We all know the present SAP talent shortage is here to stay for the next few years (at least!)… but we also know that there are keen new sources of talent from industry ripe to step up into the SAP consulting world.
The trouble is: how will they know where to start?
When you don’t yet have a professional network, the Wall-of-Unknown-Things can become a barrier to career change and a blocker to entering new industries.
So we’d like to thank the over 200+ local SAP Consultants we invited, who took the time to share their thoughts, stories, advice and experiences, answering some of the most common questions people ask when considering an SAP career:
To everyone who participated and on behalf of everyone who will benefit: Thank you.
Over January and February, our open survey of the SAP Consulting world, asked established specialists how they got into SAP, what their career journey involved, and what they learnt or would do differently.
So for the benefit of those wondering how to get from here-to-there on their SAP career journey path, or if you’re simply after a stickybeak, here are some of the insights from our SAP champions who took the opportunity to share:
How did you get into SAP Consulting?
- 49% Graduate -> Internship -> Consulting company
- 23.73% Day job as end user -> Internal SAP project -> Training courses
- 18.18% BA/PMO/IT Support -> Worked on SAP site -> Learnt on the tools
- 4% Unrelated career -> SAP Certification -> Freelancer
Did you plan on an SAP career or did it kind of happen accidentally?
- 45.83% Fell into SAP by accident
- 37.5% Deliberately planned my SAP career
- 16.67% Bit of both
What were your most useful skills when starting in SAP? Ranked in order:
- Industry background in business process: knowing hands-on finance, HR, CRM, Supply Chain, etc
- My training, education, certifications
- User level SAP or other ERP skills from end-user perspective
- Generalist Business Analyst skills
- Existing SDLC or Project Management experience
What were the most important or useful skills to develop when you first started in SAP? Ranked in order:
- SAP system configuration / development
- Business Analysis
- Collaboration / consulting skills
- Project Management / methodologies
- Communication / documentation
From your first SAP exposure, how long until you were confident to work as an SAP Consultant? An average across all responses:
- 2.65 years
Did you do general / self SAP training first or straight to formal SAP courses and certification?
- 65.22% Self trained / general training first
- 34.78% Straight to formal SAP courses & certification
What were some of the challenges breaking into SAP Consulting? Ranked in order:
- Getting experience when I had no experience
- Not knowing much about the industry at the time
- Landing that first role to prove I could do it
- Just having the courage and confidence to try
- Adjusting from being an end-user to a project environment
What do you like most about being an SAP Consultant? Ranked in order:
- Interesting projects
- What I learn about business / industry
- Rates & remuneration
- The people I meet
- Playing with software / technology
- Making a difference
- Job security
- Other
We also asked:
- What would you have done differently over your SAP career so far?
- What advice would you give to someone just starting to build their own SAP Career now?
…But the volume, quality, and detail of responses to those last two questions are way beyond the word count of this summary insights article! We’ll be collating all that wonderful input and adding them to the Careers Tools Library, with the CV Templates and interview insights for people registered at https://www.isaptalent.com/ over the coming weeks for you to access and read at your leisure.
So for those considering making the switch and frustrated by the “need experience to get experience” paradox (and any of the other challenges above): Some things haven’t changed, those who came before you prevailed the challenges, it IS possible to make the switch, and you can use your transferrable skills and some strategic training to help you do it.
Welcome to the journey!
