I remember when I was about to graduate from college, I (along with my friends and classmates) was pretty anxious about kicking off my career. Luckily for me, I had an internship during my senior year that helped me secure my first "real" job. That was back in the late nineties. Since then a lot has changed in the IT industry, no doubt, but students still ask themselves the same questions:
How do I prepare myself for my first job and how do I find it?
Last week I had an opportunity to speak with Ron Pike, a professor at California State University, Chico who teaches business process integration. Chico has been participating in the SAP University Alliances Community for quite some time and offers SAP related classes as part of its undergraduate curriculum. Some students take between three to five SAP classes during their studies. Recently, the students at Chico have also started using the Career Center on SCN to post resumes and look for jobs. And they have been successful on multiple occasions! Here is what professor Pike had to say:
"An SAP curriculum in the classroom is particularly important because it opens new opportunities for students when they graduate. And the University Alliances Community and the SCN Career Center enable new SAP trained graduates to reach employers and identify job opportunities. Several of my students have recently secured challenging positions by connecting with employers through the career center."
Ron Pike Ph.D.
Lecturer, Management Information Systems
California State University, Chico
There is a lot of excitement at Chico about the Career Center and UAC. Students are being hired for interesting positions and they can hit the ground running because of their SAP classroom training. If you are a student and are interested in a career focused on SAP technologies:
- Try to gain as much exposure to SAP as you can in the classroom. Gaining SAP knowledge in the classroom will likely give you a competitive edge when it's time to interview for jobs. The more you know, the more valuable of a resource you will be! If your university does not offer SAP classes yet, speak up and make a request to enhance the curriculum.
- Apply for internships to gain some professional experience. Internships are also a great way to "test the waters" and find out what you are most interested in.
- Use the Career Center on SCN. It's free of charge and it gives you exposure to some of SAP's largest partners and customers in the world, for full time positions and internships.
- Leverage other resources that SAP makes available to you! There is a lot of helpful information posted on UAC and free educational resources throughout SCN, including elearning.
- Start participating on SCN and contribute. We were all newbies at one point. Don't be shy. 🙂
If you are a SAP partner or customer, make sure to leverage the Career Center to find resources, including entry level talent. We know it's often a challenge. SAP wants to make this effort easier, and we are offering the Career Center free of charge on SCN. Make sure to take advantage of this valuable resource today!
