The first thought racing through everyone’s head at this point is, “How can a career in buying be a good career choice when the economy is at its worst ever and people are just not purchasing anything except for what they absolutely must have?” Guess what? You just answered your own question.
An individual who chooses jobs for procurement is not purchasing for consumers; they are purchasing for businesses that supply goods and services to the consumers. That being the case, your main concern is to make sure you are looking into companies that provide things that people will always need. Grocery stores, home repair, clothing manufactures, and similar industries are perfect examples. Regardless of how bad the economy gets, people are going to need these items and there has to be someone to fill the shelves in these stores.
More importantly, in these trying times, the positions are some of the most important job in their industries. Think about it; can any industry afford to waste money with the economy being the way it is? Absolutely not. Just like the consumer, they need to be shopping for the best prices and terms to try and allow their company to keep prices as low as possible in order to offer their customers better prices than their direct competitors.
Of course this field is still going to feel the pinch of the economy, but in a different way. As stores go out of business and companies downsize, positions are eliminated. For instance, if a company has two hundred stores and ten procurement officers to supply them, and then the company shuts down one hundred of their stores, more than likely five or more procurement officers will find themselves out of a position. So your competition is increasing, but as long as you follow some basic guidelines, you should still be able to land a decent position.
The first thing you are going to have to do is get an interview. This can be accomplished in many different ways. The most obvious is to go on the Internet and do a job search. You can use any of the major job sites or you can go to industry-specific job sites. Regardless of the outlet, you will see hundreds if not thousands of available positions. You can also go the old route of checking the classifieds and help-wanted ads in your local paper. There is also always the option of cold calling human resource departments at companies you are interested in working for, to see if they are looking for people. You may also want to hire a job placement service. They sometimes have access to jobs that are not even posted. They usually pull resumes for their clients and then line up all the interviews. Getting in touch with these companies is a sure way to make sure your resume gets in the mix.
Once you land an interview you have to be ready to present yourself in a professional manner. If you have not interviewed in a while or have never interviewed you should attend some job fairs so you can polish your skills. You may get lucky and land a job, but that is not going to be the main purpose here. Pick companies that are similar to what you are looking for and work on selling yourself.
Interviewing is an art form, make no mistake about it. There are plenty of top-notch candidates who never find a job because they have no idea what it takes to be successful in a one-on-one situation. This is your opportunity to sell yourself and you only get one shot at each level, so you have to nail it. It is the difference of having a real paycheck or collecting unemployment.
When interviewing, you want to give your interviewer 100 percent of your attention. This means no cell phone and no fidgeting around. This is probably one of the hardest things for people to get used to. We almost expect our cell phone to go off all the time. Turn the thing off so it is not a distraction.
You are also going to want to watch how you talk about the industry without talking too much. Using too much industry jargon will give the appearance that you are overdoing it and are trying to prove that you know what you are talking about. It sounds a little strange but only use industry-specific terms when they are absolutely necessary.
Avoid answering questions before the interviewer is finished asking them. They may have intended to ask a completely different question. It is rude to cut people off. If you wait and listen to all they have to say and then respond accordingly, it will show you have great communication skills.
The impression you give during your interview is possibly the only impression a future boss will have of you. You are going to have to ensure it is one that strikes them.
As you can see, there are plenty of opportunities and procurement jobs in this field. It may take a little work and research on your end, but the positions are available and they always will be. Now it is up to you to land one.
