This is why doing SAP courses isn’t the best way to land a good job as a consultant. Do this instead.

Courses’ power is overrated.

We are transiting the so-called “knowledge era,” meaning that our intellectual skills to solve problems determine our value in the market. That’s one of the reasons for the spike in the learning industry during the last few years. Most people are taking courses to increase their knowledge and, consequently, their professional value.

However, courses aren’t the most efficient way to get billable knowledge.

What’s wrong with doing courses?

The problems are often not in the courses themselves but in our expectations.

They are good introductions or specializations for certain topics, but we must use the information on them to build knowledge over time. We need to consider the timing (when we take it), the subject (what the course is about), the methodology (how it is delivered), and the outcome we expect from it.

For example, if you are an ABAP programmer, taking a course in EWM won’t add much professional value if the project doesn’t use that module.

These are some of the disadvantages we encounter when we take courses as the primary learning source:

They are Passive Activities

The ratio between theory (input) and exercises (output) is often unbalanced.

Most courses’ contents include documents, presentations, and videos for us to consume. We can follow and “understand” them, but they don’t prepare us to solve the problems alone. So, we must pay special attention to the course structure before enrolling.

Although more expensive and time consuming, the best courses for developing skills are hands-on.

We learn what we don’t need (now)

As we employ a limited set of skills in our jobs, any course outside that set is irrelevant at any given time.

I took an FI Module course while working as an ABAP developer in procurement solutions. Everything I saw was almost useless by that time. Logically, as I wasn’t applying those concepts, I soon forgot them.

My framework for training when starting with a new technology or tool is to begin with an introductory course while I apply the basic concepts. Once I collect some experience (and frustrations) in the tool, I enroll in other training that will answer some of the questions I didn't have before working with that tool.

It’s always better to receive the answers after we formulate the questions.

A bunch of broad courses don’t increase our value

This misconception may have its origins in the old doctor’s walls. Those walls covered with diplomas (even though we had no idea what they were about) made us trust the doctor.

We do the same by filling our CVs with all the courses we have taken. Unfortunately, broad knowledge indicates superficial knowledge, which is non-billable. That’s why we should focus on one direction to achieve certain seniority before including new technology in our toolbox.

Specialized knowledge coming from a combination of training and experience is the best addition we can make to our resumes.

Courses don’t present real-world problems

There was a problem with my CV when I was hired as an ABAP developer: I didn’t know anything about ABAP. The company sent me to a 5-week full-time training (part of their strategy).

When I landed at the software factory, anxious to put everything I’d learned into practice, my boss told me:

You completed the course, that’s fine. But I will give you 2 weeks of real-world ABAP training, now.

Despite the length and intensity of the course, the contents were generic—nothing related to the daily job I was supposed to do at the software factory.

By this point, you may agree that many trainings don’t guarantee you will get a good job. But what’s the alternative?

The best way to find a good job

The best way to find a good job is to work at multiple not-that-good jobs first.

Real learning doesn’t happen in the classroom but in the field. No matter how many courses we take, when we start our careers, we have little knowledge, so we are not in a position to choose a job. We work anywhere.

As time and projects pass by, we gain experience in what we do, but most importantly, we get to know our professional side:

• We get to know what we like and don’t like to do
• We get to know the type of company we are attracted to
• We get to know the value that we provide and how to increase it

Only after we know ourselves better, we will understand what a good job is for us.

And only after acquiring the required experience, we will develop the skills to get that good job.