Top Most FAQs regarding SAP Certification & Career Opportunities

Age may not be a constraint as long as you have right conviction and attitude to learn. But at the same you also need to consider the other constraints like your current salary. If you coming to simple reason of money, then it is not worth trying into SAP. Learn passionately, then the growth and opportunities follows.

Being a Project Manager in other technologies, you must be already at high paying salary. Whereas, when it comes to SAP Consultant roles, you must be a junior / consultant. The salary might not be that good. Alternatively, you can try with few modules of SAP and jump towards SAP Project / Programme Management.

There are number of people asked this question, is it good to shift from Java to ABAP. It is very easy for people to learn ABAP, when they are good in Java. Furthermore, number of SAP Netweaver Technologies run on Java and ABAP technologies. Therefore, it is always advised to learn ABAP alongside your Java.

Being a functional consultant, it is always tend to learn the other modules, however, your core strength will be in one module. To get a mastery in a module takes few years, therefore, you need to carefully plan whether learning a new module would really help you in your long term career. Otherwise, there is no point in spending time learning a new module.

Sorry guys, I still strongly reiterate more than 90% of the CVs in the market are either fake or exaggerated. Many CVs speak volumes, however, the knowledge levels of the consultants are very poor. People may not accept my 90% figures, still I stick to it. There are number of people in my life asked this question, I would only tell them, do NOT fake your CVs, it would hunt you forever. I also personally against creating multiple CVs, you cannot have different CVs for different Job. Belive in single CV concept.

This is always a difficult and challenging situation, as you are on the long career break due to birth to child, long hospitalisation or sabbatical leave etc.. The morale is low as there are already new people and technologies in the market. It may be difficult, but definitely not impossible. Refresh the subjects, try to learn new technologies in your field and start attending the interview, not much worry about the results, you should be surely there.

Money is the last thing that you should think in SAP. I know people talk a lot about money and salaries. If you think Money as a priority in SAP, then you would not learn anything out of it. SAP should give you enough passion to lead your life. I am privileged to meet and work with very few consultants who work tirelessly with lot of passion on SAP Technologies.

If you are in India, 99% of the people would go for permanent job. The1% left out opt is the people who do not get best jobs, opt for contracting. Whereas, it is the other way around in Western Countries. Contractors demand good rates, because of their skills, ability and knowledge. Whereas, permanent people may get less salary, however, it has security. When it comes to Contracting, it has good returns, but at the same time high risk.

SAP is changing very fast. SAP is no longer like 15 years back, where only concentrated on OLTP systems. Now, they are doing amazing things in OLAP systems. Sky is the only limit in this area. HANA, BOBJ, BPC, Mobile Technologies etc. are many hottest skills in the module. But, please note directly jumping into these areas is not that easy, it is good to have ECC / BI / ABAP etc. experience.

Particularly if you are in offshore, you hardly see any type of implementation exposure. Even in onshore locations also the implementation projects are dried up. Some of the upgrade / business re-engineering projects are going on. You should always patiently wait to grab the implementation projects. Irrespective of the project type, always concentrate on learning new things on a daily basis.

E2E Project would help you to understand the overall life cycle of the Project. However, it does not mean that you are going to master in all activities. SAP Program works at a high level and it may be required you need to be part of number of implementation projects. It is also largely depends on how complex projects that you have worked. Always E2E is an opportunity and try to grab as much as you can.

Being a contract consultant, you are always interested in role rather than a position. Whereas permanent employee is always interested in position, rather than a role. The more challenging roles that you do, the more competitive you would become. I personally do not much believe in position, as it is not a permanent thing in life.

It is purely depends on person and your loyalty. Money may not be always important, as long as company works the same hard for your personal development as well. If the company is not working for your growth, then automatically, any individual start looking for other opportunities. Before changing any company need to decide what is motivated to change the company – Money / facilities / training / growth / recognition etc.

Every country has its own requirements, some countries welcome the best talent in the world, and some countries are having very restrict market. You need to first decide whether to go overseas and working in more challenging work environment. First need to decidewhich country you intend to go and know the immigration rules affect your employment. Then find the sponsors / companies that could help you in achieving your career dreams.

Many people have asked me that they have tried very hard to get the SAP Job, still not successful. No defeat is final until you give up. You may not be aware that you are about to get a break, but, unfortunately, you might have left the ground. Therefore, once you have committed, never stop trying, whatever be the odds. Keep trying and pushing yourself always.

People always dream to become techno-functional consultants. However, it is very hard to find a good techno functional consultant. Technical people always scare about functional terminologies and functional people always scare about the programming skills. If you strongly believe you can spend time in mastering both the areas, it is always advisable to have the techno-functional skills.

Unfortunately, you may have work in your life with companies, who never intend to personally develop their resources. But, that does not mean that you should not develop your skills. You should always keep some income out of your salary and keep it aside. Learn the new areas / skills with that money. If you do not learn new things, then you would be last in the queue.

Usually consultant after certain years of experience tend towards project management. Many people may go into project management, because they may get good salaries. This is the general tendency in India. Whereas in western countries, most people do the same roles, however, they become masters in their own area and command with authority. If you have any plans, then you can think of doing PMP or Prince2 to achieve your dream.

Life on the bench is always a difficult time. Considering the negative economic scenario in the world, bench is always considered to be a terrifying thing. There is no need to worry much regarding the things which are not in our control. However, during this time, you may make yourself more productive by learning new things, reading SAP Help / making SCN Contributions / visiting Service Market Place. These things would surely help when you get a real project.