I am a professional chartered accountant and cost accountant from India. I have more than three years training and one year post-qualification experience. Now I want to take a leap in my career. I am interested in SAP FICO certification. Please advise me. I have other options in core accounting and finance, too.
QUESTION POSED ON: 24 MAY 2006
QUESTION ANSWERED BY: Jon Reed, Years 2002-2008
First, your thinking about pursing SAP Financials is right on, given your overall finance background. Since you have other career options outside of SAP, your big question is: Should you invest in SAP certification?
I would say: "Yes, as long as you don't expect it to lead to a job in SAP Finance right away." Certification will help you find a position, but it won't guarantee anything. If you can't afford to take that chance, I would either pursue your non-SAP options or pursue an SAP Finance job without paying for certification.
For example, you could get a job as a controller working in an SAP shop and hopefully, over time, get more exposure to the SAP side of things. This way you could be paid to learn SAP on the job, but it takes time and savvy to pull that off.
Certification in FI/CO is not a bad thing at all, but I would caution you against assuming that it will lead directly to an SAP opportunity. Investing in self-education (such as SAP certification) is almost never a mistake, but it's a good idea to view that investment more as a long-term career helper than a short-term fix. I would recommend looking at the SAP jobs on the TechTarget web sites (like SearchSAP.com) and see how the SAP finance jobs match up with your qualifications. That will give you a better sense of the skills gaps you need to fill on the SAP side. Good luck!
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