Learning SAP

[makscorp]

Guys, im looking to get into SAP. As i have no experience in SAP, it looks impossible that a company will take me and train me, so im thinking of learning it through these certified courses and then build some experience y getting a job as a permie and then breaking into the contracting market.

Any thoughts, comments, advice?

[Ardesco]

If you know nothing about SAP why are you so eager to get into it?

[Flubster]

Guys, im looking to get into SAP. As i have no experience in SAP, it looks impossible that a company will take me and train me, so im thinking of learning it through these certified courses and then build some experience y getting a job as a permie and then breaking into the contracting market.

Any thoughts, comments, advice?

Stick with what you know and go from there. If you want to break into new areas, stay permie and get the free training before going contracting.

[Pondlife]

SAP courses run at about £500 per day and certification in whatever module you decide will take about 6 weeks. Which module(s) were you thinking of in particular as some will require knowledge of business processes before it makes any sense?

It has been said before on this board (and I agree with it) that certification makes little difference in getting a position in SAP - it's all about previous experience. This makes it difficult to break into.

Most SAP consultants usually come from a business background and generally were permies who worked on their company's implementation and then joined a consultancy. Very few people privately fund the SAP courses and IMHO they don't represent that good value for money, mostly because the course will be full of permies on a jolly looking for a late start and an early finish.

HTH

Have you thought about .Net - it's the future don't you know

[chicane]

You want to get into SAP because it pays well. The reason it pays well is because there aren't currently enough contractors with the degree of qualifications/experienced expected by clients.

You could get training, and then spend 3 years in permiedom on cr*p pay, and then go looking for SAP contracts. By which time the next big thing in IT will have come along and SAP rates will be down to 250/day because everybody else will have had the same idea as you.

If you want the big money, take a gamble on some emerging technologies and hope for the best.

[oxtailsoup]

Interesting one.

I re-trained on SAP as a technical consultant back in 2000 and I took the 6 week certification exam. It cost me about £2000 a week, plus accomodation and flights (Heathrow) plus loss of earnings. So it was bloody expensive.

Luckily it worked out for me. I blagged my first contract and never looked back. Lately I've moved into a more technical project manager role but still on SAP. Money is excellent. Haven't been without work for longer than a month ever since I got my first SAP contract.

However it is a huge risk. Depends what area you are looking to get into.

Don't expect to get a job because you are SAP Certifed. Personally I don't think it has got me any contracts (but it may have, you don't really know). Clients are always more concerned with experience.

What the training and Certification did for me (apart from making me broke) was it gave me the confidence to blag my first contract straight away. But I was already a tech consultant for another ERP system so the theory was already in place, I just needed to know the 'SAP way' and the exams gave me that.

[oxtailsoup]

And if you want to know how I blagged my first SAP contract without any real experience.... I lied about my experience. But only because I felt 100% confident that I could do the role I was going for. It was a very specific role as opposed to a general one. From there I spent every day learning.

[Euro-commuter]

You want to get into SAP because it pays well. The reason it pays well is because there aren't currently enough contractors with the degree of qualifications/experienced expected by clients.

You could get training, and then spend 3 years in permiedom on cr*p pay, and then go looking for SAP contracts. By which time the next big thing in IT will have come along and SAP rates will be down to 250/day because everybody else will have had the same idea as you.

That's what I thought in 1987

[bonpartit]

Low-cost alternative to official SAP certification is buy the material from ebay, including exam preparation exams. Some guys also offer access to a preconfigured SAP system for around 100$ a month. It would take you a few months to master the material without a tutor or relevant experience though.

Had a similar situation to yours, no knowledge of SAP whatsover. Got into a company to do permie UNIX support, then moved to the SAP basis team, and spent 2.5 years there gaining experience and certification. This allowed me to get into the contract market, now on my second contract.

[Numptycorner]

And if you want to know how I blagged my first SAP contract without any real experience.... I lied about my experience. But only because I felt 100% confident that I could do the role I was going for. It was a very specific role as opposed to a general one. From there I spent every day learning.

What is it about IT that attracts cheats and bullsh1tters?