Although SAP consultants like yourself are often highly paid, this doesn’t mean that you should stand still when it comes to your income.
With so many ways to maximise your pay and a deepening cost of living crisis hacking away at your earnings, it’s time to be proactive in boosting your income. After all, you perform a highly sought-after role that requires significant expertise and experience, so the opportunities for increased pay are certainly there.
With all that being said, what are some of the best ways to improve your income as a SAP consultant?
Be willing to relocate
You can get more bang for your buck working in certain countries over others. From higher salaries to lower tax rates and living costs, there are lots of reasons why working in a new nation can pay dividends. A survey of international citizens by HSBC found that a quarter emigrated for financial reasons.
When it comes to SAP consultants specifically, certain countries also have a greater need for SAP consultants, whether that’s down to a lack of supply or increased demand, something that generally results in higher salaries.
According to dedicated SAP recruiter Eursap: “European countries in which we have historically seen the biggest demand for SAP skills have been: Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Denmark and the UK.” Consequently, relocating to one of these can help you maximise your earning potential.
Expand your SAP skills
While you may already have significant experience and expertise in your role as a SAP consultant, this doesn’t mean that you can’t add more strings to your bow. The more skills you have, the more attractive you are to employers, and the more money you can demand as a result.
According to SAP itself, the most important SAP skills to learn in 2023 are:
- Programming: ABAP is still easily the most essential SAP programming skill — followed by SAP Fiori and SAPUI5.
- SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) expertise: Mastering this platform teaches you skills in data and analytics, artificial intelligence, application development, automation, and integration.
- SAP business application skills: There are various ways to learn such skills, including beginner courses for SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
- Big data and analytics skills: Learning how to use SAP Analytics Cloud is the most obvious way forward here.
- SAP methodology skills: SAP Activate offers a guided methodology to deploy, adopt, and extend new SAP capabilities across a business.
Network with other SAP professionals
Networking with other SAP professionals can help you earn more money in many ways — as well as numerous other benefits. These include everything from helping you discover higher paying higher-paying cities and giving you greater market salary information that you can leverage to increasing the possibility of referrals and improving your SAP skills.
Some of the best ways to network as a SAP consultant include:
- Attend SAP conferences and events: Attending some of the various SAP conferences and events run globally allows you to connect with fellow SAP professionals and potential clients.
- Join online communities and forums: Participate in SAP-related online communities and forums like SAP Community (formerly SAP Developer Network), Stack Overflow, or SAP-related subreddits. Engaging in discussions and providing valuable answers can help you establish your expertise and connect with peers.
- Utilise LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a powerful tool for networking in the professional world. Create a strong LinkedIn profile that highlights your SAP expertise, join SAP-related groups and participate in discussions, share insights, and connect with SAP professionals in your network.
- Write about SAP: Start a blog or contribute articles to platforms related to SAP. Sharing your insights, experiences, and knowledge can help you gain visibility within the SAP community and attract like-minded professionals to connect with you.
