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You’ve got your dream SAP job – now what? If you’re passionate about SAP, you’ll want to keep moving on up in your career until you’re a sought-after SAP Architect working on multi-million-pound implementation projects. 

Getting to that level is no easy feat, though. To be able to advance, you need to know your business inside and out and develop a mindset of constant improvement and perseverance. Follow our tips and learn what you need to do to get ahead in your SAP career. 

1. Invest in your professional development.

Investing into professional development is a sure-fire way to get ahead in your SAP career. If you’re truly passionate about your career, you will invest money and time into learning new skills and gaining new competencies.

Luckily, in the SAP world, you can get certified to prove your competency, which is a great starting point. Look into getting an official SAP Certification so you can improve your marketability to employers.

If you seek career progression in the fast-moving SAP field, learning can’t stop with a certificate. Technology is quickly changing. Consider how recent developments, such as the Cloud, have changed SAP and how we consume technology in general. Look up online resources such as SAP’s Learning Hub to gain new knowledge at your own pace and never stop learning. 

2. Problem solving at every angle.

In the life of a successful SAP career, chances are you will work for a host of different clients from start-up to corporation-level and within a range of different industries. It is, therefore, imperative for you to learn how to approach problems from different angles. The more versatile you are in your learnings, the better you will be able to adapt your knowledge to new projects within different clients. 

When you solve a problem, consider how the issue would apply in a different industry. This is especially important if you know what organisation you want to work for next. If you analyse the problem multiple ways, you will improve your chances to grow. 

3. Develop your communication skills.

You can be a true SAP mastermind, but if you cannot communicate your knowledge effectively, your competencies will only go so far. According to an article by Entrepreneur, 90% of staff at 500 US organisations believe that you need increased communication skills to succeed in your career nowadays. Here’s what you can do to improve your communication skills when consulting on SAP actions:

• Give context to your explanations 
• Take your time to give a thorough explanation
• Be clear on the actions you’re advising to take, and outline key steps required
• Know how to listen and understand your listener and their concerns 

In your professional development, ensure you learn the business and technical language of SAP in your industry. When you work with a client, they will use technical language you are expected to understand and be able to reciprocate. 

4. Build your personal brand.

Nowadays, building a lasting SAP career is as much about self-marketing and personal brand as your skills and competencies. With all the competition out there, how you present yourself to the professional world as a brand is what will set you apart from everyone else. 

Personal brand is becoming increasingly broad in the digital world, so ensure you know how to build your profile both online and offline. Here are some tips on how to do that:

• Use different social media for different purposes (LinkedIn for professional branding, Twitter to show industry expertise and Facebook to reveal light personal details and your personality).
• Join professional groups and join into discussions on them.
• Start a blog to prove you’re an industry expert by posting top insight and advice. 
• Build a network and connect with other professionals in your field. 
• Be consistent in your messaging and tone.

5. Share your knowledge.

The key to being an in-demand professional is having something to offer others in your field and share value. Once you accumulate a great deal of knowledge about the ins and outs of SAP and the different modules within it, be sure to share it with other professionals be it in the form of a blog or a simple LinkedIn post. 

Sharing knowledge is especially important when you’re trying to climb the career ladder and advance to a more senior role. Showing others you are well equipped with insight about a certain SAP module or problem in question will garner you respect from your peers who might offer you an opportunity to grow in your career.

We hope our tips help you turn your passion for SAP into a long-lasting and fruitful career. Visit RED’s jobs page to find your next SAP challenge. For more valuable career advice and SAP industry insight, visit RED’s blog page.