By Nathan Dukes
An agreement between Victoria University and the Singapore Government is working to address the skills shortage in the APAC region.
The Professional Conversion Programme for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) allows students to fast-rack their careers with large organisations like Accenture.
Launched in August last year, the program lets students undertake a three month graduate certificate in ERP Systems with a specialisation in SAP offered by Victoria University and a 7 month paid internship.
At the launch of the programme VU’s SAP Program Director Paul Hawking predicted the graduates would be in demand by industry.
The University said the combination of ERP studies and a paid internship offers a unique opportunity for students.
‘This prediction has proven to be true with more than half of the first intake gaining fulltime employment in SAP related roles,’ a University announcement reads.
Accenture Singapore has employed 8 students from the first cohort, and a further 9 students have been employed by other consulting firms.
“This is a good result and will have a cascading effect,” Hawking said.
“The course will attract further high calibre students once they realise the potential employment outcomes and at the same time, more companies will want to employ graduates due to their skills.”
Hawking said analysts predict a skills shortage of around 30,000 consultants globally, which means there is no shortage of employment opportunities.
The course is delivered in Singapore by Victoria University in partnership with South-East Asian SAP education provider Genovate – Lithan Hall Education Centre.
The Singapore Government subsidises the costs incurred to train the students.
Victoria University, a member of SAP’s University Alliance Program for the past 11 years, has incorporated SAP solutions into their curriculum to provide students with a broad range of skills which are in demand by industry.
Victoria University offers a range of ERP Systems related courses which are taught in Melbourne, Singapore and Beijing.
