After almost 6 years of hard slog the end is officially in sight for my undergrad. By (read 'on') the 6th of June my final paper will be handed in and shortly after I shall discover my final grade... I'm pretty much nailed on for a 2:1 at this point, with a 1st still being a realistic possibility (if I maintain my current grades for the rest of this module then I should get it). All this has got me thinking about what to do next? I've narrowed it down to four options all of which have some merit and any thoughts you well educated chaps have would be greatly appreciated. The options are...
1) MA in Philosophy
This is probably the most straightforward choice. On the plus side it's apparently a smooth transition from my current study (PPE heavy on the second P), will only take three years and is comparatively cheap (£1700 pa). On the downside I don't think it'll get me all that much apart from a smug sense of satisfaction. That said though it might be a nice lead into...
2) PhD in Philosophy
If I did the MA I'd probably just end up going on to this anyway, so in many ways I think why bother with the MA? It's a 6 year commitment off the bat, which I'm fairly comfortable with and should mean I could teach it in the future... Which appeals quite a bit if I'm honest. It would also mean I could get grumpy about folk calling me "Mr" and I'd have a PhD in actual philosophy. On the downside I've really not done all that much research as part of the undergrad and it is a 6 year commitment right off the bat. No idea on cost, but I suspect "not cheap" would amply cover it.
3) Another undergrad
I could take my time with it, being in Scotland means its a snip at (£750 pa) and I could do something a bit more vocational. Engineering is probably in the lead atm, my track record on practical skills is not fantastic and this would hopefully hone 'em up. Also the home of some systems modules which I like the sound of. This is probably the vaguest option as I could easily end up doing psychology or computer science... I'm just not sure.
4) SAP Certification
Is not cheap. £14k of not cheap. Of all of the available options it's probably the one that would pay off the most in the long run. I've got plenty of experience working with the system and I've been increasingly involved with the dev guys at BG, so I reckon I'd a) be able to do it and b) get a job paying a wedge once it's done. Off all the options this one is the highest risk and least fun, but with no realistic prospect of Jayne returning to work, it might just be the one to go for.
I've made a firm decision to go for all of them at one point or another and I'm sure I will do again. Help me out of my confusion!
Comments
Which SAP module(s) ?
I investigated SD and FI (which would have cost me about 3-5k to cover the bits I don't already know, but they only really are useful if you want to go consulting, which I'm not overly interested in. Also, lots of companies seem to want MM and BI stuff these days on top of 1-2 core module certifications.
It was something like this: https://training.sap.com/gb/en/curriculum/fi_cert_uk-sap-certified-appli...
Consulting would be the general idea. I've certainly proved I can handle the travel easily enough.
SD would be a more commercial option. Most companies want FI to also have accounting qualifications. SD + MM is the currently most sought after one from the stuff I get sent.
If you want to consult, I wouldn't pay for the training yourself. Get a job at one of the big agencies and get them to pay for it. That's how Gill got her ABAP certification.
When you say one of the big agencies who are we talking about here?
I know the ones down here. Axon are a good example... They have the TFL contract (Harry Gee went to them as well) ... We use WIPRO a lot now (though obviously they train in India). It's pretty rare to bring in freelance (well, it is for us, they are too variable, and too much hassle advertising / interviewing etc etc)
SD is preferable to FI 'cos you typically only have FI for implementation (defining and setting up CoCo, CoA and reporting definitions...hence the common accounting knowledge requirements) , but SD is ongoing for most companies (pricing, order structure etc etc) . Also, most people forget Billing is 95% SD, not FI.
I suspect one of the big problems with the SAP cert plan is the market is dominated by the Indian co's who will do it for a lot less than I would... I probably need to ponder other ways of increasing my income without going "full manager". Cheers!
Can't comment about SAP certifications. For Microsoft Certifications and MVP, 70% of them are held in India and they don't mean very much except to company Directors. Experience in the West and cultural similarity wins out in the end. Certification is definitely a good route if your life goals are money.
Ignore the nay-sayers about SAP. There's plenty of life left in SAP, people will still be using it long after you retire. SAP has cloud with HANA, so it's still evolving (isn't SAP 40 years old now or something). I think the IBM and SAP love-in will come to an end but that won't kill it.
As for academia, you have to do it because you love it. Don't do it for money because it doesn't promise any. The career change is possible but you'll earn much less teaching too. Starting salary for a Uni lecturer is less than 25K down here.
What an MA and PhD (and another degree) will do is imperceptibly change the way you think. Each bout of academic study does that, regardless of level. You can't really put a number on that, nor can you chart the change. Like all experiences, it changes you and Academic rigor changes your thoughts.
It's nice to have the next goal and if you're wanting some funding for a PhD a Masters helps. A Masters is a taught course with a research flavoured dissertation. A PhD is self-employment, you set your own goals and achieve them alone. That covers all the PhDs I know, from Classics to Maths to Botany. You're pretty much on your own and if you're part-time then you'll be even more detached. Just worth pointing that out.
To get a teaching job off the back of a PhD, you need to write lots of journal and conference papers. Competition for lecturer seats is high, so they only take those who publish and network a lot. This means a lot of travel, which is a lot of cost and it's on top of the fees to the Uni.
If you're looking at teaching GCSE/A-Level then you need a PGCE, not an MA or PhD. But you prolly know that. Total employment package for teachers is WAY better than for lecturers.
There are 2 types of SAP Consultant...the Implementation and the Support.
Implementation teams tend to be local consultants, and are very much about system definition and architecture. They cost loads, so are typically out within 3-6 months of go-live. The ones of this variety I've worked with are normally extremely good at their job, and have a typical history of being business experts (normally Finance, Sales, HR and Warehouse Management) who have been trained up by a company internally as part of their implementation. People like Axon make the majority of their money this way, though they do also run Support, though at a higher cost than offshores.
The Support teams are these days overwhelmingly dominated by the Indian/Outsourced companies (WIPRO being a prime example), as you don't need full-time employees/onsite with most skill sets (for example FI and HR, once a structure is in place and matching the company, it tends to be little tweaks, which doesn't need an all-knowing person, just an occasional expert to email a question to...)..the one possible exception being SD/MM, which is normally the most fluid part of a business. These Support teams will work alongside internal resource. A normal ERP support budget will be reduced year on year after go-live, hence the domination of the offshore companies in this area.
So the key to real money is the Implementation Teams of SAP, though you need to be very flexible with regards to travel (such as 6+ months in a different country), and you need to get in with the agencies.
Not sure if you knew him well when at Yell but Aswani Nune is just down the road from your Staines office at Axon and might be able to give you some advice, he's one of my contacts on linked in if you want to see what stuff he's up to (mainly BI if memory serves). I think he said he was in the same office as Harry for a bit as well.
Cheers for all the input... It's been a fairly manic couple of weeks, hence the lack of response (see what I did there? Arf).
I think the points around the SAP stuff are all perfectly valid... Given the expense etc, if I'm going to do something like that it should ideally be through the day job. With regards the academic options I reckon masters is going to win out in the end.
I think it's the thing I'll enjoy the most and as Rob points out, I'll need to love it if I'm going to actually do it. I'll probably stick with the OU for it, but will have a nose around other institutions to see what's available. The ultimate aim at this stage is a PhD in a philosophy shaped area... One day I will turn Bill Hicks into a coherent political theory. :D
Thanks for all the thoughts.