How Does Someone Who Can’t Afford SAP Training Break Into SAP?
It’s a good question - how do you break into SAP when you’re low on cash? The SAP Academy is many things, but it’s sure as heck not cheap. I hear from a lot of folks who are strapped financially but have good skills. They are disappointed to feel they can’t get into the SAP Academy and therefore into SAP. But there’s good news: you don’t need SAP training to break into SAP.
At best, SAP training and certification is a "nice to have" when you’re trying to get into SAP. But it’s really not the key to breaking into the field. Now that the consulting market is heating up again, a few lucky souls are getting into SAP armed only with certification. But they are still the exceptions. The rule is that you have to get SAP project experience in order to land an SAP consulting gig.
So how do you do that? How do you break the "no experience" cycle? Well, you start by throwing your assumptions about training out the window. You ready for the unglamorous truth? The real key is good old fashioned legwork. You have to study the SAP product line. Fun, right? Then, once you understand how SAP is evolving, you (yawn) inventory your own skills and then try to map them into SAP. Yep, it’s fun stuff breaking into SAP. I can see why people look to SAP training as the "fix-all." The alternative is pretty hard work.
But seriously, what you get from such homework is you figure out what parts of your background are of value to companies implementing SAP, and which aspects of SAP you should be targeting. Once you have that figured out, it’s time for more glamorous research. Then you have to look into the companies in your field that are running on SAP. You want a short list of the companies that are closest to your industry and will find your overall background appealing.
Is it fun? Is it sexy? Well, maybe it is - probably depends on the company and the situation. But it’s not a super-fast way of getting into the field. But the good news is that this is a proven way to get yourself onto an SAP project. I’ve seen many folks pull it off - folks that couldn’t afford a dime towards an SAP training course.
Yes, it’s not a fast way of getting into SAP, but it’s worked time and time again, and it can work for you. And if you have to start as a salaried employee, remember that as you pick up SAP skills, you’ll be able to take a look at consulting roles. The way to think about these markets is that you get paid in skills first, and once you have the skills, then you can get paid in cash.
I hope this lended some good insight into the art of breaking into SAP, and it is an art. I wrote a longer article on this topic at ERPgenie. If you haven’t gotten your fill on this topic yet, then check the longer piece out.
Thanks for the question, and good luck!
November 27th, 2007 at 11:24 am...
I really liked this article. Very encouraging and practical words for the SAP newcomers.
I have taken my notes and now will try to implement this strategy
regards,
Adnan
December 8th, 2007 at 9:42 pm...
My case is the other way around, I’ve been involved in SAP project in my company since day one, and I got involved in every step of ASAP roadmap. Do I still need a certification to get into the consultant market ?, if not, then how do I tell the market about my experience in my resume ?
December 10th, 2007 at 10:18 pm...
You ask a good question about the importance of SAP certification, and I’ll write more about that in this blog in the future. For now, if you go into the “career center” section of this web site on the left hand side, click on “best of the web”, and read the ERPgenie pieces, I touch a lot on the value of certification in those articles.
But for your purposes, the good news is that hands-on experience is a lot more important than cerfication. When you make your new resume, simply make sure to include a significant amount of detail on your SAP project on your resume, loaded with plenty of SAP keywords that highlight the key responsibilities you assumed on your project.
It may be that you need more project experience before you can consult, but the first step is to get your resume together, apply to some consulting jobs, and see what the response is. Either way, if you have trouble landing a consulting job, it won’t be due to lack of certification, but because you need to have more hands-on experience first.
- Jon Reed -
May 10th, 2008 at 12:19 pm...
Jon I think to break into SAP, one needs to have SAP certification because it increases your marketability and can get tier 1 companies because companies can boast of SAP certification. Would you agree?
May 12th, 2008 at 5:29 pm...
I’ve written about this kind of thing a lot, and I don’t agree that breaking into SAP requires SAP certification. I think it can be an asset, but I don’t think it’s necessarily the key. The key is to take your previous industry experience and tie it into a part of the SAP product where you can provide some value almost as soon as you get onto a project site.
Also, check out my latest blog posts on breaking into SAP:
http://www.jonerp.com/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,20/cat,9/
also check out “guided tour” of how to get your SAP career questions answered:
http://www.trailfire.com/jonreed/marks/184239
make sure to check out my “best of the web” links also, especially the SearchSAP.com stuff, where I have answered a lot of questions on breaking into SAP, and the ERPGenie.com pieces:
http://www.jonerp.com/content/view/25/35/
- Jon Reed -
May 12th, 2008 at 5:34 pm...
p.s. I just realized I missed part of your question. Yes, Tier One consulting firms do like to have as many SAP certified consultants on their staff as possible, but remember, that it’s now difficult for Tier One firms to get companies to agree to take SAP consultants on their projects who have certification but no practical experience. It can happen, but only in rare instances. That’s why the most likely way you would get your first SAP project experience these days is working directly for a company implementing SAP, and those folks are less concerned about SAP certification and more concerned about the overall value of your skill set. IF you’re not certain on this, I recommend checking out the SAP open jobs on a site like Dice.com. You’ll see that very few require SAP certification.
- Jon Reed -
May 25th, 2008 at 4:22 am...
Hi Jon,
I’ve been sifting through a pile of data on this site and others . You’rs of course is the best when it comes to pre empting the readers questions and answering them before hand. But mine is a different case. Well I’m an engineers with a telco with roughly 6 years of experience. Now (get ready for this) I want to get into SAP, people say stupidly, without any background into SAP. All I have is the desire for doing it and hard work to back it up. Do you think it is stupid to think of such a shift. If not than how do I start. Which modules or courses to go for , to make myself more sellable. I know it can be frustrating to be a fresher all over again but I’m ready for it. Just point me in the right direction. How can I get there , and to be honest , money is one of the powerful motivator for this decision. Do you feel its a gamble, and to be refrained from. ? I’m dying to get an answer as a lot depends on it. I’m counting on you jon to give me the most honest of your advice even if its politically incorrerct. I want it raw with no frills . sincerely counting on you Piyush B
May 26th, 2008 at 10:57 am...
Hi Piyush.
You are right, I have written very extensively on this topic, and your situation actually fits in well with situations I have written about many times before. But yes, many people without prior experience in SAP have broken into the field, and it still happens all the time.
The way people break into SAP these days is, as I’ve said, by being a full time employee for a company implementing SAP and getting pulled into the implementation, sometimes starting on the user or super-level, and working your way in from there.
Good careers always involve some gambles, because if you stay too long in one situation, you will stagnate and be less marketable. You reduce the risk by planning carefully and making a strategic decision to take advantage of your current skills and apply them to an area of SAP, or something else, that can use your skills.
It’s possible that your engineering background lines up well, for example, with the SAP PLM module. You may want to study up on it. I’ve said it many times but anytime you an bring your current experience to bear, you have a better chance of breaking into SAP.
It probably doesn’t surprise you to hear me say this, but I’m not willing to bear the responsibility for how your career turns out based on what I say here. That responsibility is yours and yours alone.
Having said that, I will caution you that I don’t think pursuing SAP primarily for the money is a good idea. The time to make a quick buck in SAP is a long haul. SAP represents a very viable career path, but it takes tons of work and tons of time. You don’t want to waste your life chasing something you don’t have passion for. What you need to do is find a passion for SAP that goes beyond money, and see how your skills fit into that. If you can’t find the passion to excel in SAP for its own sake, you likely won’t succeed and you’d be better off doing something else.
I hope that helps.
- Jon Reed -
June 16th, 2008 at 2:14 pm...
Hi Jon,
I am planning to take up my first hands on training in SAP MM,WM,IM and Consol. I have an MBA and 9 years of IT recruting experience. Do you think its a wise career move. I have seen folks and as a recruiter i have seen SAP consultants making big billing rates. Will my MBA /SAP Training help me get a good consulting job. I am only looking to be a functional consultant right now as my technical skills are barely minimal. Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks Jon
June 16th, 2008 at 8:11 pm...
Your question is one I have already pretty much answered in various forms, but the bottom line is that I don’t advocate getting into SAP for the bill rates anymore. SAP is NOT EASY to break into, and SAP careers can be rewarding and pay well, but they are hard work and require real passionate dedication. I would only pursue SAP if I felt that way about the product.
I like your overall plan and I think the MBA/SAP training could definitely help you to get a consulting job, but if you read my stuff, you’ll see that I don’t find too many folks getting an SAP consulting job right away. Usually you need to take a perm job with an SAP end user first, and that doesn’t necessarily pay all that well.
Your strategy makes sense, but there are no guarantees and it may take a while for your career to gain momentum.
- Jon Reed-
August 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm...
Hi Jon,
Like Piyush, I too have an engineering background with 6 years of experience in product design and development. I was also trained in SAP PLM PDM (not from SIEMENS) and have been trying to enter into an SAP PLM job since early 2007. I almost got into a couple of jobs as a fresher but could not because of my salary. Salary is not the main criteria for me but rather the passion for this field that has made me to still hang on to it.
I started to get frustrated and almost put aside SAP for some time. After reading this, I feel very comfortable and confident.
Thank you for doing a great job encouraging us.
Have a nice day!
Satya
September 27th, 2008 at 7:05 pm...
hi iam a graduate in science, and have 2+ yrs in recruitments, iam very much interested and want to study sap hr, but, financial crisis , i have study material for sap hr, and iam pursuing my mba from icfai through distance, plz help n advice me wat i shld do to enhance my careeer awaiting for ur earliest reply.
Thanks & Regards,
Lilac…
September 29th, 2008 at 5:48 am...
I’m not sure what you mean by financial crisis. I assume you are referring to the general financial market upheaval rather than your personal situation.
Anyhow, I’ve written a lot about breaking into SAP in this blog and I don’t have a whole lot new to add at the moment. But, I do like your SAP HR focus, and now it’s a matter of finding a company running on (or implementing) SAP HR that will hire you.
You may also want to consider getting some online HR module book or training sessions. You can get affordable training online these days, that may help you as well.
As far as the financial market upheaval, I don’t think we can let that distract us too much from our career pursuits. If we let the fear of what is happening in the market get to us, we wouldn’t be able to move forward. I would suggest to keep going with your career pursuits, and hopefully the market will bounce back. If the market gets a lot worse than it is right now, SAP will be the least of our worries.
- Jon Reed -
October 4th, 2008 at 3:35 am...
I am from Egypt and now I have a chance to work as SAP BI in large automotive company in Egypt.
In this company they told me they will trained me first on SD module then I will shift to BI team
I am working now in software house as Business Objects Developer
The problem that I am afraid from this position because if I left this automotive company I will not find job opportunity to work as BI module has no demand as other modules such as FICO and MM
so I really I need your advice should I stay in my current career or left it to the new company and If I will get job opportunities abroad from Egypt if I left the automotive company and if I will get the experience of work in order to travel
October 7th, 2008 at 3:12 am...
Hi Mohamed.
You posted your comment three times, so this is a good time for me to say to folks: this is a moderated blog, has to be due to comment spam. So, there is a delay after you post the first time. After you post once, your comment goes in directly in most cases without moderation.
Mohamed, I think you’re making this a little too hard on yourself. Basically, the way you move ahead in SAP is you apply to a range of job openings, and take the best offer you can get.
I’m not sure I agree that BI is a bad area. You need to study SAP’s direction a bit more, and you’ll realize BI is central to where SAP is headed strategically. Perhaps you can even combine SD and BI instead of thinking of them as separate.
Finally, if you read more of my stuff, you’ll see that I always advise people to worry LESS about what’s hot and focus more on the area of SAP you are truly passionate in. Then, work the heck out of that area, and if it’s something you love, you will excel in it, and that’s how you become a top consultant, years and years of working away at something you love, or at least, like the most within SAP.
- Jon Reed -
October 18th, 2008 at 5:36 pm...
Dear Jon,
Hope you are fine.
I must thank you for the great job you are doing in the field of SAP.
Now being an SAP Professional and presently a Program Manager of my company my job is to develop the business for it by getting post implementation support jobs in the field of SAP. Jon pls advise some good things as to how best I could do this in a fast way. My company has good experience of providing sap support and even implementaion as solution partners of approved highly reknowned SAP business implementation patners. Our aim is to bag orders for post implementation support from the market
Thanks and
Best Regards
Afaan
March 19th, 2009 at 1:06 pm...
hi jon
i’ve been wondering how best to break into SAP and with the help from u, its looking brighter but would also want to know from your experience what part is easiest to learn. i like the idea of HR cos i have some sort ox experience in humman resources. thanks a lot