How can I get into SAP FI/CO consulting with little experience?

How can I get into SAP FI/CO consulting with little experience?

I am finding it very difficult to get a consulting job with my FI/CO training. Although I was told to post a fake resume, it never seemed to be a good idea to be in the consulting business in the first place. I am a science graduate with a limited IT background, and I was desperate to restart my career in IT. Why the switch? Simple: IT jobs are well paid, as opposed to what I get paid now with two years of experience in an engineering firm. Like I indicated before, I don't have a finance background, and a little bit of research on my end would have enabled me to choose the right module to be eventually placed anyhow. But I am finding myself in the middle of nowhere now. Please advise -- what should I do now? Is it the end of the road for me in SAP unless I get trained in a different module?

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I want to thank you for your honest question. Many people assume since SAP is hot right now, if you get certified, you're all set. That's not the case for many who take that route. It's true that having SAP Financials certification, but no overall finance background, can be a hard sell to companies. SAP customers have gotten more sophisticated, and they look for functional specialists that have deep expertise in their particular area.

Even if that applicant is fairly new to SAP, hiring managers are looking for deeper know-how in that functional area the consultant will be working in. So where does that leave you? Well, if you're not getting job offers, that's the ultimate message that SAP isn't working for you right now. The only thing I can think of is to consider the SAP PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) product. As an engineer, you might have a lot to offer the SAP PLM product, bringing that functional knowledge to bear in a way you can't do as easily with SAP Financials.

You might not even need PLM certification to make this happen, though you would need to find companies that are running (or are about to install) SAP PLM and would welcome you to the team. No, this might not be easy to pull off, but it could give you another option before you give up on the SAP option entirely. Remember, the key is to target the area of SAP that has the most relevance to your overall background. This way, you won't come off as being a beginner, but as a business process expert moving into SAP. That approach gives you a much better shot. Good luck!

This was first published in October 2007