I'm planning to take a SAP course and came across a lot being offered. I would like to get your expert advice on which course to select? Since the courses offered spans across the various modules of SAP (FI, CO, PP, ABAP Workbench), I'm in a dilemma. I want to get enrolled in a suitable course that can fetch me a well paid job in the SAP market. I don't have prior experience in the SAP market, I might add.
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It's great to see someone who is committed to investing in their own SAP training. Having said
that, don't assume that you'll be able to charge straight from the training course into an
attractive full time position in SAP. Current economic conditions have made for a more challenging
path than that. Investing in training is a good first step, but be prepared for a rigorous period
of self-marketing afterwards.
Of course, the million-dollar-question is: Which SAP course should you invest in? The problem with
SAP is that its product line is vast. As you've noted, there are a range of technical and
functional areas to choose from, so it's not as simple as identifying one hot area to move into. I
feel that there are a number of attractive areas within the mySAP platform, and I'll mention them
frequently in the questions I answer each month. Honestly, any training that exposes you to
mySAP-related applications and technologies - as opposed to core R/3 products - would be a good
move.
The key is to select training that lines up logically with the skills you already have. I don't
have any idea what your background is, but let's say you are a C++/Java developer. If you have a
programming background, then getting training in a functional area within SAP is not the best
approach. No programmer wants to compete for functional SAP jobs with other functional people who
have deep business experience to round out their SAP skills. The bottom line: whether your
background is functional or technical, adding new skills that logically extend your core
competencies is a much better approach than simply chasing what other people say is hot right
now.
If you're someone who has equal experience in both functional and technical areas, making your
choice a true "toss up." In that case I think the SAP
technical side might be a better area to target right now. Because SAP is becoming an "open,"
Web-driven development environment, you stand a good chance of getting technical exposure to tools
and technologies such as XML and J2EE that are not specific to SAP. This will give you more
flexibility to find jobs outside of SAP if the SAP market is not as active as you had hoped. Good
luck with your course.
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This was first published in June 2002