Author Archives: WSS

[Blog & Video] No-Code Guide: SAP S/4HANA Cloud to SAP Build Apps Data Visibility

Published on the SAP Community.

77% of the world’s transactions touch SAP systems. 400,000+ companies use SAP software. ~65 billion (USD) is the low-code/no-code platform market forecast by 2027 (Statista). And SAP S/4HANA Cloud is recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

Yet…up until now most business practitioners (aka Citizen Developers) would be unable to build a very basic app leveraging SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition to SAP Build Apps using “no-code” navigation to show data visibility.

Access to this data using an API, SAP BTP, and the SAP Business Acceleratory Hub is easy, straightforward, and a game changer!

Check out this new blog and video.

FYI: I walked several business colleagues, with VERY LITTLE experience with these tools, to achieve success in 25 minutes.

Please share this new blog and video with your networks.

SAP Builders Spotlight: Digital workspaces and navigating the coloring book of the citizen developer journey

Interview by Esmee Xavier. Originally pubished in the SAP Community.

The series highlights success stories from our SAP Builders community. Do you have a project you’d like us to feature? Reach out to us on the Builders Group or comment on this post.

This edition features Rich Blumberg, who has been part of the SAP world for 18 years.

As a long-time SAP consultant, Rich has been involved with multiple teams and projects, including SAP Innovation Awards, SAP Community, and weekly working sessions with customers to dive into SAP Build. His team also created the internal Help Center for SAP’s transition from SAP Jam to SAP Build Work Zone. During our interview, Rich shared his thoughts on teaching citizen developers and getting started with creating digital workspaces.

Builder: Rich Blumberg

Location: Pennsylvania, USA

Featured solution: SAP Build Work Zone Help Center (internal)

***

Tell us first about your experience with the SAP Build Learning Journey.

Having gone through the low-code/no-code learning journey, it gave me an excellent foundation to learn more about SAP Build AppsSAP Build Process Automation, and what I already knew about in
SAP Build Work Zone. Also, I was very excited to learn and put into practice the use of OData and REST APIs, which had been a big interest for many years.

What kind of gaps have you identified in the learning journey for real citizen developers?

Often the expertise is done by technical people with a deeper understanding of the technology, be they software engineers, developers, or pro-coders. They don’t always explain it the way that us business practitioners, AKA citizen developers, can fully understand.

As an analogy, it’s kind of like a coloring book. I want to see where the lines are, where the numbers are, where I can add colors, and where I can deviate a little bit. We need guardrails as business practitioners, and we also have a lot of time constraints.

For example, with SAP Build Apps or SAP Build Process Automation, I want to go in and be told to try these five things or these 20 things very clearly step-by-step. I don’t want to have to guess or have subject matter experts assume that I know what to do.

This creates an opportunity to bridge the much appreciated technical expertise with business practitioner’s knowledge to expand the use of SAP Build.

What other approaches would you recommend for teaching these concepts?

I’ll use formulas as an example. As a business practitioner, give me two or three of these and break down the steps to use them. If I can do this five times with five different formulas, I will start to get the hang of it.

As a parallel learning example, I started taking guitar lessons three years ago, so now I’m a lot more proficient with chords and strumming. I’m not ready to get on stage yet with the best of the best, but I have a lot more confidence, because I’ve gone beyond just understanding the basics. But as teachers and experts you still have to show me what’s required. Once it’s spelled out accurately, then I’ll take it one step at a time.

With SAP Build Apps, you can’t assume that us business practitioners know what properties are or that I know what the nodes mean. It took me a long time to get comfortable with nodes, components, and variables. The In-App tutorials were very helpful. While business people have many skills and work experiences… many of us need to learn it like the “For Dummies” book series!:-)

Tell us about the project around SAP Build Work Zone’s Help Center.

When SAP Jam became Work Zone, many valued customers, partners, and also SAP had to make that migration and move forward. SAP has tens of thousands of active workspaces, so we worked with SAP IT and the Employee Experience team to reduce the number of questions, concerns, and fears that the thousands of SAP employees had. We set up frequently asked questions like what can Work Zone do for workspace admins or users? What are the capabilities? And also, how can there be a feedback loop?

By teaming up with IT and the Employee Experience team, we were able to help reduce dramatically the number of questions and issues, which could have been a nightmare, and reduced the temperature of people heading to the unknown.

We also encouraged people to appreciate the SAP Build roadmap as it pertains to Work Zone, because the SAP Build family will continue to come closer and closer together, as well as how it will work with things like UI5 cards and widgets, which are really cool.

What are some of the biggest challenges teams might face when starting with Work Zone?

It’s like anything else, you have people at different parts of the learning curve, from beginners to experts. Beginners just need to get comfortable and familiar with the breadth of things that it can do. It never ceases to amaze me that as much as I know about Work Zone, there’s always new features and capabilities to discover.

The good news is that the SAP Build Work Zone is relatively easy to get started using. If it was compared to a swimming pool, you can walk into the shallow end and very quickly start doing things. We have weekly working sessions and I’m continuously amazed at all the different groups, use cases, and how they communicate the best information to the audiences that they serve.

What I’m passionate about it is knowledge management and speed to value.

In addition, we’re exploring helping groups that might have a thousand plus assets, be it documents, videos, or podcasts in a landing page or a community. We can help them validate and curate what is the most important information that the audience needs to do their jobs, be it for implementations, adoption, change management, solutions – you name it, and making it easy for them to find what they need, when they need it.

Each of the SAP Build family of products has an unlimited number of use cases to consider and discover. Looking forward to learning more, continuing to be hands on, and taking the value for employees, customers, partners, and users to the next level.

SAP Build Apps Challenge: Can You Enable a Dropdown With an Options List in Under 20 Minutes?

Originally published on the SAP Community

The purpose of this SAP Build Apps blog is to foster ideas, share innovations, and encourage the sharing of experiences with fellow business professionals and coding experts. 

Low-Code/No-Code Is an Ongoing Journey

The best way for a Citizen Developer (aka business practitioner) to gain hands on experience with SAP Build Apps is to learn how to develop an app beyond drag-and-drop.

The 5-step “dropdown with an option list” capability below is (a) guaranteed to work; and (b) helps build confidence in empowering business users.

The benefit of learning SAP Build Apps and Low-Code/No-Code overall is that business professionals, as activity and process experts, can develop applications without the technical coding skills. Given the current and projected global shortage of skilled IT and technology talent, there is an enormous opportunity for data-driven business users to respond quickly to digital-first requirements.

As a result, here’s what I have done before and after teaming with two outstanding Drexel University student interns (co-ops), Kai Thompson and Mari Cincotti who helped take my skills to the next level:

  1. Learn – Reviewed the SAP Low-Code/No-Code Learning Journey (Units 1 & 2)
  2. View – Completed the SAP Build Apps “in-apps tutorials” (located at the bottom of the UI Canvas) –  Learned new terms and concepts such as logic, variables, data, and formulas.
  3. Proof-of-Concept – Identified and built a use case that provides value and impact.

The more of us Citizen Developers who successfully take small steps forward to develop SAP Build Apps, which are impactful, the better we can build our knowledge around Low-Code/No-Code app development throughout our ongoing learning journey!

As result, business practitioners (with occasional help) can deploy proof of concepts, pilots, and full deployment (within an IT governance framework), which provide value to our organizations, customers, partners, and employees.

Building a Dropdown With an Options List in 5 Steps

Dropdowns are very common on PC, Tablet or Mobile apps so let’s build one!

By definition, they are the way to show the user what selections they can make to help pinpoint their search results.

Step 1: UI Canvas Set-up

a) Drag the “Dropdown Field” component onto the UI canvas
b) Click anywhere on the “Dropdown Field” component to open the Properties field on the right.
c) Click under “Label Text” to rename the Dropdown.


Step 2: Set-up the list labels

d) Click on the “Option List”
d) Add labels (in this example we’ll use Food A, B, …)
Note: Make sure to use lower case for values, as it makes it easier to reduce errors later on when leveraging a backend / database.

e) Click on “Save”


Step 3: Return to the UI Canvas and click (1) “Save” and then (2) “Launch”


Step 4: Preview Your App

f) Click on “Open Preview Portal”

g) Click on “Open Web Preview” and “Open” the SAP Build App you are working on.

Step 5: Congratulations! You did it!


Where do “you” go from here?

In my case, every time I have built a part of SAP Build Apps, such as dropdowns, I feel a sense of victory!:-)

One building block of success leads to another.

Next, I suggest learning about backend / database (hosted in Visual Cloud Functions). I would have written a blog on it, but the two that were written, by Daniel Wroblewski are excellent and highly recommended:

Both blogs represent an excellent step-by-step explanation.

Once you get further along, A Business User’s Guide to Becoming a Citizen Developer with SAP AppGyver (now SAP Build Apps) by Kimay Ramnarain provides an intermediate level explanation of variables, conditional logic, and REST APIs.

As business practitioners seeking this knowledge, she makes it easy and straight forward to understand concepts, which otherwise might feel daunting.

Overall, I encourage you to have a hands on understanding of how to use SAP Build Apps and focus on a use case or scenario that adds value and interests you, your team, and your organization.

Where do “we” go from here?

First, as Citizen Developers let me know if you succeed with this challenge!

Recognize that there are 2 key personas who both need to collaborate and foster ideas together:

  • Software Developer/Engineers (e.g., professional coders) can provide insights on the more technical aspects of SAP Build Apps.
  • Business Professionals (low- or no-coders) who have an expertise around processes, change management, and/or a specific activity requirement.

For us Citizen Developers we must realize that SAP Build Apps goes beyond drag-and-drop to make it work at an optimal level with backend data, REST APIs, automation and more.

And that’s O.K. We can do it!

Keep in mind.. Low-code does not mean low effort! 

Remember that according to leading analysts from Gartner, Forrester, and IDC, the Low-Code/No-Code (LCNC) market will grow exponentially over the next few years! All the more reason for business professionals to start LCNC development and help their organizations respond quickly to digital data-driven requirements.

A few questions or comments?

  • Are you a business professional leveraging SAP Build Apps? Yes or No?
    – Where are you in the process? Beginner, Intermediate, Expert?
    – What can you build confidently now?
  • What do you want to learn?
    – What use cases or scenarios are you considering or working on now?
    – What other how-to’s or tips are you looking for from a Citizen Developer perspective???

Let’s continue this discussion.

Greatly appreciate your comments below along with any insights, so that more Citizen Developer related content and how-to’s can be shared with a straight forward way to follow the steps and put them into action.

Useful Links

Business Teams Can Create Their Own Apps (with Occasional Help!)

View the original blog on the SAP Community.

Inspired by the growing opportunity for business professionals to leverage Low-code/No-code (LCNC) tools, I decided to take the SAP Build LCNC Learning Journey, share a few thoughts, and encourage fellow business Citizen Developers to join the SAP Builders group to connect to peers and experts.

Reprioritizing Opportunities

As inflationary pressures and marketplace conditions are challenging business leaders to focus on game changers and reprioritize investments, the need to move faster, increase automation, and become more productive is more important than ever.

As a business practioner, professional coding with SAP ABAP, JavaScript, Python, and Swift are incredibly admired, but too complicated and out of reach to work with hands on.

Until recently leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to gain access to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, and other SAP and third-party apps and data was best left to the professional coders.

For many of us, it was like standing on the side of a swimming pool and watching all the experts (aka coders) swim. We business people were stuck on the side to watch, admire, or hire a professional programmer to do the work.

With less professional coders than business experts, SAP Build represents a substantial opportunity for business teams to create their own apps (and yes, professional coders can give much appreciated tips and guidance).

Over time it has become apparent that Low-Code/No-Code (LCNC) apps, platforms, and tools are an important, growing part of the IT landscape. According to Statista, the LCNC platform revenue will grow from $22.5 billion (USD) in 2022 to ~$32 billion in 2024 (CAGR: 26.1%).

That stat along with many other indicators show that there is an enormous opportunity for business people to set free their expertise, provide significant value, and help their organizations do more with less.

Learning LCNC Requires Effort

Given this market trend I started on the SAP Build Low-Code/No-Code Learning Journey. It’s exciting to learn about the three key apps:

Keep in mind that Low-Code / No-Code does not mean no effort. It takes focus and time to learn about these tools and put them to use. Each week I set aside some time to learn and deep dive into the Learning Journey concepts.

The good news is that the learning exercises to build these tools along with the free access to an SAP Build Apps sandbox makes it all very accessible.

For example, for years I wanted to work with certain SAP and third-party apps to set up connections to the open data application programming interface (Odata API) to fetch data, but didn’t have the coding skills or knowledge.

With SAP Build Apps I created my first mobile app using the scenario of scanning a barcode and pulling data (using the JSON format) from an OpenFoodFacts API to populate data around products and calories. I jumped for joy when it worked knowing that as a business practitioner the possibilities are endless.

Going forward – Unleash Expertise

Thankfully, the SAP Community provides many resources for Citizen Developers to connect, collaborate, and learn including:

The future is bright where SAP Build apps and tools can make incredible impact in working with organizations, customers, and strategic partners.

Afterall, when working in SAP environments, leveraging SAP tools is a big advantage.

Clearly the teaming between business practitioners and professional coders is very helpful and worthwhile in terms of gaining LCNC insights related to expertise, support, tips, security, governance, and enterprise compliance.

In this business climate where doing more with less is paramount, business Citizen Developers can use their knowledge and experiences to work with SAP Build to leverage SAP and third-party apps, data, and tools, which were previously out of reach to unleash their expertise!


Appreciate any comments…

  • Are you taking the LCNC Learning Journey now or in the near future?
  • What are your experiences with any of the SAP Build products? What have you built?
  • Are you working on any interesting use cases?
  • Please leave any comments below!

SAP Collaboration with Microsoft Teams

Each of us is collaborating more often, increasingly mobile, and working on a schedule that enables us to connect more virtually..

Thoughtful leaders working in SAP solution environments step back and ensure that SAP Collaboration represents how the business works both in the short-term and going forward.

When SAP and Microsoft announced they are building integrations to Microsoft Teams across solutions many of us were inspired.  With the new reality of remote and hybrid work, the importance of holistic collaboration grows in importance.

Disparate information kept in silos and organized in ad-hoc ways becomes an impediment to performance and productivity. One of the hardest things to do is to keep Microsoft Teams and SharePoint along with the SAP portfolio organized so that the content is valuable to the users.

In order to elevate digital transformation, organizations must rethink how they address:
– Working Remotely
– Upskilling Employees
– Telling Customer Stories
– Deploying Communications
– Enabling Digital Supply Chains
– Re-positioning Products or Services
– Building Consortiums & Affinity Groups
– Ensuring Regulatory Compliance & Safety
– Developing Content & Information Architecture
– Increasing Demand Generation and Growing the Pipeline
– Scaling Revenue Objectives and Sales Operations Imperatives

Remove the Barriers by Collaborating and Enabling Knowledge Sharing

One of many examples exists between customers and sales, with key contributors including marketing, product teams, communications, pre-sales, and related key stakeholders.

For Industry 4.0, collaboration represents a core component successful business outcomes. The challenge is to recognize the need to optimize the information architecture and user experience, with a ONE CLICK goal to help users quickly gain access to the right information at the right time.

Here’s an interesting Account Executive example…

WSS can help you pinpoint which SAP Collaboration approach is best for your organization, and develop a Quick Start program to ensure rapid results and a longer term plan for continuity and success.

7 Career Insights from SAP Mentors & Champions for the Next-Gen

Originally published on the SAP Community

Now is a great time to pursue that high quality job that puts technology and related business skills and interests into action.

The tech sector’s long-term outlook continues to grow with many compelling career opportunities both now and into the future.

With the demand for reliable, skilled business and IT workers on the rise, now’s the time to write down your vision of a great position and set a path forward.

Unquestionably, SAP is one of the best career options. With over 105,000 employees, 22,000 partners, and a customer base generating 87% of total global commerce in over 180 countries, there are many opportunities.

Of course, there is competition for the best jobs, and you want to be prepared to get traction versus settling for just any position. So, what’s the best approach?

The SAP Community, with over 3 million users, recently published Spotlight Interviews with SAP Mentors who are top influencers representing customers, partners, and consultants.

In their interviews, the Community team asked the Mentors for their advice and insights for students and recent graduates to secure SAP and related IT and business jobs to help jumpstart their careers.

Top 7 SAP Mentor Insights

1. Learning is the “Secret Sauce”

Paul Hardy: My advice to young people just starting out in IT is a “secret sauce” which is not so secret. It’s simply this – take a little time each week outside of work to learn new things. If you spend even half an hour each week, you will be half an hour up on all the people who just play computer games or watch Netflix in their spare time.

Narasimha (Simha) Magal – The core advise is always the same: Technologies change constantly, so students must be lifelong learners. However, knowledge of how a technology works is never sufficient. What is critical is to understand why a particular technology is useful to an organization and be able to use the technologies to improve business processes.

Karen Rodrigues: First, improve skills as needed and fill gaps you have in relation to the new area you want to work in. Also, make sure you have a mentor, a person who can support you in this journey. Finally, make sure you understand that you will need to work hard to achieve what you want.

2. Build a Network

Peter Langner: Take the chance to build a network during your studies. Look for educational opportunities around your interests. Regarding SAP, there are training and certification possibilities for students which cost very little money. Take advantage of openSAP courses, visit SAP Community Inside Track events, and connect with experts and experienced professionals. Find a coach or advisor by looking out for them at a user group of your country.

Derek Loranca: Networking is still key, so finding and participating in community-centric data events (like hackathons or user group meetings) allows students to meet and greet with professionals.

3. Find Mentors and Coaches

Heather Hill: Don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way. Mentors and coaches can help you grow not only your technical skills but your soft skills as well.

4. Hands on Experience is Key

Abdulbasit Gulsen: I can assure that making a small effort in the beginning to get hands on experience, will make a big difference and positively impact your career journey.

5. A Balance Between Humanity and Technology Creates Opportunity

Robert Eijpe: The possibilities with technology in the digital age are moving fast. There needs to become a new balance between humanity on one side, and intelligence, machinery, and artificial intelligence on the other side.

6. The Need for Integration

Daniel Graversen: There will always be a need for integration because more systems will always pop up. I talk to a lot of people about ABAP (Advanced Business Application Programming), SAP integration, and business process career opportunities.

7. Be Curious. Have a Great Attitude.

Tamas Szirtes: It’s about being curious, passionate, building a habit to learn and share, going the extra mile, and selecting a matching career strategy.

Graham Robinson: First, you need to be curious – and act on it. Second, you need to be a true professional. That means properly learning and constantly improving your skills. It also means acting professionally and with integrity.

Simon To: I have always advised new graduates to focus on or to develop quality problem-solving skills. That is the most sought-after skillset. The CEO of one of my previous employers has told us this: “Hire for Attitude and Train for Skill.” That is so true.

What inspires you when you think about SAP and related careers?

Please share your comments below.

Useful Links

RISE with SAP and Capgemini: Spotlight Interview with David Lowson

Originally published on the SAP Community

Many organizations are assessing the best ways to address digital transformation holistically.

SAP and Capgemini are teaming with customers around the globe as trusted partners, to go beyond technical migration, and address intelligent business processes and new business models as part of the RISE with SAP initiative.

Capgemini’s Renewable Enterprise with SAP S/4HANA approach which is designed to put the user experience at the center. It uses modern approaches such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and embedded analytics, DevOps, Cloud architecture, APIs and Microservices to help organizations reimagine themselves, unlock business value, and outpace competition.

Recently I had the pleasure to meet David Lowson, Capgemini’s head of SAP Center of Excellence (COE) Europe, to learn more about his journey and views related to RISE with SAP and the digital core.

Philippe Schmitt
SAP Strategic Global Alliances – EMEA North
David Lowson
Capgemini, SAP CoE Europe

Philippe Schmitt (PS): What inspired you to get into the field of consulting and high tech?

David Lowson (DL): When I worked in high-tech, I found I was a very poor engineer so when I had an opportunity to work on an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project, I took it. This experience proved I was quite good at this kind of work and is why I made the move to consultancy.

PS: In your blog Consumer Intelligence Products and Retail Therapy, you shared, “As countries around the world reopen, we observe four priority themes emerging with consumer products: sustainability, digitalization, efficiency, diversification.” How does the RISE with SAP initiative enable these themes based on Capgemini’s expertise?

DL:
 RISE with SAP reinforces many of the messages we have been giving to the market about the renewable enterprise, a standard core, savvy use of a cloud infrastructure and application program interface (API) led architectures. These features have been provoking more activity in the market and shifting SAP to be a platform for digital transformation.

PS: You presented at the SAP Global Partner Summit and shared that you, “believe SAP needed to launch the RISE initiative to remain relative for digital transformation for the next 25 years.” What makes this initiative so impactful to the success of customers?

DL: SAP and Capgemini are in position to address business process redesign, technical migration, and building the intelligent enterprise in one package to simplifies customers’ journey. By focusing on innovation and differentiation taking place in the SAP Business Technology Platform surrounding it, the RISE initiative is a clear statement of the importance of providing accelerated business outcomes with integration, data to value, and extensibility. It opens the door to exciting new consumption models.

PS: You’ve recently commented that the market has responded positively to RISE with SAP. Can you share one or two examples of this positive reaction from Capgemini customers?

DL: As you can appreciate, I can only speak of overall projects vs. individual projects. We have started RISE based projects all over the world. With the use of the RISE model, I have seen customers become more confident that we can deliver and provide a standard core, as well as an architecture that does not build technical debt.

PS: When Capgemini refers to the Renewable Enterprise with SAP S/4HANA, it refers to the “S Curve of Innovation” and Intelligent Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Block Chain, and the Customer Experience power by data and driven by people. What are one or two examples of how customers are adopting these intelligent technologies to support their customers and keep a competitive advantage?

DL: There are so many user cases, and we keep a library of them available for our clients and partners to access. They are also published every week by our innovation leader, Alex Bulat, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer of Global SAP Business, but the two I would pick out are:

  • Servitisation – Where clients move from selling products to selling services. Think of a connected car or washing as a service; this is a perfect solution for the new away of thinking. Multiple products orchestrated to deliver new digital businesses that flex as the market develops.
  • Sustainability – So many of our large engagements are driven by this concept, especially the desire to operate in new, low carbon markets. This requires greater connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI), use of data and a fast-agile core.

PS: When students and recent graduates contact you for informational insights what guidance do you give for them to pursue a career in consulting and high tech?

DL: I see SAP consulting as a three-legged stool:

  • Be nice and have good people skills
  • Know about the industry you’re working in
  • Learn about SAP products and solutions

A company like Capgemini can provide the third bullet, but the other two can be done on your own. Also, read business papers and the SAP website at least once a week. Do a bit more to engage with and understand the direction of the company and products that stand out.

Thank you for sharing comments on the Renewable Enterprise, Digital Transformation, or advanced Intelligent Technologies.

Please post any feedback below.

Useful Links

• SAP S/4HANA Cloud
• RISE with SAP
• SAP Analytics Cloud
• SAP Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

SAP Champions & SAP Mentors Spotlight Interviews

Check out the SAP Spotlight Interviews which combine a combination of videos and Q&A format. These blogs help showcase SAP Community experts and advocates. View >>

SAP Mentor Spotlight Interview: SAP Learning

Originally published on the SAP Community

The SAP Mentor Spotlight Series highlights key strategic topics, such as learning, and provides insights from Mentors and SAP leaders on turning ideas into innovative approaches that impact people, process, and technology.

Empowering Transformative Outcomes Through Continuous Learning

Staying on the cutting-edge during times of change is more important than ever. One of the keys to success is the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and learning.

As business, technology, and user experiences change, there are a wide range of ways to continually refresh existing skills, acquire new ones, and evolve new ways to think about business and IT challenges.

To reflect on how to take advantage of SAP and SAP Community learning resources, Max Wessel, EVP & Chief Learning Officer at SAP, caught up with Tammy Powlas, Senior Business Analyst at Fairfax Water and SAP Mentor, to discuss what role learning has played in her life, and how she has furthered her knowledge through the SAP Community.

During their session they discussed:

  • Enabling learning, whether experiential on the job, or formal learning to help one progress in their career.
  • Adapting to many changes given the realities of the last year to address digital transformation and embrace the importance of continuous learning.
  • Pressing one’s skills; pushing forward to take expertise to the next level.
  • Turning to the SAP community to get inspired and engage in peer-to-peer learning.
  • Assessing RISE with SAP and how members of the SAP Community can keep their digital transformation initiatives moving forward.

As Max shared during the session, “When driving transformation, the more value we bring to the table, the more guidance we can deliver that helps people step forward, the better it is for all of us.

SAP and the SAP Community provide many learning resources to support building knowledge, driving innovation, and staying agile.

How do you learn? Let us know in the comments below!


Related Links

COMING SOON: Science & Innovation: 11 Ways to Orchestrate Your Next Job!

Author’s NoteThis blog has been adopted into a Job Seeking book which will be announced and published in the upcoming months. The book, which is written and designed, is going through the final review process. Stay tuned! 

Explore Featured Assets:
Target Multiple Organization – Template
Interview Preparation Sheet >>
Job Interview Preparation: A Winning Formula!
Networking Preparation
Interviewing Tips

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Whether you’re a new graduate or long-time worker the best practices required to succeed have many common characteristics.

In sales and business development you must sell a product, solution, or service while in the job hunt you must sell one thing: yourself.

Back in the day, when I graduated from Drexel University, it was beyond hard to find a job that I truly enjoyed. Years later I learned that my graduating class landed in the middle of a BIG recession which added to the challenge.  My path took me on travels through Europe, Middle East, and Hawaii over a year’s time so it was not easy to jump start my career upon my return.

While I found work it was more about “settling” vs. directing my searches. After paying a former professor big money to coach me in “how to get a job” I made a vow, “If I ever learned how to find a job” based on a scientific and innovative approach, “I would share it with others who would follow in this path.

As a result, I have compiled this top 11 list for all who are interested:

  1. NETWORK:  Identify successful people who are in the field that interests you. Make connections and request “informational interviews” to learn about how they got in their positions and background on the challenges they face.  Ask for referrals and knowledge; understand that they “may not have a job” or know of one but they can point you in the right direction. Send everyone who helps you a thank you!
  2. TRENDS:  Research compelling business issues and marketplace conditions which impact organizations that you are targeting. Send notes to those quoted and their teams to make meaningful connections on current and emerging opportunities. Find out where investments are taking place – “Follow the money!”
  3. TARGET:   Confirm a target list of companies and roles that interest you. Connect with the economic decision makers (i.e. VITO = “Very Important Top Officers“) and their teams around posted and non-posted opportunities. Minimize primarily going to Human Resources and Job Board postings. See book list below.
  4. PLAN:  Develop a spreadsheet which tracks your progress. Set goals for each day and week and show your progress to yourself and perhaps one or two friends (or coaches) (Review: JOB_PLANNING_TEMPLATE). Learn the proper way to prepare for an interview.
  5. TIME UTILIZATION: Spend 70% of your time networking and outreach (on-line and in person), 15% with recruiters, 15% with job boards (i.e. Monster.com, etc.).  Too many job seekers have these time ratios in reverse and don’t take charge of their own destiny. Note: If you see a job on a job board focus on a 3 prong approach: (1) Post; (2) Identify who you know (i.e. alumni / friend / colleague; (3) Confirm the economic decision maker. 
  6. SOCIAL MEDIA:  Update you’re Social Media sites such as  LinkedIn and others so they can help you network and build your brand. Makes sure your resume is impeccable and consider new ways to connect including Twitter, YouTube videos, thought leadership blogs as well as building your own website to showcase your skills, work experience and related professional passions. Take down any photos from your sites that are not professional. Prospective employers will check out your Facebook / Social Media posts.
  7. ALUMNI:  Leverage the resources that you have earned as a graduate of a university.  Reach out to your alumni office and career services; make connections via the directory, events, and/or volunteer opportunities.
  8. VOLUNTEER:  Provide weekly and monthly service to a non-profit (i.e. association) or charity around the skills and work experience that you have now or seek to secure in your next job. Find a cause that connects you to leaders, professionals, and the community. Also, make sure you have some part-time work that pays a few dollars as well.
  9. PERSIST:  Expect to receive rejection and a few set backs. When you run into trouble step back and move ahead. It takes small steps to achieve goals; understand there is a process – you can not easily (or practically) leap frog to the end result; start with the end in mind. Remember the famous saying, “When one door closes another will open.”
  10. ACCOUNTABILITY: Accept self ownership. No one owes you a job.  You must wake up each day and make forward progress. Stay disciplined and focused and the results you seek will come to you…but they may take a bit longer then you would like… remember, “patience is a virtue” (just not too much of it!)
  11. 3 PRONG APPROACH:  When you post for a position (i.e. LinkedIn, Indeed, Job Board) make sure you ask yourself:  Who do I know or connect to (i.e. Alumni)? Who is the top economic decision maker (i.e. VITO, CEO, Chief Marketing, Finance, Operations, Information Officer or their teams)?

As you contemplate this list ask yourself what are you passionate about? Where do your skills, education, and work experiences point you to?

Think of a job as an exchange of time and services in return for money. What can you provide that is worth the time and money to an employer who is investing in you?

During your search create small amounts of value along the way. Give your skills to others for free in small amounts. Chip away and success will be yours!

Remember…everything on this list takes time and hard work.

Over the years when I have shared these points with friends and colleagues looking for work they yield results 100% of the time, BUT only a small percent are willing to do what it takes.

It takes discipline and persistence to search for the right position.

If you are willing to climb the steps vs. expect an easy elevator ride to the top than you can secure a great job based on a proven scientific methodology and practicing an innovative approach along the way.

Reading List:
Selling to VITO (“Very Important Top Officer”) – Anthony Parinello
Winners Dream – Bill McDermott
Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

Richard D. Blumberg, President, World Sales Solutions, writes this series of blogs to help senior executives and their teams, leaders, influencers, educators, and students develop effective strategies and tactical execution which results in more revenues, profits, growth, jobs, and value. More >>