Certification will not help me break into SAP

“SAP Certification is useless, it was almost never a good indication of consulting talent”. So says a SAP mentor on the SAP developer network (SDN).

“Getting certified in SAP will never get you the dream job you have always wanted, you need to get the experience”. Says another  SAP consultant guru.

So the question is…. why bother getting certified? Am I wasting my time?

Fact

SAP (the company) is advocating the certification program. Recently, SAP has introduced a new three-tier certification process to make sure the process is relevant. They have spent a lot of money developing the certification and would not do so if they thought it was useless and not needed.

Fact

SAP is strongly encouraging customers to hire certified consultants and have confidence in the certification process for those breaking into SAP. Jon Reed is a widely known SAP career guru. He interviewed Sue Martin who is Global Certification Portfolio Manager for SAP on his podcast and she spoke about the certification roadmap. You can listen in by clicking here.

Fact

SAP has introduced new technologies based on Netweaver. e.g SAP has acquired Business Objects which will be the new Business Intelligence framework, so all the 12-13 years of experience the current consultants are claiming as gold will become obsolete.

The most obvious fact is that certification backs experience. Imagine walking into a company and telling them “Please hire me, I want to break into SAP, I have no certification or knowledge whatsoever but I am willing to learn on the job”. Are you kidding me? No company will want to train you on their account, they could do it but you will have to sell your soul to them for the next two years.

One other point I want to make is, don’t listen to people telling you that certification is useless. If you take a closer look, this advice comes from current consultants on the other side of the fence trying to guard their market. They see us as another newbie consultant to compete with for their job.

Of course, I am not saying here, “Get certified and the massive rate paying job offers will be rolling in”, but it definitely will get our foot in the door. Imagine a sailor that is being told,  ”Don’t set sail because there is so much turbulence on the seas, there is the hazard of capsizing, stay on that side of the ocean and you will be safe”. Yes he will be safe but he will not achieve, I prefer to set sail in the storm and feel proud of myself when I end up on the other side.

Let’s get certified.

p.s your comments are always welcome.

How to increase your chances of starting a successful SAP career

Find out at SAP Unveiled

You might be asking yourself,

Is SAP right for me?

What are my chances of getting a good SAP job?

The good news is you are not alone. A lot of people have the same questions as well. What is even better news? I have written a series of articles that answer these questions and many more on SAP Unveiled.

Check out SAP Unveiled here

Tagged as: Experience over certification, SAP certification