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Being an Oracle ERP consultant is rewarding both financially and career wise. I have been in this field since I finished my engineering. I have seen the Y2K wave, Java wave and the online craze (dotcom boom). When my friends wanted to jump onto each new wave and ride it I stayed on with ERP and the job market has been always hot!
It may not be the much talked about thing in the media but it is the most moneymaking thing out there. You may hear stories like ERP implementations have slowed down etc but just keep that part for the Gartner's and the research analysts to worry about.
The beauty of this ERP is, it always keeps evolving and so you always work on the latest and the best technologies. For e.g. Business Intelligence is a natural evolution out of ERP and it is the current hot market. This market is here to stay as long as there is Oracle and SAP, (may be Microsoft, do they have an ERP?)
This is a tough market to break into, as it requires lot of years worth of experience so how does one get into this lucrative area?
If you are fresh out of college and wish to pursue an Oracle career..
Learn the basics of ERP: Just the overall understanding of what ERP is all about? Why companies use ERP? Check some articles on this site and Google for ERP and MRP (Material Resource Planning)
Learn Oracle basics like SQL, pl/sql: This is a must requirement for anybody who wishes to break into this field. If you have any RDBMS skills like MySQL or SQL Server then you are almost there. Just download the database, which is available freely at http://www.oracle.com/, follow the Oracle By Example series, it provides step-by-step instructions on how to learn each Oracle technology.
Learn at least couple of tools to build extensions to Oracle apps: Again follow the above point and learn to develop applications using technologies like Oracle Forms or Oracle Applications Frame Work using jdeveloper, Oracle Reports etc.
Learn fundamentals of at least4-5 modules: Some of the key modules are General Ledger, Accounts Payables, Accounts Receivables, Purchasing and Inventory. You may select each module at a time and start understanding basics of each. This is somewhat of an optional track if you decide to just become a core technical person to begin with. But you should always try to gain the understanding as you go forward.
Learn Discoverer: Discoverer is a Business Intelligence tool used for creating ad-hoc reports and dashboards. It is one of the easiest thing to learn and become a quick expert.
Get some Training: You can order some CBTs available online at Oracle University and if you Google you will find a bunch of companies offering free ERP training in all the above modules and also try to place you in your first assignment.
Get your first assignment: If you have mastered Oracle SQL/PLSQL and learnt Discoverer then you have already become a basic Oracle Developer and you should be able to get a basic entry-level position to begin with. I am sure there are lots of opportunities with even just this basic skill set.
In order to get your first break, offer your services free of cost to any company that may be using Oracle. This way you get to learn and work at the same time and when the client sees the potential in you they might offer you a salaried position, so it becomes a win-win situation.
Well you see there are only few steps in jump-starting your Oracle Career and they are not even a complete!
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