Need proper guidence

[Former Member]

Hi, I am 12 years experienced in IT industry in Mainframe technologies, worked in application development,mentainance, support projects.

I was working as Task Manager leading a team of 10 members for the past 2 years. Though was not involved in any project management activities but was responsible for execution and delivery of agreed tasks from offshore team in Bangalore.

Though worked majorly in Banking and Retail domains but not strong in any specific domain  

Currently not working since 1 year, unable to make reentry again in Mainframe projects though trying very hard, lost lots of opportunities even after clearing 3-4 rounds of interviews due to seniority! 

Now thinking of making switchover to SAP, but not sure which module to choose!

Geting different suggestions from different friends like SAP BI, SAP HANA, SAP PS...and so.

Please sugge

[former_member182339]

Shivanand,

Sorry to hear about your job loss. But it was very motivating to see you still want to learn and move ahead which is very good thing. SAP BI, BASIS,SAP ABAP and SAP HANA which you can explore.

I would suggest BASIS or ABAP would be good start.

Since you have fair idea about application development,maintenance, support projects, you will have an upper edge understanding concepts in SAP BASIS and ABAP.

Take sometime and choose wisely what you want to learn and pursue as career.

Good Luck

Cheers

Hrusikesh

[Former Member]

Hi Hrushikesh

thanks for the advise and motivational words

If i take ABAP, i am afraid if i should not face the same pbm what i am facing now, i mean why should a company prefer seniors person like me who is fresh to SAP when there are resources with 3-4 yrs experienced in ABAP are easily available in the market, ofcourse companies also think of profit making out of billing.

Rather i got 2 advises : 1. to consider SAP BI and later to do HANA.

                                  2. to consider SAP PS which is most suitable to my experience.

I have attended demo classes for both of these courses, the trainers are real professionals in their respective areas working for reputed companies in B'lore. Inspite trainer for SAP PS is currently working as Solution Architect in a reputed company. He feels since i already have executed role of task manager/lead and was involved in estimation / resource allocation / followup execution and delivery responsible for tasks assigned, hence it will be a good move to go for SAP PS and try geting an opportunity to work as Consultant and get experience atleast in one implementation, and then can look for PM opportunities. thus he feels SAP PS has the scope for me to move to management position when compared to SAP BI+HANA which ofcourse may help in fetching more calls and opportunities but still have to remain as technical consultant. He also says there are less opprtunities and hence less competetion for SAP PS.

Ofocurse considering my current situation, high priority is to go for the one which helps in geting a job in less time, however also need to think of scope of further growth considering my age factor (i am 38 yrs now). Also important is i need to take a decision and move ahead asap as already i have lost one year!

As of now i am thinking to sart with SAP PS on 1st priority and to take SAP BI in paralel on 2nd priority.

Please advise if i am thinking the  wrong way, if so which will be best alternative.

thanks

-Shiva

[former_member182339]

Shiva,

Sounds like a great plan. Be confident and proceed with confidence. Once you start learning try building skills focus on right skill set to get a job. Learn only that whatever you can grasp and build on knowledge do not rush to learn things. You are an experienced IT guy and it will help you while you are in job or learning SAP.

You are 38 still young and there is never an age to learn and do something you like. As far as you enjoy doing whatever you want to do it should be fine.

Good Luck

Cheers

Hrusikesh

[Former Member]

Hi Shivanand,

It's sad to hear about what you are going through but don't loose hope, keep up your spirits high and put your energy in learning and job hunting more professionally. Your experience is an asset that you can use in new job/projects. Since you have been involved in mainframe coding/development, if you are interested in technical work in SAP which involves coding then you may would like to explore ABAP. Take sometime and explore what ABAP is all about, there are many articles that will give you information on ABAP, follow this link - http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-7940

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_47x200/helpdata/en/d3/2e974d35c511d1829f0000e829fbfe/frameset.htm

Take time to go through all the modules in SAP and see which ones match your education + experience + and market demand then take a decision.

Feel free to ask if you have any other question.

Nagarajan Viswanathan

[Former Member]

Hi Nagarjan Viswanathan

thanks for the advise and motivational words

If i take ABAP, i am afraid if i should not face the same pbm what i am facing now, i mean why should a company prefer seniors person like me who is fresh to SAP when there are resources with 3-4 yrs experienced in ABAP are easily available in the market, ofcourse companies also think of profit making out of billing.

Rather i got 2 advises : 1. to consider SAP BI and later to do HANA.

                                   2. to consider SAP PS which is most suitable to my experience.

I have attended demo classes for both of these courses, the trainers are real professionals in their respective areas working for reputed companies in B'lore. Inspite trainer for SAP PS is currently working as Solution Architect in a reputed company. He feels since i already have executed role of task manager/lead and was involved in estimation / resource allocation / followup execution and delivery responsible for tasks assigned, hence it will be a good move to go for SAP PS and try geting an opportunity to work as Consultant and get experience atleast in one implementation, and then can look for PM opportunities. thus he feels SAP PS has the scope for me to move to management position when compared to SAP BI+HANA which ofcourse may help in fetching more calls and opportunities but still have to remain as technical consultant. He also says there are less opprtunities and hence less competetion for SAP PS.

Ofocurse considering my current situation, high priority is to go for the one which helps in geting a job in less time, however also need to think of scope of further growth considering my age factor (i am 38 yrs now). Also important is i need to take a decision and move ahead asap as already i have lost one year!

As of now i am thinking to sart with SAP PS on 1st priority and to take SAP BI in paralel on 2nd priority.

Please advise if i am thing the  wrong way, if so which will be best alternative.

thanks

-Shiva

[Former Member]

Hi Shiva,

The best way to find out about which module/technology is in demand is to do the following:

1. Check with your friends who are working in other companies and find out what are the current openings advertised by their organization.

2. There are many recruiters in LinkedIn who keep looking for good candidates, make good contacts with recruiters and check with them about the current demand.

3. You can check in (naukri.com, monster.com, recruit.net, jobsahead.com etc) portals and find out what is the recruiter/employer asking for.

After analyzing all facts you can take a decision. As per Indian standards yes you are in a sensitive state because of your age but never mind as there are many companies/recruiters who understand that many people do change career after sometime. Now, I personally don't see the number of years guaranteeing anyone's skill/capability. I always check what type of projects people did, what was their involvement and what all were they responsible for. I have seen many people with years of experience but at the same level and their involvement in work was very limited. It is good to have good knowledge and experience compared to only having high # of years. You can always work with people who need assistance, check for opportunities for free lancers, see if you can train others on what you have learnt...all this will help you build confidence and understanding of any domain/technology.

Thank you,

Nagarajan Viswanathan