A career in ERP (SAP / Oracle) seems very lucrative from outside but it is not as rosy at it seems. Here are some ground realities of this field based on my own experience :
1. Don't go for the exorbitantly priced official SAP eLearing or classroom courses or the certification exam. There is no gurarantee of getting a good job even after completing this course & certification. Certification has some value only during internal appraisals or promotions. After working with an official SAP partner for one year, you are eligible for appearing in the certification exam.
2. Employers (IT companies / Big4 with ERP practice) consider only the experience of no. of end-to-end implementations for hiring a candidate. Your professional qualification, domain (i.e. industrial and professional) knowledge and experience have no value. A simple graduate, who can show some good experience in his/her CV in ERP implementation can get better CTC and position then a qualified & experienced CA / ICWA.
3. There are some unauthorized training centers at Hyderabad, Bangalore & Pune, which provides guaranteed placements against some fee. The fee charged by these unauthorized centers is much lower than the course and exam. fee of the official SAP course. It may go somewhere between Rs. 50,000/- to Rs. 1,50,000/-. They give sufficient practical training to the candidate on the pirated SAP installations, to prepare him well to face the interview. They also provide some fake experience certificates. They also manage that these fake experiences are passed in the background checks conducted by the employers.
4. The freshers in ERP initially have to work on contact basis with the body-shoppers for Rs. 20,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- pm. (depending of the exp.) and they usually don’t pay while the resource (i.e. the employee) on bench (not billable to the client). The body-shoppers are the small IT companies who provide temporary resources (manpower) on contract basis to the big IT companies & Big 4.
5. Apart from implementation, ERP consultants also work on user support. But the payment is not very good in this field and there are very few chances on going on-site (foreign) projects. The experience in user support is not considered for implementation projects.
6. A fresher need to struggle for 3-4 years (i.e. work with the body-shoppers) before finding a entry into tire-I IT companies / Big4 (whatever may be his / her qualification or domain experience).
7. Contrary to the popular belief, most of the ERP projects are delivered off-shore (working from India). Not all ERP consultants get chance to go on on-site (foreign) projects. It may take 3-4 years to get your first on-site opportunity. Due to slow-down in USA and Europe, most of the on-site projects are in African and Gulf countries. There is no glamour in working in these countries.
8. The employment opportunities in ERP are only at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Gurgaon. To find a job you need to be a resident in these cities. The cost of living is very high in these cities due to growing IT / BPO workers population.
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