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Hannah Smalltree, Editorial Director
have a total of 1 year of experience in SAP SD support and training (no live implementation exp.) and have a total of 6 years experience in PLM Software Solutions sales (IBM, PTC and Intergraph products PDS and GIS). I have good exposure to the Product Lifecycle Management Solutions for Automotive, Heavy Engineering, Engineering Services, Energy and Utilities sector which I want to utilize the same in an SAP career. Since integration of ERP with other CAD/CAM/PDM and PLM are the major issues in today's market. How can I get into it? Please advise.
Based on your overall background, I really do like your thinking. Your skills match up well with SAP PLM, and as you know, SAP PLM is an emerging area. I can't think of a reason not to pursue this, but keep in mind that the SAP PLM consulting market is still in its infancy, and the jobs that are out there are mostly going to the most experienced PLM consultants - the ones with multiple installs configuring the PLM solution. I think your next step would be to get certified in SAP PLM. Learn as much as you can about the SAP users who are running, or who are considering, installing PLM. Apply to full time positions with those companies, and once you're hired, do your best to move as close as you can to the SAP PLM install. It's a challenging and slow way to break into SAP, but unfortunately, the old classic "short cut" of getting hired by a consulting firm doesn't usually work anymore. Consulting firms can really only hire "billable" consultants, and you'll need at least a year of hard-core PLM configuration experience in SAP before you reach that point. Good luck!
This was first published in July 2004