Recently exposed to SAP, assistance with directions

[Former Member]

Hello,

I was exposed to SAP this semester taking two different courses.  So of course I'm ready to go all in and do consulting.  I have no clue where to start!  I've been with my current employer close to a decade, but no IT experience, and no SAP at the company.  And no time for internships.  But graduation is May, so it's time for me to get things going.  There's so many different areas, over the course of my career I'd actually like to immerse myself in a few different ones.

Does anyone have any input in the different areas, I'm currently leaning towards BI, FI/CO, QM or MM.  Able to share experiences such as daily tasks, implementations, functions, etc..

Do entry level consultant positions exist?  Are there any organizations that are known to use SAP products, that I can look to for employment opportunities?  How permanent are positions?  Are you responsible for finding your own jobs?

Any initial salary expectations to look for?

Any real conferences I may be able to benefit from?  Locations to consider during job search?  Any tips for job advancement and success.

And of course, what would your perceptions of the TERP 10 certification be.  Increase marketability/salary/what's the benefits, or is it worthless.

Any experiences or information you are able to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time, and have a Happy Friday!

[thanga_prakash]

Hello Latoya,

It's good you got an opportunity to learn SAP. You should be proud of it.

Learn Basic of ABAP module as it is a technical module which will help you in your career path, then with functional modules.

In market many jobs are available for Techno-functional, the expectation of the employer is a person should be able to handle ABAP and functional part which benefits the employer in terms of resource and money.

Regards,

Thanga

[RafkeMagic]

BI is a rather big area... depending on how it's being referred to. It could mean BW (datawarehousing) + BO (front end) or just the latter. If you're thinking of going towards datawarehousing be ready to get "technical", otherwise don't bother. Some companies somehow distinguish between "functional" & "technical" BI folks, but that's just rubbish. It's technical, so if that's not your thing, stay away.

As far as FI/CO, QM & MM go... well, they're three different modules. It depends on your personal interest which one to choose I guess. If you don't like to crush numbers, I guess FI/CO is not really your thing. QM is mainly about quality control, so that kind of limits the companies you might end up at. Whereas most SAP clients have FI/CO, only few have QM (mainly manufacturing & process industry). MM is mostly used in purchase departments, so the work will be completely different than for the other two modules.

Entry level consulting positions might still exist, but are getting "rare". Some consulting companies are still hiring and they'll put you on a (big) project where you basically learn your stuff. I think you can learn more as an employee than as a consultant (in the early stages of your career).

You have been with your employer for 10 years... what have you been doing there? Could any of that experience be relevant to one (or more) of your "desired" modules? If so, that would be a great plus.

I'm not going into the salaries subject... it differs from country to country (and even within a country depending on the location), from company to company, ...

I looked up that TERP10 cerfitification... to me that has no value at all. It only tells people you have an "overview" of SAP (or at least that you scored well enough on a bunch of multiple choice questions). Doesn't mean anything (in my opinion).

Good luck!