Part-2: HOW and WHY your SAP career can only get better and BETTER under any circumstances.
On Part-1 of this article last week, I spoke about how every event in life (wanted or un-wanted), including those undesired events in our SAP careers (such as a lay-off, a dissatisfying job, or lack of one!) have an “equal” potential of having a positive or negative impact in our experience. Which implies that every unwanted event CAN have a positive impact in our life. (If you’re not sure you agree with me on this implication, I invite you to read “Part-1” of this article.)
By sharing the most private and what some may deem tragic event in my own personal life, I tried to convey my journey on how I came to know what all the “Greats” have been telling us all along:
“Our FOCUS, our mind, our thoughts, determine which potential will be actualized in our life. This means that WE have the power of consciously choosing to benefit from unwanted (and uncontrollable) events and circumstances, no matter what they are, every time.”
What prevents most of us from easily “choosing” what we focus on? Our Beliefs.
So, our journey of becoming the masters of our soul begins with our beliefs: There is countless scientific evidence showing that our default (practiced) “focus”, our perspectives in life and large portions of our behavior are rooted in our beliefs.
The good news is that beliefs can be changed! Why not change those that are debilitating, those that make us feel powerless, threatened, limited, vulnerable or simply don’t serve us; for ones that strengthen us, that bring out the better version of ourselves?!
As I briefly described in Part 1 of this article, beliefs are nothing more than thoughts that we have thought for a long time, strengthening and establishing themselves in our brain as solid “networks of data” until they became beliefs. Our brain IS a muscle. Believes are nothing more than over-exercised thoughts. Like with any muscle, you can change your muscle structure by choosing and deciding to do so. Better said, if you choose and commit to change, you can begin practicing NEW thoughts that do serve you and over time make them your new beliefs.
To keep this blog entry reasonably short, let me share with you today two of several new beliefs that I’ve come to embrace fully through my practiced thought. Every aspect of my newfound level of Wellbeing falls back to these new set points:
1) Our job CANNOT be our Identity: We are NOT our college education, we are NOT the job title we have (or don’t have), we are NOT the things we own (or don’t own), we are not our loved ones (our children, our families or friends) nor their accomplishments or disappointments, and a big one… we are NOT our jobs! Relationships and things are important aspects of our lives, but they are NOT we. Freeing our identity from all the external factors and “intangible” currencies of value (your title, position, status, money) is how we rid ourselves from the distractions that are blinding us from knowing who-we-really-are.
The impact of freeing your identify from external factors is huge to say the least. There is no way that an unexpected situation/event in your career (for example) can hurt you to the point of making you feel completely vulnerable and powerless, when you “see” the event detached from your sense of “self”, and more so from your sense of “self-worth”. This “detachment” doesn’t make you love any less, nor take your “things” (tangibles such as your assets and intangibles such as your job title) any less seriously, but by disassociating them from how you define yourself, you will never be blinded in hurt and fear when something unexpected and unwanted happens. This is what I believe the great Voltaire meant when he said “Man is free the instant he wants to be”.
The subject of Identity is very dear to me, and I hope you visit my blog often, as I plan to write about this subject in more depth in future blog posts.
2) Yes, you have a Soulmate in life, and it is YOU: This is a BIG one. You are the one you have been waiting for, to complete you . . . your whole life. It’s not your wife/husband or significant other, it’s not your children, your family and friends; it’s definitely not your job. Loving, being in love, or being passionate about what you do for a living, does NOT imply that you make these incredibly important people, activities and things “who and what completes you”. Don’t hold anyone or anything responsible for such a big job! It will hurt them and/or it will damage you for a lifetime. Nobody outside of us is meant to take on that job, as romantic as it may seem at the beginning. It is a job description that fits perfectly only one being in the whole Universe, and that is YOU. There are two very damaging consequences to this traditional believe:
2.1) Volatility: When you consciously believe and make someone/something else your Soulmate, you place your bet on happiness on their/its shoulders. And your wellbeing becomes as volatile and as lasting as the relationship you have with them/it, and since you cannot control anybody/anything outside of yourself, you are setting yourself up for being terribly hurt at some point in your life, because everything changes, everything will change.
2.2) Incomplete-ness: No one can love you enough to make up for any lack of self-love. No one can admire you, respect you, and BELIEVE in you enough to make up for your own lack in this department. The reason we believe someone or something else is our soulmate, is because this person, this activity, this thing activates inside of us a “feeling” of worthiness, a “feeling” of love, and love feels always good, love is what “complete” feels. They’re like a light bulb that shines into the very best of us, and we want it to shine on us forever and ever. There are some people who find this someone who becomes this light bulb, and somehow manage to lighten each other up for many years. But even in those extraordinary cases, death will happen one day. And when one external light is gone, so is the other.
Two final points worth making about self-love:
2.3) You can only truly experience LOVE, when you love UNCONDITIONALLY, which is loving fully, completely and selflessly. And you cannot ever love someone this way if you don’t love yourself this way. Real love is unconditional. You don’t condition it to them not leaving you, to them not changing, to them not growing, to them not passing away. When you condition your love, you’re only experiencing a fraction of what real love is…it will never feel complete.
2.4) The only way of “letting go” of someone/something when change happens, while at the same time staying alive, strong and ready for the next stage, is only possible when you are already “complete” inside, so that the thought of your own suffering is too unbearable to accept. And out of this unexpected event and deciding letting go whatever must be let go, your expansion happens and your next level in life begins.
… I guess this is why it is called “Soul Mate”. It is our “Soul” who is our one true best “mate” in life 
This blog entry was completed and published today, May 9th 2012, and is dedicated to my forever-loving young brother Chris, who I know is reading this as I’m typing it: Happy birthday Chris. I love you.
I invite you to read next week the final chapter of this 3-part series, where I’ll share some of the remaining new beliefs that continue transforming my life every day.
- Veruschka
Part-1 (of 3): Take your Career to the next level: The power of Focus and Choice
The last 20 months have been not only the most humbling months of my entire lifetime but also a very special time of experiencing a level of well-being beyond anything I had known before, specifically in terms of my physical health, my spirituality, my relationships, my businesses, my financials and my professional life, including here at EverySAPJob.com. By no means is my life perfect (nor should it be), but what is true is that I’ve never felt this peaceful, satisfied and happy with my present, and this excited about the future at the same time. One of the biggest pleasures I’ve experienced as a result (particularly over the last year), has been sharing some of the simple, yet life-changing ideas I’ve adopted almost 20 months ago with family, friends, colleagues and even clients, and then witness their own lives pivot for the better, sometimes in small ways, sometimes in significant ways.
I’ve been thinking about sharing some of these simple yet impactful ideas with you, as I find them applicable to all aspects in life, including your SAP career. But every time I sat to write them down, I was overwhelmed by the thought of having to share the “source”, the event that awakened my awareness to these eternal truths, and in doing so, having to share the most private chapter of my life. Yet here I am. I realized that omitting the source would invalidate anything I have to say, as without context, these ideas could come across as calculated, almost mathematical recipes that have nothing to do with the Soul that is really each one of us. I don’t believe that what I’m about to share is really new. The “Greats” knew it all along, and have been sharing this with us throughout the centuries, and still do. But this is my personal story on how I came to know and live these truths:
It was mid 2010. I got this unusual one-liner e-mail from one of the people I love most in life. Chris, my younger brother. Chris who grew up with me more as my own little baby than a younger brother, Chris who is thousands of miles away from me. “Veru, I have something to tell you. It’s important. It’s tough. Call me”. My heart was pounding like crazy and I knew instantly that something was wrong, very wrong. An hour later, I found myself curled on the floor of my office crying inconsolably, not knowing what to do, but cry like I hadn’t cried since I was a little girl. Eight hours later I was sitting on an airplane on my way to Chris. My sweet Chris.
In the course of a random morning, my loving and precious little brother went from having an annoying “cold” to being diagnosed with terminal cancer that had spread through his lungs and brain. Everything changed forever that morning. I won’t go into the devastating details of what he went through for the next few months, what we went through, what it was like to be with someone you love so much 24-hours a day for months, day and night, witnessing the agony, the pain taking over every single cell of his body, every second of each day, and being unable to do anything, ANYTHING to help. Nor my parent’s screams at the doctor’s office in the hospital when he said to us “He will die, there is nothing we can do”. And yet, seeing him fighting for his life with all he had, only to see him loose that battle, in my arms, in front of my very own eyes.
It’s been 1 year, 8 months and 21 days since Chris’s death. The memory of those events will never cease to be painful and bring tears to my eyes even as I write this just now. But, what I do want to share with you is the GIFT, the priceless gift that came to my family, to my parents, to my marriage, to myself from what most would deem a terrible event, and the amazing impact it has had in everything I am, have, do, including here at EverySAPJob.com.
What Gift? The Gift of regaining my freedom, my connection with my inner power and with the unconditional love that I’m capable of giving and receiving… How? By understanding that I have the POWER of focus and choice, and therefore the power of making my life (any aspect of it) the exhilarating adventure that it is meant to be. Let me break this down into the more specifics beliefs I’ve come to embrace:
1. Every event/situation in life, has “two potentials”
“Every event has an “equal” potential of becoming a blessing or a curse, to have a positive or negative impact in our life; and the potential that will be actualized is determined by our FOCUS.”
We’ve come to believe that the “events” themselves determine what the impact will be in our life. If the event is deemed “good” then good things will happen. If the event is deemed “bad”, then bad things will happen. And yet, we have countless stories of people who defy this rule every day by coming out of terrible situations better than ever. The event itself doesn’t make life better or worse, the event only determines “how big” the gift or the curse will be, but nothing else.
How is it that your focus drives what will happen? Well, your focus decides what you “think” about in regards to the event. These thoughts determine how you “feel” about it, and your feelings drive the ACTIONS that you will take as a result, and in doing so, it determines which potential becomes real. Again, NOT the event “itself” as we’ve come to believe.
Whether the event you are living now is being unemployed, or being stuck/unhappy with your job, or whatever it might be, the question is – which potential are YOU focusing on? Are you using an event in your life as an “excuse” to think, feel and act from a perspective of fear and acceptance? Or from a point of power and opportunity?
To clarify this point. Let’s move quickly to my second truth.
2. We focus (and live) either by ” default” or by Choice:
“Whether you know it or not, once an uncontrollable event happens in life, we have the power of CHOICE. The power of CHOOSING what we focus on: The positive or negative potential that all events have. The question is, are you exercising this choice?”
Most of us focus “by default” on the event’s potential that we are “trained” to perceive, the potential that comes natural, automatically to us. And how not to? Being laid-off, or not being fairly compensated, or seeing/reading only bad news about the job market, the economy, are events that naturally don’t feel good. But what happens when we focus by default?
a) Thought: It starts with one bad thought that invites more like-minded thoughts. Our brain cells are fabulous at reinforcing beliefs by re-connecting and strengthening data that further supports the “root” thought you are thinking. In a matter of a few minutes, you go from having a bad thought, to KNOWING that it will be bad for you.
b) Emotion: With every new thought that your brain is easily inviting and growing in your mind, your emotions respond in perfect synchronicity. You can go from shocked or worried, to absolutely terrified and even helpless in a matter of minutes. The longer these thoughts and emotions reside inside of you, the more they grow and build a solid structure of what is now a BELIEF that the event is bad and can only bring more badness to you.
c) Action: Once the belief is pretty established, your brain cells begin filtering all the data it receives, and allows only those bits of data that match the root thought to come into your consciousness. In other words, the ACTIONS that you will take can only be ones that are a response to thoughts and feelings of fear, disappointment, helplessness, etc. You will have no access to solution-oriented ideas for actions, because no matter how many great ideas, opportunities, coincidences come your way, your body is not able to perceive those. This is when (through your actions); you ACTUALIZE the negative potential of the event in your life, and your nightmares become real.
The worst consequence of actualizing the ‘negative’ potential of an event, is that it strengthens the belief that our life is subject to external events that we have no control over, and that we are subject to the “lucky” factor. Ultimately, it reinforces fear of “change”. What is interesting is that change is in our DNA. Ben Franklin said wisely “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” Change precedes growth and expansion, and is the key ingredient to the survival of our species.
3. Of all events, only those we deem “negative” bring the priceless gift of freedom:
It’s easy to actualize the positive potential of an event that we already BELIEVE “with ease” to be good for us. The thoughts, feelings and actions that arise automatically don’t require making a choice, especially a choice that may contradict other people’s perceptions and beliefs. As much as we enjoy the effects of “good events”, this ‘ease’ has atrophied our muscle of CHOICE in life. I mean “choice” in the real sense of the word. Choosing who we want to become, what we really want to do, what we believe to be possible. The “ease” that comes with focusing “by default” is at the root of our limiting beliefs.
When we focus by ‘default’, what we’re really doing is assimilating the focus that “other people” (our friends, our society, the media) currently have about the event. The more we assimilate their “focus”, we make these external people (who have nothing to do with the unique YOU that is you), your Compass in life, a compass you cannot control. This is when we “separate” ourselves from our own inner-power, our power of CHOICE.
Strangely, events deemed as “tragic” or “bad” are the only ones that can re-connect us with our inner-self. They require choosing to think something different from what others think about the same event. Because to overcome a tragic event we have NO option but CHOOSE to focus on the possibilities, the opportunities, the lessons, the growth, the inner strength, the new questions and answers and the actions to overcome it. Making a CHOICE implies choosing your own thoughts, which is where your inner power lies, and THAT my friends is when we become free people for the first time. And isn’t this the greatest gift in life?
Illness and death are arguably some of the most difficult events any human being can face. Having experienced both, I pondered this question every day for the last 23 months, with a particular high intensity during the last 3 months of Chris’s physical life and the first year after his passing. What am I going to focus on when I think of Chris, what I’m going to focus on when I think of death, its inevitability and my life? The pain was indisputably strong, raw and very much there, especially while he was sick and after his passing. And yet I had a choice: I could’ve “thought” and pondered for a long time the idea of never seeing him again in my lifetime, and let this thought invite another one even more hurtful with no end to this cycle.
I knew however that Chris would’ve HATED to see me use him as my excuse to die slowly every day. He wanted me to be happy. And while he was still alive, he needed my strength. I made a decision of NEVER let the pain stay in my heart for long. It wasn’t easy at the beginning, but I focused my mind on the “good times”, the “love”, his “smile”, his awesome jokes and sense of humor, his brilliance and intellect, his love of soccer, sports in general, his infatuation with books and movies. I consciously focused on the priceless memories we build together, and I focused on who-he-is-right-now. I later focused on what would make him and ME happy about our lives. What was I not living, not doing yet that I desired? Today, 20 months after he left his physical body, my automatic thoughts of Chris come easily in a positive way. I can say today with 100% honesty, that I smile most every time I think of him . . . which is still many times, every single day.
4. Our life, careers and bodies are a perfect mirror of the choices of our focus:
How can we know how much we’ve exercised our power of choosing what we focus on? Just look at your own life, your career, your financials, your relationships, and your health. You’ll confirm right away that those aspects of your life that are going well, count with your natural/exercised expectation, pre-disposition towards thinking, feeling and acting in a positive way. At the same time those aspects in life where you feel vulnerable, notice how much anxiety, fear, nervousness arises just thinking of them. If your SAP career falls within this category, ask yourself: What has been my predominant expectation, my focus anytime an event is about to unfold? Then ask yourself: As unlikely as I may believe this to be, what opportunities could come from this? What adjustments, what changes could I benefit from? …. All it takes is stop, think and decide.
I invite you to read Part 2 (of this 3-part blog entry) next week, where I’ll share two more of the critical beliefs that have changed my approach in my relationships, my business and continue to change my life every day, for the better.
Much love,
- Veruschka
Having an SAP Career worth living
“Our soul’s natural well being comes from creating circumstances that make our souls feel JOYFUL, in the now. Because only in joy we BECOME who we’re meant to be: Teachers and guides who build-up our fellow humans”.
At some point in our lives this knowing is turned upside down, in most cases with the help of our parents, school, friends, the media, society or whomever you want to blame. And it’s replaced by a new deep-seeded believe that claims that joy and happiness is NOT something we can create NOW, anytime, under any circumstances, but instead it’s something that just “happens” to us, once certain “conditions” have been met. And we become tolerant of unhappiness, tolerant of boredom, of frustration, of stress. Happiness goes from something we know we can choose at any moment, to being something attached to a condition, call it a new car, a big house, fame/recognition, a promotion, a bigger salary, etc, etc. I’m not saying these are not nice things/situations to have/be in. However in this distortion of what and how joy is reached, we forgot that these “conditions” were only meant to be the “excuse” to CREATE circumstances to be happy ”now”. Not the other way around.
However those who truly achieve happiness (and success!) in their careers and personal life know this is a misconception. Their number one advice is “do what you love” (Steve Jobs, Nelson Mandela, Oprah, the list is endless). They understand that only loving and “enjoying” what they do in the “moment by moment” of life, can bring true success to them. And by success they mean not only the ultimate goal of “being happy”, but all those earthly joys too, like the car, the money and the recognition that comes from sharing their success with others 
If your answers to my questions above are “NO”, you may ask how does one make “happy” happen. The only person who can answer that specifically for you is your own inner-3-year-old-self. But if you think about it, you’ll soon remember that some of the best laughs and truly joyful moments happened when you played with others. Start by asking and answering yourself some of these simple questions:
- Who are your primary grown-up work playmates now?
- Think about each of them individually and identify your favorite qualities about them from a personality and professional perspective (if you really try, you’ll notice them!)
- What projects, decisions, production issues do you have to co-address with them? And how could you make that team work a more pleasant experience?
- Do you have another long meeting to attend? If you are not the decision maker, ask your Manager if you could take the meeting outside. With spring finally here, it’s a SIN not to enjoy the outdoors and let it inspire you! (There is an incredible body of evidence that proves that in a state of calm and satisfaction our brain’s creativity flourishes).
- Are you working on an issue on your own? Have a 5 to 10-minute power walk outside, and let yourself “think outside the box”.
- How much time do you spend thinking and focusing on the negatives about your job and co-workers, versus the good stuff? Only you can choose to change that habit, or continue thinking “by default”.
Introducing “You Ask, ESJ Answers”: Your questions and our answers on anything related to SAP Jobs in the US.
Over the last 5 years, we’ve received hundreds of individual e-mails from you the SAP Candidate, the Hiring Manager, the Recruiter; asking us all kinds of questions about the SAP job market. From specific feedback and recommendations for your resumes, to more generic information about particular segments of the SAP job market, to looking for suggestions on how to better assess candidates before investing more time, to salary information and how that works in the US (why do we have dramatic disparities and what should you expect), to how to plan and conduct an effective SAP interview over the phone and in-person, etc, etc. You’ve been asking and we’ve been answering. Those of you who have benefited from our individual responses have come to know and expect our thorough and (yes, sometimes) long but honest feedback, backed when possible with specific data, trends, or simply experience. After 5 years, we realized suddenly that with so many repetitive and similar e-mails and questions, many of those answers could’ve probably helped many more folks out there who face the same questions and situations every day.
That changes today! We invite you to continue sending us your questions, or e-mail us for the first time, and let us attempt giving you our most complete, thorough and honest answer possible. Due to the public nature of our answers, your identity as well as any Organization you choose to mention as part of your question/e-mail will be kept anonymous.
Got a question? E-mail Veruschka at: Veruschka@EverySAPJob.com
NOTE: To see all our public “questions and answers” from this point forward, just click on the “You Ask, ESJ Answers” that will be visible under “Categories” on the right side of our blog’s page.
Also, please keep in mind that due to the volume of e-mails we already get on a daily basis we cannot promise that we’ll answer all e-mails. We’ll continue doing our best while trying to keep our high standard of quality and thorough replies, and chose those e-mails that we deem as representative of what most folks are wondering about.
Can’t wait to hear from you!
The EverySAPJob.com Team.
SAP Beginners: The #1 advice for success in getting your first SAP job (and more!).
I hope you had a chance to first read the blog post that precedes this one, which explains why the SAP job market in the US behaves the way it does, and why is it particularly hard (for now) for SAP Beginners to get their first shot. Remember, “knowledge is power”. If you’ve read that post, then you’re ready for this one.
So, what can/should any SAP beginner do to maximize his/her opportunities of getting their first job? I’ll start by setting your expectations in line with what you’ll read in this post.
We live in a very action-oriented world, where historically “action” has been embraced by most cultures, particularly in the western world not only as the most noble means of accomplishing anything in life, but the only way of achieving them. This is not untrue, but it is certainly an incomplete recipe to success. It has only been in the last few decades that the mental-state/power of the mind has begun getting attention outside the religious, spiritual, philosophical and psychological realms and become an active conversation within the professional world. Countless books, studies have been conducted documenting evidence and real life examples of how a positive mind-set and expectation are what empowers the engine of an action and makes the action ultimately successful or not. Let me be redundant to dissipate any misunderstandings:
“Action is absolutely the key ingredient to success and to achieving anything in life, but action alone won’t do it for you.”
The motto “working hard is the only way to success” is an incomplete statement. Case in point: What makes the difference between the athlete that works hard and loses a competition and the one who works hard and wins it? What is the difference between the entrepreneur who works hard and keeps losing his/her way and the one who works hard and succeeds? What is the difference between the SAP beginner who works hard and never gets a chance and the one who works hard and makes it? It’s not the actions, it’s not the effort, it’s the mind-set, the attitude. It’s what (the observers) call LUCK. So, yes my friends: Luck is something you do, not something that happens to you. Luck is something you can control through your attitude, your mind-set, your positive expectation, in spite of the negative evidence that many of those around you observe, and insist you believe as well as your destiny.
“Your mind-set is the secret energy source that makes your actions ultimately effective in anything you do.”
Over the years I have met many people who were absolute beginners and went on to have successful SAP careers. The common denominator? Persistence and a positive mind-set. A positive outlook (in spite of a temporary negative outlook) will allow you to “see” opportunities where others don’t. It keeps your energy up every day to keep looking where others have given up. Science has proven that a positive mind-set makes all your actions all the more powerful: More creative, more diligent and more persistent. A positive outlook is the gasoline (or electricity if you’re into “green” cars) you need to keep your car (“actions”) running and reach your destination.
I’ll be writing a lot more about this in future articles, but for now (especially for those of you who are reading this post expecting an executable list of “to do’s and tips”), let me just say this: Even though I certainly hope you will try my suggestions below, you can and will find other countless advice and tips in books and on the internet that are absolutely worth considering, however none of them (including mine) will make a difference in your outcome if you don’t apply the “right” mind-set before taking the action.
So here we go:
1. Make sure you’re committed to your career choice before joining the SAP workforce: Before deciding to pursue an SAP career (especially if you are a true beginner with no experience and/or no training), be aware that it may take more time than you think. ACCEPT IT AND MAKE PEACE WITH IT fully, completely and most importantly genuinely. You’ve got to not only make peace with it emotionally, but you must be financially covered to possibly pay for your own training, certification, and most importantly to support yourself (and your family when applicable) for the time it may take. Of course you can’t be financially covered indefinitely, but based on your situation DECIDE how long can you afford to pursue your SAP career and commit to your emotional peace for that time. If you can’t make emotional peace with this in a genuine way and/or you don’t have the financial means to do this, I would recommend re-thinking this career path, at least for now. You know you’ve achieved this (achieved the right mind-set) if every day that you spend looking for your “right” first job, begins with peace, with absolute peace about your day regardless of how it unfolds and committed to do your absolute best. Measure the success of your day by the energy and effort you put into it, and congratulate you for your consistency.
2. Be ready for relocating within the US and expand your search as much is possible. Before simply going ahead with searching for jobs all across the US, make sure you’ve truly accepted relocation as a positive change in your life. If you begin searching for jobs elsewhere “hoping” that only those within your existing location will come through, you’re not being honest with yourself, and you’re “subconsciously” hijacking your efforts by closing doors that never had a chance to be opened. One of the hidden effects of having “anxieties” about relocating, is that your body and your mind absorb those anxieties fully and will affect your focus in all your searches, including “local” ones. When you don’t feel really good about a “small” aspects of your job search (like relocation), that “unease” affects ALL your searches. You make peace with relocation by finding positives aspects to it, but embracing the possibilities of change, by investing time thinking more about the positives than the negatives about relocating.
3. Create an AWESOME Resume: I’ve been on all 3 sides of the market (as an SAP Professional, Hiring Manager and SAP Recruiter), and I can’t tell you enough how much a resume can open or close a door for you. Writing a resume is an “action” you all execute, but very, VERY few of you do it with the right mind-set. Writing a resume is more a spiritual work than a cold hearted and boring writing task. Re-think your resume and make it your own. Let it show the best of you, as a complete person (professional and human being). Don’t hire someone to write it for you. If you are unable to express the best of you and why an Employer should hire you, no one else will, not even the best resume-writer. Have an expert review it for you (if you want), but BE the author of your life document. For more on this visit my prior blog entry that talks about this in a lot more detail.
4. Differentiate yourself in a meaningful and positive way: If you didn’t know this, you better know it now: The number one criticism that most SAP consultants get among Hiring Managers is their bad communications skills. Working on having strong communication (and listening!) skills -verbal and written- and a keen awareness of the american idiosyncrasies will allow you to compete not just among beginners, but will earn you a spot right next to all the mid-level SAP professionals that you’re competing with. Communication skills is the first attribute that is assessed about you during your first phone interview. It is also the number one reason many mid-level SAP pros (who are “in theory” perfectly qualified for a job), don’t pass to the next stage of the interviewing process, no matter how unfair this may seem. So, you can choose to dismiss this suggestion, you can choose to feel criticized by this suggestion, or you can choose to consider it, to even embrace it. My bet is that if you embrace it, you’ll be automatically increasing your chances of being called for a phone interview with a client, in a meaningful way.
5. Specialize in new technologies: If you can still choose what area in SAP to focus on, consider some of the newest technologies (CRM, CFM, SAP Netweaver (XI/PI), BI, Business Objects, etc). These markets have a particular shortage of candidates and are more forgiving and open to juniors. Having said that, be aware that the newer the module the fewer the jobs out there (comparatively to the older areas of SAP). Still, your chances will be higher if relocation within the US is not a problem for you.
6. Think outside the Box! If you can afford the wait, look also for other kinds of jobs at Companies that run SAP and have an in-house SAP Support team. Consider jobs where your college degree/expertise may open doors for you. A study released early this year showed that Companies that have in-house SAP support teams are twice more likely to hire new SAP professionals from within their workforce. It’s a risky way of going about it, but worth considering. This will require a bit more research than just browsing job boards. There are no guarantees of getting ultimately an SAP job there, but the possibilities exist.
7. Stay on top of the market. Stay flexible. If you visit our EverySAPJob’s JOB CHARTS, you can get a sense of the state of the SAP Job market in the US, by state, city, module/area: http://everysapjob.com/chart-by-state/.
All the best.
- Veruschka
SAP Beginners looking for answers: The SAP job market Explained. And how beginners in the past got their first shot.
I decided to write this blog post after reading countless comments and questions from professionals who are new to SAP, expressing not only frustration with the job market (understandably), but also genuinely asking why there are not nearly enough junior SAP Jobs today, and how is that those who’ve made it in SAP before, ever got a start.
Let me answer that first: How did today’s Senior, Mid-level and even “3-” year experienced SAP professionals ever got their first shot, particularly when jobs always require a minimum of a few years of SAP experience?
Te short answer: It’s been a function of how the demand and supply of SAP professionals in the US has fluctuated over the last 15 years. Let me explain.
Back in the early to mid-90′s, there were fewer Companies implementing/upgrading/enhancing their SAP systems, there were also fewer SAP Consulting firms, but BY FAR there were much, much fewer SAP professionals available to handle all the work that needed to be done. Was there a demand for SAP beginners to do the job? Not at all. They wanted experts, or at least folks who had a few years under the belt. To meet the demand, between 1995 and 2000 it became the norm for the big Consulting firms to travel across American, Latin American, European and Asian universities and recruit the smartest graduates who had primarily a Computer Science, Finance and Manufacturing degree. They payed for their training, their certification and assigned them to clients/American Companies as Mid-level SAP consultants even though they had no real experience. There wasn’t a competitive market of SAP Candidates for Companies to choose from. These young professionals learned on the job, and became who they were supposed to be by the end of their first year. On one hand, you had these beginners being paid as Mid-level SAP pros, which you could say was unfair. But on the other hand, they were assigned to do hard-core design/configuration/implementation/client management and training work without any help or support and with the same expectations and demands that Seniors get today. The pressures were very, very high and the rate of resignations and layoffs was even higher after only 6 months. A study showed that many of those who survived their first year, accomplished (in average) what SAP beginners accomplish and become today after 5 years. At the same time, the Companies, Corporations where SAP was being implemented, assigned some of their brightest employees to work with these consultants. First as “power users” but later as trainees in SAP. This is how another portion of what you’d call “freshers” got their first shot at SAP in the US. They were not necessarily lucky, but chosen after years of excelling doing whatever they were originally hired to do.
Fast forward to the mid-2000′s. By 2005 the demand for SAP professionals and more specifically “mid-level to Senior” pros grew dramatically. In response to the market’s needs, the supply of candidates grew very quickly as well, thanks to countless of new small consulting firms that through globalization and legislation were able to bring candidates from Europe and Asian countries with H1-B visas to compete for these jobs. This meant that unlike 1995-2000 (when companies had no choice) now they did. A market of SAP professionals emerged that didn’t quite exist 10 years earlier. With a strong demand and supply you would think that this was a happy time for all parties. This was not the case, most jobs required strong mid-level and seniors SAP pros, yet more than half of the candidates that suddenly joined the US market were what you call beginners. But, something else happened that helped balance the market for the time being. A new set of technology solutions were released by SAP that didn’t exist before: HCM, CFM, CRM, Netweaver, Industry Solutions, BI/BW, etc, etc. Many of the SAP professionals who by now were senior/experts in the “old” core SAP modules were looking for the next challenge. A sudden high demand for EXPERTS in these new SAP modules/areas took place that exceeded the supply. And so many “Senior” SAP Subject Matter Experts got training and were hired for these new modules/areas, making their old SAP jobs available for new people to take. During these years (2006 to mid – 2008) for the first time in years, companies were hiring SAP juniors and even true beginners, and those who were lucky (and persistent!) enough, got those jobs.
Today, beginners are in a tough spot as a result of a continuation of the same trends: Unfortunately the market’s demand has continued to increase for “Strong Mid-level to Senior-level” SAP professionals, but the growth of our market’s supply has happened primarily due to new SAP beginners joining the market. You may ask, why is it that Companies don’t have needs for “juniors” like in other job markets (such as in the teaching, medicine and engineering markets)? Unlike the 90′s when the overwhelming majority of jobs were for brand-new SAP implementations which by nature are more “vanilla” (straight-forward) in terms of design and configuration, today’s jobs include a heavy dose of upgrades and project enhancements. These assignments require more expertise to address complex, unique business scenarios and to implement and integrate the new SAP technologies to their existing infrastructure.
- A point worth mentioning here is that aside from a large influx of beginners in the job market, a vast majority of those who are considered “mid-level” SAP professionals include people with 8 to 10 years of SAP experience. One of the biggest miss-understandings is that SAP Consultants assume that their seniority is proportionate to the number of years they’re in the business. The seniority is not derived from the number of years alone, but from the variety, complexity and success of the work completed, and the variety of “roles” that the candidate has played successfully. Those who end-up working on the same kinds of projects with little variation don’t actually move into the category of ”Senior” SAP Professionals, and find themselves competing for the mid-level and (sometimes) junior jobs.
So, how does the market look today? We have actually two “parallel” SAP job markets in the US: The first, is the market of mostly beginners and mid-level SAP pros who are competing for the same mid-level jobs across the US. Who commands this market? The Hiring Companies! Companies can choose. (Of course when there are too many candidates it also becomes a burden for them as it becomes more difficult to find the right person for the job). The second job market is the market of jobs who desperately look for Senior Subject Matter Experts or Architects or Decision Makers or Outstanding Project Managers or Specialist in the newest technologies in SAP. There are not nearly enough candidates to meet this demand. Who commands this market? The candidate! particularly in terms of their compensation.
So in spite of what may seem a “not-so-rosy” outlook, this is the most important point I’d like to make: The key to having a successful SAP career is becoming part of the second job market. Is it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. Once there, few careers will offer you the stable and strong compensation, longevity, excitement and growth in a consistent way. What will it take? Persistence. Persistence to get your first job, persistence to learn and specialize in an area of SAP, persistence to become the best you can be. Don’t assume that becoming an expert always implies “many years”. It’s not about the “number” of years, but the quality of what you learn, apply and how you execute your work. If you get to this point you’ll be joining the second market, and guess what: You are in more control than most of your career.
Now that you know what happened and why, you might be ready to take the bull by the horns and begin taking control over how to go from where you are to an SAP Professional that Companies want to hire. In the second part of this blog entry I’ll talk about what you can and should do to maximize your opportunities to get your first job sooner rather than later. This post will be released this Monday November 7th.
SAP Freshers in the US Job Market – Simple actions with great rewards.
When I first heard/read the “fresher” term in the blogosphere of SAP (SCN, LinkedIn, etc), I didn’t quite understand what it meant. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one, but over the last year it has become the unofficial SAP term for any professional who is completely new to the shores of the SAP professional world. If you are an SAP “fresher”, this blog entry is for you.
So, you are new to SAP, maybe you’ve recently changed careers form whatever you were doing before, or just graduated college or finished your masters and are giving SAP a try, as you’re told that this is an exciting (and profitable) career path. Maybe you’ve just finished your introductory training in SAP. Either way, here you are, with everybody else in the SAP Job Market in the US.
If you’ve been looking for longer than just a few weeks, you must’ve noticed that getting a start isn’t easy. It’s unusual for Companies to look specifically for true beginners. So, you’re now competing for the most junior-level SAP jobs out there along with all those SAP pros that have up to 3 years of SAP experience under their belt. How do you compete with this group of people? If you can afford it, you can certainly wait blissfully for that “one-of-a-kind” SAP opportunity that is looking for true SAP “freshers” with no experience. But if you’re like most people, there are three very basic things you should do to help yourself:
1) If you can afford it, get SAP Training in a specific module/area: Particularly if you have NO hands-on experience with SAP. it is almost unacceptable for you to apply to a beginner’s/junior-level SAP job if you don’t even know the “theory” of the SAP module you’re supposed to be working with. Training is not cheap, but then again, if you’ve made a decision to begin an SAP career I’m assuming you’re thinking in a long-term relationship, not a one-night stand, right?
2) Apply only to SAP jobs where your professional/educational background is an asset: So, you have no SAP experience and maybe you don’t even have SAP training. Make sure to apply to jobs that at the very least require an SAP “module” (FICO, MM, SD, QM, CFM, PS, etc) or “area” (ABAP, Netweaver, etc) where your professional background or education is/are an asset. If you come from a financial background, focus on financial modules in SAP, if you come form a manufacturing background focus on MM, PS or QM, if you are a software developer or come from IT in general focus on ABAP, Netweaver, XI/PI, BASIS, etc.
3) Your Resume – Make it stand out, but in a positive way: This is the most important piece of advice you may get. It’s very simple and obvious, but for those exact same reasons it’s overlooked and pushed aside by most SAP “freshers”. The only way to make your resume stand-out in the mind of an SAP Hiring Manager or an SAP Recruiter, especially when you’ll be compared to junior-level SAP candidates for the same jobs, is making your resume unique, 100% truthful and an honest picture of the very best of you as a Professional and Candidate for ANY company. What does that mean? First, don’t let the so called “format” and “expected sections” of a resume limit what you articulate about yourself. There are no rules or laws that say that a resume has to be this cold and boring one/two-page document that lists in bullet-points the things you’ve done professionally in the past. A resume is the first impression you make. It is what gets you in the door. Make the most of it. Why wouldn’t you? What do you have to lose in putting yourself out there? Plus, you must agree with me that you are more than just the specific actions you’ve taken at prior jobs, or the degree you hold. You are more. Let the reader know what that “more” is:
- Whatever resume you currently have, put it aside, and open a brand new document with nothing in it.
- Now try for a moment to place yourself in the Hiring Manager’s shoes. He/she is looking for someone who can take on a junior-level job and execute it successfully. Now imagine yourself getting the job. You don’t have SAP experience with this module, you may not even have SAP training on the module that you’ll be working with. Answer these two questions:
a) What would you draw upon from your personal and professional skills, talents, strengths to do the job? Write those down in your blank document.
b) What evidence/past results/outcomes/examples in past job experiences or personal experiences, can you think of that showcase your ability to take on a job you haven’t done before and still be succesful? Write those down in your blank document as well.
- Now, build your resume AROUND these skills/talents/ strengths and examples of specific outcomes/situations, that showcase your confidence in knowing that you can not only “do” the job, but be the best candidate for the position. Now THAT is a resume!
If you give this a try, you’ll notice that your resume will actually transcend the piece of paper it is written on, and will become a “person” to the reader, and THAT my friend is what will make you not only stand out, but maybe get you your first SAP job. Give it a try!
- Veruschka
SAP Recruiter/ SAP FICO Project Manager
Trying to fill an SAP job? Know this: AWESOME Job descriptions attract AWESOME SAP professionals.
This blog entry was written specifically with the permanent SAP job market in mind. (NOTE: The job market for temporary consulting/project-based SAP work is a whole different ballgame and targets a different kind of SAP candidate all together.)
Hiring the right SAP candidate for a permanent SAP position generally takes an average of four months in the US, many times taking as long as 12 months or more.  85 to 90% of that time is spent placing your job description “out there” (job boards, social networks, through recruiters, ads, etc), waiting for resume applications, and doing the most time and work-intensive task of them all: reviewing, assessing and filtering out the few “good matches”, with very little reward in most cases. Only 10-15% of the time is actually spent closing (or losing!) the deal once a strong candidate has been identified. So, for those in the trenches, the hiring process can be perceived as a long and painful process.
Why is it this way? Most Hiring Managers don’t realize that the generic, cookie-cutter structure of your job descriptions is one of the key reasons you’ll likely receive (proportionally speaking) so many sub-par and off-target resumes and is partially responsible for decreasing the likelihood of the right candidate being in your stack of resumes.  Let me explain:
1) The job title” is the “bait” on your fishing pole. Â Your bait must be truthful and specific while simultaneously inspiring enough intrigue that compels the candidate to want to learn more. For example “SAP FICO Business Analyst looking to telecommute 2 times/week”.
2) An awesome job description should not read like a cookie recipe, but instead it should help the reader visualize him/herself in the job such that it triggers excitement and fulfillment. The very first paragraph should clearly answer these questions: Â What’s in it for your ideal candidate? Â Why should a great candidate who is currently content, secure or simply comfortable with his/her job consider change? Â What would justify a disruption in his/her life? Â While financial compensation is always a motivating factor, it cannot be what makes your job better than other similar jobs. Â Before writing your job description find what is at the heart of what makes your position “unique”.
” Having a lot of experience with FICO full life cycle implementations is a positive aspect for us, but to be considered for this position it is required that you have very strong FICO production support experience (3 or more years), post go-live enhancement project experience and month-end close support experience.”
4) It is absolutely true that writing a clear and specific description of the role, responsibilities, requirements, nice-to-have’s and required education (when applicable), is critical. Â It provides an outline for evaluating candidates as you review their resume and when/if the interview process begins later on. Â The traditional bullet point-list format is still the most effective way to lay-out your specifications. Â Be as picky and specific as possible about what you need early on. Â A Job description should be a living document so you can always change your requirements to be a bit more generic if necessary. Â For example, if your ideal candidate will be doing primarily enhancements and production support in SAP, make that a requirement. Â You can later make it more generic to something like “Strong SAP FICO configuration and troubleshooting experience”.
Click here to see an example of these ideas applied.
I’m not promising that writing an awesome job description will do all the work for you and magically get you your ideal candidate, but it’s a practice that will make your recruiting efforts all the better, for sure.
- Veruschka
ASUG Partner Companies: Exciting news about EverySAPJob.com and ASUG America!
EverySAPJob.com’s unique focus (only US-based SAP jobs, and only US-based SAP professionals), makes a partnership with ASUG a match made in heaven. This obvious partnership has now translating into something uniquely exciting for American Hiring Companies who are looking to attract SAP Professionals to their organizations.
Starting today July 22th, 2011, EverySAPJob.com will be making available to all our ASUG Partner Companies a custom subscription plan that includes our full functionality (unlimited SAP job posting, unlimited SAP resume searches, and everything else) at a reduced monthly rate of only $199, rather than our full rate of $289. This is an exclusive subscription plan available only to Companies in the US that are ASUG Members. You can see details about our new “ASUG Totally Unlimited” plan on our pricing page, as well as in ASUG’s Marketplace site.
To take advantage of our ASUG Totally Unlimited subscription, all you need to do is:
1) Visit ASUG’s website at http://www.ASUG.com.
2) Login to ASUG.com.
3) Go to ASUG’s Marketplace at. From Homepage: Value Added Initiatives -> Marketplace, or click here.
4) Look for EverySAPJob.com, and copy/write down the “Promo Code” that you’ll be asked to enter on our site later on.
5) “Click” on our EverySAPJob.com “logo”. You’ll be re-directed to our registration page in EverySAPJob.com.
6) Register to our ASUG Totally Unlimited Subscription plan, using our “Promo Code”.
That’s it!
Questions? contact me anytime at veruschka@EverySAPJob.com!
- Veruschka
Got SAP Jobs? The inside scoop on ESJ and why you should know about it.
I’m obviously biased in my pride and love towards EverySAPJob.com. Still, I believe that our niche Job-Board (Only SAP Jobs, Only in the US) is the best niche SAP job board in the country, and I don’t say that lightly. If you have an SAP job opening (fulltime or consulting), and are not showcasing it with us yet, you should seriously consider doing so.
Why? Our community of registered SAP Pros and Employers is growing, fast! We don’t have all of you with us yet, but we believe that not far in the future this will be the case.
Our client focus and support is superb and all our clients will tell you so. We want you to succeed because your success IS our success. We have an awesome team running and supporting our infrastructure, and our system is getting better by the day (linkedIn integration, ASUG membership rates, SAP Job Market data, etc).
Something very unique about us: We actually understand SAP (the system, the infrastructure, the technology), we understand the culture (fulltime and consulting) and we understand the unique SAP Job Market. How so? Prior to EverySAPJob.com we were veteran SAP professionals, SAP Employers, SAP Recruiters. This is what we do and what we love. We designed and continue to expand our system based on this knowledge. So, EverySAPJob.com is not just an idea that occurred to us. It IS us. It is what we continue to become.
So, are we perfect? NO WAY JOSE!! But, we are seriously striving to be the best at what we do: Matching the right US-based SAP Professional with the right SAP Job in America. For sure.
- Veruschka
- Part-2: HOW and WHY your SAP career can only get better and BETTER under any circumstances.
- Part-1 (of 3): Take your Career to the next level: The power of Focus and Choice
- Having an SAP Career worth living
- Introducing “You Ask, ESJ Answers”: Your questions and our answers on anything related to SAP Jobs in the US.
- SAP Beginners: The #1 advice for success in getting your first SAP job (and more!).
- SAP Beginners looking for answers: The SAP job market Explained. And how beginners in the past got their first shot.
- SAP Freshers in the US Job Market – Simple actions with great rewards.
- Trying to fill an SAP job? Know this: AWESOME Job descriptions attract AWESOME SAP professionals.
- ASUG Partner Companies: Exciting news about EverySAPJob.com and ASUG America!
- Got SAP Jobs? The inside scoop on ESJ and why you should know about it.
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