The SAP R3 introduction in 1990s meant SAP was no longer a German behemoth. The client / server architecture meant that the servers can be housed anywhere independent of the frontend user location.
SAP expanded quickly across the Atlantic and reached the American heartland. With American Enterprises embracing SAP as a software of choice, the " Waldorf to Wallstreet " dream was achieved by SAP AG.
But with SAP Implementation projects mushrooming, there was a serious dearth of SAP consultants to work in the SAP Projects. The obvious next step was to look east and hire from INDIA. The Asian country had already been rubber stamped as a country of brown cool dudes who were natively techies.
Circa 2002 - 2003, Reliance Industries had gone live on SAP in the year 1998. The country just had a rough encounter with the capabilities of ERP computing of SAP. The SAP penetration in the country was abysmally low.
How Indian Engineers got into SAP : Year 2002 / 2003 was the best period to get into SAP jobs in India. Students ( well in their late 20s or mid 30s) signed up for a SAP Certification Academy for 20 calender days by paying 3 lacs INR ( equivalent to 4500 USD ). There were only two institutes authorised by SAP AG at that time, Seimens and Genovate.
The students would appear for a certification exam conducted by SAP at the end of the academy. In the following week, the students were invited to attend a interview at Bangalore. The American corporations hiring team would interview the students and issue offer letters on the same day.
The questions asked during the interview were very very basic since the American enterprises had planned a 2 month Inhouse SAP Training for the new hires. Within a month, the student use to fly from India to US on a permanent position. Investing in INR and minting in USD was the best gameplan one could ever have !! And these guys were no superstars, just plain jane guys who understood the risk vs rewards equilibrium.
In around year 2006-2007, the above format was replaced by a practice of hiring SAP professionals from manufacturing companies. Young people working in core manufacturing companies were hired by SAP partners like Accenture, Capgemini and given a 2 month intensive SAP Training. These lot was not fortunate to get a immediate onsite assignment. They had to hone their skills locally before shining on the global environment.
Post 2009 - It was really a daunting task to get entry into SAP as a certified fresher. Still some candidates managed to crankstart their career by making smart moves. It would get more difficult by every passing year.
Year 2019 - SAP decided to roll back the criteria that you have to be trained in SAP through a authorised SAP partner to take the SAP Certification exam. And this changed the landscape completely. SAP training institutes of all forms and sizes mushroomed sporadically throughout the country.
Random institutes cropped up everywhere offering cheap SAP courses with no roadmap. The courses were offered for as less as 10 k INR ( USD 90). The consequences were severe, students being trained from such institutes were crippled heavily as they were lacking fundamental knowledge. They could not handle even a simple SAP interview. The only thing they were parroting that they are “ globally certified in SAP “ while they knew very well how they had cleared the exam.
College pass outs who never attended a physical class due to Covid signed up for these fly-by-the-night SAP courses from random institutes and became bigger monsters. They regard SAP as a Heena design course ( mehendi course in Indian Context). Imaginary stories about internships and employment are created by such students.
The SAP fresher market in India is full of such directionless profiles. Companies want to hire freshers but they cannot hire someone with zero technical skills and non-existing communication skills. This is precisely the reason SAP companies do not hire freshers.
SAP freshers must invest in right SAP Training, get certified in your area of expertise and then try for junior level jobs in SAP. Please do not bring your problems to the marketplace, bring your skills to the marketplace.
Year 2024 – SAP hiring is tough, the interviews are harder as companies search for the genuine candidates amidst a sea of “ globally certified I know nothing” candidates.
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