| Leafing through any typical job listing or the | | | | consulting to become hired by a good company. It |
| classifieds, you may notice the large number of | | | | is very common in the industry to have complete |
| IT consultants being sought by some of the | | | | career shifts even amongst the middle-agers. |
| largest multinational corporations. This is indeed a | | | | Whether you are a developer, businessman or |
| sign of the times – enterprise resource | | | | even an accountant – you can do just as well |
| planning has become a growing trend in the | | | | as any person in consulting. A typical ERP |
| world's financial leaders. Companies have come to | | | | application also requires that you have a penchant |
| realize the need for ERP in order to gain a | | | | for business analysis. More than knowing the |
| competitive advantage and a considerable place in | | | | functional side of the IT application itself, you will |
| the market. And where there is an ERP system, | | | | also need to understand the workings of the |
| there is an ERP specialist. ERP consulting is one of | | | | business you are trying to improve. This can be |
| the most highly-coveted and lucrative job | | | | done by understanding the financial and legal |
| positions today, with new practitioners earning | | | | requirements complied with by the business, the |
| above average in their first year. Consultants can | | | | typical inventory cycles or even how it records its |
| later become project managers, people managers | | | | finances. An ERP consultant can be very promising |
| or subject matter experts. The good news is that | | | | once you put enough initiative and interest into |
| you don't need a heavily scientific degree in | | | | the career. It is very common for newcomers to |
| computers to work in the field of ERP | | | | feel clueless about ERP systems but it can take |
| consultancy. In many cases, a generic business | | | | as much as 4 weeks to get a strong grasp of |
| degree can suffice. More than the college degree | | | | how a typical ERP system works. Always go by |
| itself, an analytical attitude and adaptability are | | | | the 70-20-10 rule: learning comes from 70% |
| both key to become an effective consultant. You | | | | experience, 20% coaching and 10% reading. |
| also do not need past experience in ERP | | | | |