It’s no secret that access to the right technology can propel business growth. Today, many companies are relying on SAP for enterprise resource planning (ERP), HR, supply-chain management, and other vital functions. But, installing technology is only one half of the equation. To make the best use of SAP, being SAP certified is a guaranteed advantage.
SAP offers plenty of certifications that can be categorized into Associate, Professional and Specialist Levels. But, first, let’s get an answer to the most important question of them all – is SAP certification really beneficial?
How SAP Certifications Can Help You Stay Ahead In The Job Market
SAP certification is beneficial for individuals as well as the organization they work with. In terms of individual career progress, some of the key advantages of SAP certifications are:
Stay up to Date
The first and most important advantage of SAP certification is that it keeps your skill set current and updated. Technology is constantly changing and what you knew yesterday may not be enough to get a task done tomorrow.
If you were to rely only on self-learning modes such as practical learning through practice or YouTube tutorials, you may not get the most updated information. But, certification empowers individuals to gain relevant information and stay up to date.
Eligibility for High-Paying Positions
According to a global analysis of job postings and salaries, an SAP certified individual is eligible for positions with a median salary of $104,000. While it is true that a very small percentage of job requests for system analysts, IT project managers, BI architects, software developers, etc. specify SAP certification in the eligibility criteria, employers show more confidence in hiring certified candidates. After all, what is a certification if not proof of knowing how to handle the software?
Greater Opportunities for Growth
SAP certification plays a role not only when you’re looking for a new job but also when you’re looking for ways to grow your career within the same organization. These certifications give you a competitive edge.
A study showed that with the right IT certification, employees make themselves preferred candidates for higher responsibilities. IT certification can increase job responsibilities by 27% and salaries by around 35%.
Hence, certification boosts professional credibility and offers a high ROI on the time and effort it requires. It also contributes to helping you get recognized by peers, professionals and personally.
Job Satisfaction
Certification provides the knowledge required to upgrade your skill sets and acquire new ones. You can learn your way around a new software while you’re working but this is slower. With certification, you walk into a position knowing how to use the software to get what you want. Needless, you can achieve more.
Your tasks get done quicker and the overall success rate is higher. With this success comes a higher satisfaction rate. This isn’t just a feel- good factor, higher satisfaction rates keep you motivated to continue learning and find ways to improve your performance even more.
Not all individuals wanting to complete SAP certification have the resources to get through it on their own. Realizing this, many organizations sponsor their employee’s SAP training and certification.
Running these certification courses isn’t only a way for organizations to invest in HR but also a way for them to improve their overall productivity levels. Some of the ways corporate organizations benefit from certifying their employees are:
Teams with the Right Skill Sets
The organization may have the most updated technology but as mentioned before, a trained team is critical to its efficient use. Hiring a new team every time is an expensive affair. Teams grow bigger, not necessarily more efficient. Instead, it makes more sense to upgrade the skills of the existing team.
When your team has the right skills, they can get work done faster and the company’s overall productivity increases without increasing the operational costs.
A Loyal Team
Having a certain number of employees leave and having to replace them with new hires is certain. Every company strives to maintain this churn rate at the lowest possible levels. Investing in employees with SAP training and certification makes them feel valued. This, combined with the increase in productivity levels keeps employees happier and less inclined to look for changes. In short, the churn rate stays low and the company has a team that is loyal to them. As any successful company will validate – there’s nothing as important as team loyalty.
Getting the Right SAP Certification
There are over 150 SAP certifications available. Courses and exams are conducted in 20 languages to meet the needs of a varied audience. The choices before you range from application associate and business associate courses to development professional, product support specialists and more.
It’s important to apply for relevant certification. SAP Learning guides provide visual maps of available SAP solutions and associated learning paths. You can set a goal for yourself and choose certifications that will help you achieve these goals.
As mentioned earlier, certifications are offered at three levels – associate, specialist and professional.
- The associate certification covers the fundamentals of the chosen path and gives you a broad picture of SAP skills and solution knowledge.
- As the name suggests, specialist certification focuses on a particular role of skill set and its integration.
- Professional certification involves proven project experience, a thorough understanding of SAP solutions and business process knowledge.
These certifications must be achieved in stages. That is, you must complete Associate level certification before you can move on to Specialist certification and so on.
To Conclude
SAP is the leading provider of enterprise application software globally. Thus, it’s a business-critical solution. Getting certified improves your chances of getting hired in related positions as well as puts you forward as a candidate with the potential for a promotion at your existing position.
It improves your career prospects, empowers you to ask for a higher salary, makes you more productive and, in turn, makes you happier. It’s never too late to start. So, if you aren’t already considering it, the time to look into SAP certification is now.
