SAPCOOKBOOK

Here’s a a quick “no bull” review of some top-paying skills in SAP, as measured by highest average daily contact rates in the UK and US.*

Each of these skill areas have several hundred openings.  As a close follower of the SAP contract market and employment, to me this means it’s a perfectly viable skill to pursue: if you advertise skills properly in these areas you will be contacted more than once daily to join a project.  Students of mine don’t ever allow themselves to be in a situation where they have to worry about their current or future contracts – there will be plenty of demand to move to another project should your current client become problematic for any reason.

Reminder: these are average daily rates for SAP contractors – you may be at a higher rate, and you may be at a lower rate for a given skillset. …

05 May 2013

I was reading through one of my favorite books, “65 Interview Questions,” and I read the following question. “Why are you leaving (or did you leave) this position?”  because it reminds me about one of the most important principles of getting the very highest rates, and it underscores the importance of working in the highest-demanded areas possible, and it perfectly represents one of the best strategies you can employ when looking for and getting new jobs in SAP (and anywhere, really…)

Your most important, your strongest leverage in this business is scarcity. The very best answer is that you’re not 100% committed to leaving your current post. That you’re happy to stay put, but you’re always open to new and interesting opportunities if the right offer comes along. This is important because it means you are scarce – even if you receive an offer, you may decide that it’s best …

21 March 2013

Dear Reader:  With the publication of my first book on SAP in 2003, I realize that I’ve now been teaching people how to get jobs in SAP for a more than a decade.  If you didn’t know this already, one of the things I’m most proud of is that rather than simply offering my readers information, I’m offering you my advice. There’s a big difference between the two!

Of course information you can just google or find on SDN, but advice – this is something more precious and something you need to hear from another human being. Somebody who cares that you get it right, somebody who actually gives a damn.

So when I give you advice about which skills to pursue and how to pursue them… how to interview, how to manage recruiters, how negotiate the very best terms of employment, or how to approach breaking into your next …

13 March 2013

At any given time, we’re all just one phone call away from a better life. Watch my video to understand these important concepts:

1. The shift of financial risk from corporations to individuals,

2. The one phone call,

3. The IT Manager Needs Hierarchy

Important!

This week, if you order the Project Management Consulting Pack, I send you Breaking into SAP 2.0 Volume 1 as a bonus

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW

I make these videos for you. To help you. Can you help me out and let me know what you think?…

24 January 2013

There are thousands of excellent contract opportunities for SAP consultants all over the world. Rates are high, and as always,  it’s a great time to be in SAP.  There are rates in the $100/hr + range (up to $150/hr and beyond for senior functional and architect roles) but one trend you must be aware of is the dreaded “all inclusive rate” trap. Please don’t be fooled or pressured into selling yourself short by accepting less than what you will reasonably need to commute to your SAP job. If they offer you a low rate “all inclusive” you must refuse and tell them you only accept expenses paid work.

Baseline Travel Expense Budget

Of course I should clearly state the issue: if your expertise is needed, and if you …

13 December 2012

CNN lists SAP Basis as #51 on the top 100 jobs list!

http://money.cnn.com/pf/best-jobs/2012/snapshots/51.html…

02 November 2012

I was talking with a colleague, an ABAP programmer.  We were talking about the SAP consulting industry, and of course — hourly billing rates for SAP skills.  For many of us, our rates have been getting better in recent years, and we wonder – does this apply to all skill areas in SAP?  Will the rates continue to climb? You always hear negative news in our industry, and positive news is rare. But here’s a bit of positive news. Rates are getting higher.

One might expect that if any area would be lower, that the technical rates would be slightly lower, from global pressure, off-shoring, etc.  In fact he has found the opposite.  Rates for SAP ABAP programmers are higher than ever. In fact, they are the highest they’ve ever been.  What about terms, you ask? Are clients taking away ABAP travel expenses?

As an ABAP programmer, he’s receiving rate …

12 October 2012

India – 9,000

USA – 5,000

Europe – 6,000

These are the minimum number of SAP Basis Openings in each region. Why so many? This is such a hot SAP skill area, and such a rich area for employment opportunity, I wonder why more people aren’t moving into SAP Basis?

So, dear reader, let me ask you — why aren’t YOU YOURSELF trying to move into SAP Basis? What’s holding you back? Please enter your comment below.

If you’re interested in getting started, consider the SAP Basis Consulting Pack

Available 1/2 price until October 7th, 2012 !

 …

13 September 2012

DICE.com published a pretty good story today, “21 skills that pay top dollar without certification,” and of course SAP tops the list of most highly compensated skills.  DICE lists HANA, which I think is interesting, and they also list some quirky skill areas, noted below:

• SAP HANA (especially with SAP CO-PA)
• SAP APO
• SAP CCM
• SAP FI – FSCM (Financial Supply Chain Management)
• SAP GTS (Global Trade Services)

I wouldn’t suggest trying to get a job in SAP SRM CCM — this is the out-dated catalog software for SRM.  And APO is a pretty specialized skill set. FI is a great area, but you’ll be working with many grandfathers of SAP.

I agree with DICE that these are some well-compensated skill areas, but that’s true for everything in SAP, and these skills are pretty quirky and non-mainstream. But I digress. I wanted to bring this article to your attention …

22 August 2012

It’s no secret: I receive lots of email — from readers asking me how to change their lives — how to get that crucial first job in SAP.  And you ask for information about different types of SAP training. And you know that I’ve helped thousands of people get jobs in SAP…

Right now there are three major areas of demand in SAP, and so I’m getting tons of email about training programs for each.

1. SAP BW / BI / BOBJ

2. SAP Project Management

3. SAP Netweaver / Basis

>> Vote which training I should release next

Indeed  – each of these areas represents significant opportunity for right right individual to Break into SAP.  Over the next week I’m going to release a course of your choice — actually, I’m going to release a consulting pack for only one of these areas — and I’m going to ask …

03 August 2012