes to learning on any ERP consulting job—learn before the job! You’ll occasionally have the luxury of some lead time before you go into a consulting engagement, and you’ll be armed with lots of details in advance. Use this knowledge to your advantage before the engagement begins. You can re-read an expert guidebook to a specific module. Ask questions of advanced consultants beforehand—in fact, this is a good time to ask for some mentoring, as making such a request in the context of better preparing yourself will be welcomed by potential mentors.

The bottom line is that many consultants do not take advantage of tailoring their learning to what they know about a coming project. Don’t be in this group; use all the lead time you have to prepare, just as you would for a test. Sure, you’ll learn on the job as well, but you’ll be ahead of the game if the project-specific learning begins in advance.

There’s a rock star on every ERP project team—find the one on your team, and learn from him or her. Of course, there are a couple of ways to learn. One is to seek a more formal kind of mentoring. However, you can also learn a lot just by watching, listening, and learning. This kind of surreptitious learning is better when you feel awkward about asking for formal mentoring; moreover, it develops good habits, because watching other people on ERP consulting jobs can always help you learn, even when you’re a senior consultant.

The trick here is to put your ego aside and de-personalize the experience. Don’t look for the person who seems the most confident. Forget about personalities altogether. Look for the ERP consultants who really know what they’re doing; you’ll know them because they won’t necessarily be flashy, and they’ll talk about the project in ways that are both passionate and intelligible. Spend more time with these people, both while on the project and afterwards, and you can’t help but learn more.

So you’re in an ERP consultant job. The job is overwhelming—so much to do, so quickly, and with so much pressure to get it right. Right now, you’re only thinking about survival. But, tomorrow, you’ll regret not having captured important learning moments and experiences from the job.

Think about it this way. An actual project is more valuable than any college course or training seminar you could ever take; so why would you take notes for those scenarios, and not on your actual engagement? Therefore, capture all the knowledge you can from an engagement. Take notes, and also retain as many documents and other materials as you can; even taped conference calls can contain important nuggets of knowledge. Of course, keep in mind that confidentiality agreements may cover some of this material, so your focus should only be on capturing information that does not violate those type of agreements and could be personally relevant to you in your next job.

Provided that you didn’t fake or hustle your way into an ERP consulting job and have been straight with your recruiter about your skills from the get go, there’s nothing wrong with using the recruiter for learning purposes. This doesn’t mean that the recruiter will serve as your personal help desk! However, the recruiter can be invaluable in putting you in touch with another ERP consultant or resource that can help you achieve what you want.

Again, this is a delicate area, because you shouldn’t ask for help on any skill that you are already presumed to have. The best policy is to be transparent with your recruiter right from the beginning, so you don’t get in over your head; if you find yourself the weak link on a project team, you’re jeopardizing a lot of reputations. However, if you have some legitimate knowledge gaps, the recruiter is an excellent first stop for advice and assistance.