A Management Consultant in IT Consulting

Ines Göppert, SAP HCM Consultant at valantic, shows how this works

Ines Göppert has been a part of the valantic team for three months. In the interview, she provides some insight into how, even without an IT background, she found her way in the world of IT consulting quickly thanks to efficient onboarding.

How was your start at valantic?

I got to know valantic people GmbH (at the time, still PROC-IT GmbH) when I was an intern during my bachelor’s studies. After completing my master’s in business administration, I first worked as an HCM management consultant at a large management consulting company. My previous internship led me back to valantic people. I made direct contact with the management and asked whether they might be able to use me somehow. After an interview, everything moved very quickly. Three months ago, I started as an SAP Human Capital Management consultant at valantic people.

From day 1, I have felt very comfortable and welcomed by everyone. To get to know the company, its processes, tools, and my colleagues, an in-person onboarding was prepared and organized despite the coronavirus. The onboarding at valantic people was perfect. Everything I needed to know on the first day was already organized.

And the group-wide valantic onboarding was very enriching. I got good insight into the organization and its overarching strategy, and I familiarized myself with the individual divisions and competence centers. Especially exciting for me during the second digital event was that I got to know all of my new colleagues, their various roles, and professional backgrounds. In my opinion, this is enormously valuable for future cooperation on SAP projects.

To get me started, I have a “sponsor” at my side, whom I can contact at any time and who will answer all my questions. All of my other colleagues are also always ready to help and they like sharing their knowledge with me. That’s really great.

What do you especially like about valantic?

At valantic, I especially like the feeling of the familiar environment in your own competence center and at the same time, being part of a whole. Communication paths are short, hierarchies are flat, and that’s not the only reason why you quickly have conversations with everyone as equals. I especially like that everyone is prepared to share knowledge and they are all very engaged.

Although most of my colleagues are based in the Fürth location, I can work flexibly from my home office or, since I live in Mannheim, I can work from the Mannheim office. This flexibility is very convenient for me and my current situation.

What are the specific challenges of your job?

If I look back across my three months at valantic, no two days have been the same. I was integrated very quickly into ongoing projects, which posed a variety of challenges for me. In addition to specialized process topics such as the complexity of payroll, I have to be on top of the technical details. For in the end, it must be possible to map the processes as well as possible in the SAP system. Since, in contrast to many of my colleagues, I did not study IT, it’s a special challenge for me, which provides precisely the right appeal.

That sounds really exciting. Tell us precisely what you do as an SAP HCM Consultant at valantic.

Our team specializes in payroll and guarantees our customers smooth payroll processes. Here, our spectrum ranges from SAP HCM implementation projects to application management. The topics included are taxes, operating agreements, compensation for shorter working hours, and wage taxes.

My task area as SAP HCM Consultant is unbelievably varied; I learn something new every day. My many and varied tasks include, among others, adjustments within HCM customizing, mapping a variety of HR matters, solving problems, and troubleshooting in payroll, as well as implementing customer requests. Added to this are the project activities such as formulating designs, moderating workshops, and conducting end user trainings for our customers.

As an SAP HCM Consultant, I am regularly in contact with customers and their contact people with regard to all questions relating to the topic of human capital management. That’s what I can report after three months, and I’m looking forward to a lot more projects with my team.