How to hire a sap abap consultant

Sap abap consultant hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring sap abap consultants in the United States:

There are currently 9,047 sap abap consultants in the US, as well as 32,109 job openings.
Sap abap consultants are in the highest demand in Atlanta, GA, with 3 current job openings.
The median cost to hire a sap abap consultant is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new sap abap consultant to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a sap abap consultant, step by step

To hire a sap abap consultant, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a sap abap consultant, you should follow these steps:

Here's a step-by-step sap abap consultant hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a sap abap consultant job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new sap abap consultant
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a sap abap consultant do?

In the information technology industry, SAP ABAP Consultants specialize in developing and recommending strategies to optimize system operations and provide solutions against problem areas. They typically meet with clients to identify their needs and preferences, conduct research and assessments, gather and analyze data from various operations, develop action plans and cost estimates, conduct risk assessments, and identify existing issues, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, SAP ABAP consultants typically work in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.

Learn more about the specifics of what a sap abap consultant does

Post a sap abap consultant job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

Before you post your sap abap consultant job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a sap abap consultant for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

A sap abap consultant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, sap abap consultants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

Here's a comparison of sap abap consultant salaries for various roles:

Type of SAP Abap Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
SAP Abap Consultant	Computer systems analysts study an organization’s current computer systems and procedures and design information systems solutions to help the organization operate more efficiently and effectively. They bring business and information technology (IT) together by understanding the needs and limitations of both.	$32-58
Programmer Analyst	A programmer analyst is responsible for monitoring database performance and software applications, performing basic troubleshooting, and improving program operations as needed. Programmer analysts' duties also include making adjustments on the system based on client's specifications, creating reports for any updates and new system procedures, designing specific technology solutions to improve the business operations, and performing necessary code adjustments... Show more	$26-43
Sap/Abap Developer	An SAP/ABAP developer is responsible for designing and creating software programs and applications through the SAP and ABAP programming codes. They conduct multiple diagnostic tests for newly-created and existing applications to ensure adherence to quality standards and requirements... Show more	$37-65

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- SAP Abap
- Custom Fields
- BDC
- Purchase Orders
- IDOC
- SAP ECC
- OData
- BADI
- PI
- User Exits
- Web Dynpro
- Sales Orders
- ALV
- HR
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Manage the necessary extractors and perform the necessary enhancements.
- Configure IDOC settings relate to segment, IDOC type, message type, partner profile, port, RFC connection etc.
- Configure the EDI process to enable client to exchange documents with the business partners.
- Develop a program to update credit card details from a FTP file in FI/CO.
- Develop a BDC for FICO to calculate and update full payment, partial payment and pending.
- Develop the data migration programs for vendor master and customer master upload from legacy system using LSMW.
More sap abap consultant duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your sap abap consultant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A sap abap consultant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

For example, the average salary for a sap abap consultant in Utah may be lower than in California, and an entry-level sap abap consultant usually earns less than a senior-level sap abap consultant. Additionally, a sap abap consultant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

Average sap abap consultant salary

$91,390yearly

$43.94 hourly rate

Entry-level sap abap consultant salary

$68,000 yearly salary

Updated December 15, 2025

Average sap abap consultant salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$117,374	$56
2	Washington	$101,272	$49
3	Georgia	$101,073	$49
4	Texas	$94,356	$45
5	Massachusetts	$92,655	$45
6	New Jersey	$90,277	$43
7	Louisiana	$88,716	$43
8	Oregon	$87,422	$42
9	New York	$86,130	$41
10	Pennsylvania	$85,345	$41
11	Colorado	$84,642	$41
12	Nebraska	$82,676	$40
13	Minnesota	$82,132	$39
14	Tennessee	$81,642	$39
15	Indiana	$81,496	$39
16	Illinois	$80,406	$39
17	Wisconsin	$78,028	$38
18	Ohio	$77,555	$37

Average sap abap consultant salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Kelly Services	$119,757	$57.58
2	Invenio Solutions	$111,691	$53.70
3	attune	$111,318	$53.52
4	Zoominfo	$109,441	$52.62
5	Smart Energy Water	$106,747	$51.32
6	Sagarsoft	$106,686	$51.29
7	XyantServices	$106,375	$51.14
8	Synergy ITS	$106,241	$51.08
9	Sv	$105,867	$50.90	7
10	NIMBL	$104,386	$50.19	1
11	Schindler Elevator	$104,178	$50.09
12	DXC Technology	$103,102	$49.57	5
13	Software Technology	$102,930	$49.49	1
14	Stefanini	$102,752	$49.40	7
15	SITA	$99,971	$48.06
16	Accenture	$99,218	$47.70	648
17	Maganti IT Resources	$99,174	$47.68
18	Tekshapers	$98,967	$47.58
19	The APP Solutions	$98,062	$47.15
20	Xavient Information Systems	$98,028	$47.13

Writing a sap abap consultant job description
A job description for a sap abap consultant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a sap abap consultant job description:
Sap abap consultant job description example
SAP S4 Hana experience with RPA

Knowledge about concepts like SSO, Principal Propagation, etc

Knowledge of Upgrade projects/Support Pack applications and hands on experience of SPAU resolution/OSS note application

Expert with FIORI design patterns and UI Theme Designer

Hands-on experience with FIORI/SAP FIORI/UI5

Experience developing analytical applications using Dashboard Controls with FIORI

Extensive experience on SAP UX, NetWeaver, SAPUI5, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, jQuery

Experience on Utilizing semantic layers when building Odata XS Applications

Experience building Odata services (BW/BEX Queries)

Hands-on experience of designing and developing RICEF (Reports, Interfaces, BAPI, IDoc, Exits, BADI and Forms).

Should be able to provide technical solutions by understanding functional requirements.

Knowledge on Agile, scrum, Jira tool will be a plus.

Design, develop or build, improve, test and support ERP Applications using core ABAP and ABAP on HANA.

Provide technical guidance to product owners, Scrum master, functional teams, testing teams, compliance, and other development team members across different sectors /platforms.

Provide documented technical design proposals, estimates, specifications, and maintenance guides.

Be part of the supply chain core development team, constantly expanding and improving the current product being developed

Hands-on development experience of RICEF objects in both ABAP on HANA and Core ABAP with good exposure to the different types and complexities of developments using classic and newer technologies.

Good knowledge of ABAP 7.x coding standards and using ABAP Development Tools

Experience with S/4 HANA Extensibility Framework/Techniques

Solid understanding of web development technologies like SAP UI5, HTML5, Webservices, SOAP, JavaScript & Web frameworks.

Strong hands-on knowledge in end-to-end UX development cycle & design principles such as Fiori.

Detailed experience in ABAP CDS views, oDATA, REST/JSON, XML (including debugging)

Sound analytical and problem-solving skills with experience in debugging and root cause analysis and the ability to propose/implement suitable resolutions for such issues as bug fixes and performance tuning, etc.

Good knowledge of business processes in more than one of the following modules: SD, MM, PP.

Experience in CAP (Cloud Application Programming Model) & RAP (RESTful ABAP Application Programming model)

Hands on experience of tools like Business Application Studio, SAP HANA Studio/Eclipse & GIT, SAPUI5/OpenUI5/ Java/ Java Script

REST API Development on SAP and consuming with Planet9 Apps, FIORI Tiles on S/4 HANA with ODATA or BAPI or other Integrations & Side by Side Extensions with S/4 HANA

Knowledge about concepts like SSO, Principal Propagation, etc

Knowledge of Upgrade projects/Support Pack applications and hands on experience of SPAU resolution/OSS note application

Expert with FIORI design patterns and UI Theme Designer

Hands-on experience with FIORI/SAP FIORI/UI5

Experience developing analytical applications using Dashboard Controls with FIORI

Extensive experience on SAP UX, NetWeaver, SAPUI5, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, jQuery

Experience on Utilizing semantic layers when building Odata XS Applications

Experience building Odata services (BW/BEX Queries)
Post your job
To find sap abap consultants for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any sap abap consultants they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level sap abap consultants with the right educational background.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your sap abap consultant job on Zippia to find and recruit sap abap consultant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting sap abap consultants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.
Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.
While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a sap abap consultant applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:
- TestDome
- CodeSignal
- Testlify
- BarRaiser
- Coderbyte
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new sap abap consultant
Once you've decided on a perfect sap abap consultant candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new sap abap consultant. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a sap abap consultant?

Recruiting sap abap consultants involves both the one-time costs of hiring and the ongoing costs of adding a new employee to your team. Your spending during the hiring process will mostly be on things like promoting the job on job boards, reviewing and interviewing candidates, and onboarding the new hire. Ongoing costs will obviously involve the employee's salary, but also may include things like benefits.

You can expect to pay around $91,390 per year for a sap abap consultant, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for sap abap consultants in the US typically range between $32 and $58 an hour.

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Updated December 15, 2025

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How to hire a sap abap consultant