Talk to the professionals in an online chat
Date: Tuesday 24 January, 2012
Participant: Aaron Smyth and Ronan Cullinane from SAP
Aaron Smyth
On Tuesday 24 January from 7pm we held a live discussion with SAP’s Aaron Smyth (Senior Support Engineer) and Ronan Cullinane (Service Manager).
If we didn’t have time to answer your question during the 40-minute chat, please check back as we will follow up on the remaining questions.
Find out more about SAP in Ireland
Delighted to have SAP here with us tonight for the second of our sessions on tech careers in Ireland. Aaron Smyth and Ronan Cullinane join us now. Please do join in and post your questions now!
Hi Aaron Smyth here looking forward to the chat. I’m a Senior Support Consultant working for SAP.
Firstly about SAP – SAP is the third largest independent software company in the world. We’re the market leader in enterprise application software with locations in more than 50 countries worldwide. Our software helps some of your favourite brands run their businesses. Our large customer base includes renowned companies such as Apple, Ford, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsi, Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Samsung, HP, Harley Davidson, Porsche, and Ferrari to name but a few!
SAP software is used for almost anything you can imagine – if you’ve used the iTunes Online Store it’s SAP software doing the work in the back ground. .HP ship 30 printers, 20 PCs and 1 server every 10 seconds, everyday, using SAP software…it’s used by the banking industry to manage 50 million bank accounts worldwide. We’ve over 1100 employees in Ireland with 33 Nationalities and 23 languages.
For myself I’ve been working for SAP for 4 and a half years. My main tasks are customer code optimization and database optimization – so for example if Apple adapt our code in order to perform a particular task and it is not performing well I look at the code and try to improve it. I also check customer systems if their database queries aren’t performing well and try to optimize these.
Hi Ronan here – I studied Computer Applications in DCU, graduating in 1997. I developed Electronic Data Interchange software to transfer business data over the Internet for 2 years in C++. In 1999, I joined SAP as a Service Consultant delivering a number of technical services for database optimization. In 2004 I became a team manager, today I have a team of 21 people and work on a number of technical projects also.
Hi,
I am doing MSc. in Web Technologies from Dublin, Ireland which includes Cloud Computing , Advance Client Side Scripting, Advanced Rich Internet Application, Deployment, Enterprise Frameworks, Usability Testing and Implementation, Technological Entrepreneurship, Web Application Frameworks.
I also have work experience of 2 years in softwares. My one semester is completed and now i am looking for jobs after masters. I have good good command on Ruby on rails, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET(C#), Visual Basic, Sales Force, Java, HTML, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSON, AJAX, JQuery.
Are there any jobs related to my field in your company? If yes then what is the procedure to apply.
Hi Harsh Sharma,
You certainly have a broad mix – in SAP we actually have our own programming language called ABAP – for myself i studied software engineering with a focus on Java but for SAP once you have a development background then there are certainly positions that could suit.
You may be interested in checking http://www.careersatsap.com.
I’d also add that we are currently recruiting across all business lines for anyone who is not from a development background there are still interesting positions. In general we look at people from a variety of backgrounds from computing, mathematics, electronic engineering, languages and a variety of other backgrounds.
Hello Aaron, I’m currently in Leaving Cert and very interested in careers in IT and technology.I’m considering a computer and elctronic engineering course in UL.What sort of jobs would be availible in doing a course like this?
Hi,
I don’t have information on the specifics for the course in UL but there are certainly opportunities for this kind of degree. I guess i would have a similar background – within SAP with that background you could be doing anything from code optimization, database optimization, development or you could even go into something like testing.
Generally with any degree like that large multi national companies in my experience will take you in and train you in relation to the specific skills they need – they just want to know that you have a good base and an analytical mind with good problem solving skills – these kind of degrees give that background.
How to make contact with HR dept
Hi Tim,
the best way is to drop an email to careers.ireland@sap.com
thanks,
Ronan
Sorry if this is off topic, but what’s the social scene like in a place like SAP? And do you have a dress code in work or would most IT people be in jeans and t-shirts?
Hi Aodhan,
Luckily SAP has a relaxed dress code – it’s the same in all our locations from Dublin to Walldorf in Germany and Palo Alto in the US. It tends to be jeans and tshirt – with the exception of when you travel onsite to customers. It’s a nice bonus. SAP are also very interested in work life balance – we’re quite lucky in that way – there’s an active social club and as it’s a lively and mixed workforce in general there are plenty of chances to enjoy yourself.
Justin – Dublin occasionally!!
Hi Aaron
I am an architect that has be forced to move to the UK to find work in the construction sector but after 3 years abroad I would like to return home.
The IT sector one of the strongest options that would facilitate that and more importantly something that interests me. I have been speaking to a number of friends that working in the industry and they have been pushing me in direction JAVA programming as it’s a good area to be in and will continue to build with good employment prospects. That said without working in the sector I am not sure that I want to commit to something that focuses me in a direction without the ability to explore other areas.
A support engineering role is something that would interest me, I know that I would need to reskill but am a little bewildered as to what route or course that would be place me in the best position of gaining employment. Assuming gaining a qualification are companies like SAP looking for a potential employee to have experience as well and not just a qualification?
Thank you for any assistance
Hi Justin,
I wouldn’t focus too much on any one language. The major trends we see in computing at the moment are Big Data, Mobile Computing and Cloud Computing. Check out ICT Ireland and Irish Software Association Skillnet, http://www.isa-skillnet.com for more information on conversion courses – also check out http://www.bluebrick.ie, http://www.careersportal.ie and http://www.coursehub.ie
As regards experience, yes, we look for graduates and we also look for people with experience, so all your work history would be considered – even if it’s not necessarily in a computing background.
Thanks,
Ronan
Hi Aaron, wondering do you get to travel much and what is a typical day for you In SAP?
Hi,
SAP has locations worldwide – in over 50 locations – so luckily there are a lot of opportunities for travel from travelling to other SAP offices (for example i travelled to the US this year to give training) or travelling to a customer’s site. As our headquarters are in Walldorf in Germany there are a lot of opportunities to travel there. If you are interested in travel it’s certainly a good place to be.
With regards to a typical day – in SAP we work flexitime – which means that we can start at any time up to 10 am and leave anytime after 15:30 – so long as you do 38 hours a week you can work around that. Generally i work 08:00 to 16:30 or 17:00 and leave early on a Friday…
As far as the actual work generally i will be working with a particular customer for a week – working with them for myself generally involves improving their code or optimizing database acceesses as mentioned above – but that is just my speciality – there is a huge range of tasks at SAP so each person’s day will look different.
Many thanks for your questions folks, almost out of time so we’ll take one more.
Hi Aaron, I’m very interested in IT, computing and electronics however maths isnt my strongest subject as i enjoy a more pratical hands on approach.how important is maths?
L.C Student,
Dan
Hi Dan,
Go for it! Maths can be a large part of a lot of courses but the most important thing is a real passion for a subject.
Thanks
Ronan
Thanks for all your questions tonight and a big thank you to SAP’s Aaron and Ronan for their input this evening.