Which SAP training will land me the best job?

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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 technical side of SAP 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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