You have decided to become an SAP consultant. That's good news, but
don't rewrite the resume just yet. There are a few things you should
know first.
Consultant wanna-bes should recognize that the SAP consulting market has
changed over the last three years. "Prospective clients are looking more
and more for experience. However, consulting experience is not
necessarily required, "says Tom Wallner of the international SAP
consulting firm SAPiT. "It might be sufficient to have gained experience
as an employee of a company that employs SAP." In Wallner's experience,
formal training classes or qualifications like SAP certification are
rarely demanded.
That means that your current resume, even sans consulting skills, may
serve you just fine. One key item that may be missing from the SAP
pro's resume is communication skills. "An SAP professional could easily
work as a consultant as long as he or she has certain interpersonal and
communicative skills," says Wallner. To brush up yours, you can
download a free copy of The Seven Challenges Communication Skills
Workbook at http://www.coopcomm.org/workbook.htm.
Communication skills are a good start. However, if you decide to open your own consulting business, they're just that--a start. You'll
need to learn how to do everything from marketing to invoicing. One
excellent resource for all things consulting is Herman Holtz's book "How
to Succeed as an Independent Consultant" (John Wiley and Sons, 1993).
It is important to remember that consulting isn't all glitz and glamour.
"The life of a consultant is not as glamorous as it might seem," says Steve Sinkoff, VP of growth strategies for Spearhead System Consultants. "There are
the very long hours and hassles of constant travel, you're always under
the gun to perform under tight deadlines, and the marketplace has become
very competitive."
Despite the hardships, SAP consulting is a very rewarding
career. "A consultant's role is a vital roll to play, and a sense of
pride and accomplishment are often achieved," says Sinkoff. "It is a
difficult life, a challenging marketplace, but there is nothing better
than the feeling that you get when you have made a significant
difference to a company's efficiency. In many cases, it's worth all the
risk and effort."
--
Linda Formichelli * www.twowriters.net
Writing appearing this year in Woman's Day, Wired, Writer's Digest,
Family Circle, Psychology Today
