Confessions of a Corporate Shopaholic

I can certainly sympathize with people in my profession who think they are in dead-end jobs.  However it does not have to be this way.  It depends on what you are specialized in or which end of the spectrum you are located.  If you are more of an operations professional, the work is definitely going to be a bit more repetitive.  Yet for those who go for stability and domain excellence, they are in no better place.

With all due respect to my colleagues, I prefer to meet new people and lead new projects.  That keeps me on a constant learning mode.  Some headhunters questioned whether I would run out of “excitement” after the variety of projects, commodities, companies and industries I have been working in, and I told them not to worry.  We are living in an ever-changing global economy where the products and services we buy and sell are evolving.  Who would have thought that companies can now advertise in digital media and social networks like Facebook 10 years ago?   It’s never more fulfilling working with your colleagues on brand new ideas and challenges which is very much what a management consultant would do on a daily basis.

Therefore whenever I am asked what kind of career future there is for a strategic procurement professional (note that I have added “strategic” to mark the difference), I usually paint the following possible scenarios:

1. Climb the corporate ladder.  Easiest and most natural thing to do is to excel and position yourself in your bosses’ jobs.  Make sure you acquire broader domain knowledge by rotating yourself across different teams before you can become leadership material.

2. Go into the businesses.  Only if you have built up your credibility within the procurement arena and you have been regarded as a trusted partner by your internal customers.  Check the internal job posting site for roles that could leverage your existing skills and expertise.  If there is a role that needs constant dealings with external business partners, or daily management of outsourced providers, you could be a good fit.  Although it may be a bit risky for the businesses, it is still probably better to pick someone who have been with the company for a while who understands the company culture and already liked by the teammates.  This is not easy of course, but being considered or shortlisted is already a huge honor to the procurement team.  If you feel that you are already in a respected company that you can see yourself staying for a much longer time of your career life, don’t rule this possibility out.  Start knowing more people and build a network not only professionally but socially.

3. Be a consultant.  Academic background and soft skills are vital.  The assets of a consultant is his brain, and his problem solving skills.  You need to be very independent.  You may not have anyone report into you meaning you need to roll up your sleeves to lead a project from start to finish.  You need extremely high EQ.  You need to work extremely long hours and may hardly see your wife and kids.  Sorry I don’t mean to scare you off, but those who make fun of consultants should re-assess what they have to work with in the first place.

There are spend management or corporate turnaround consultancies which smart aggressive strategic procurement professionals could consider.  It is a very rewarding experience.

4. Sales.  In my previous post I mentioned that all of us are very good salesmen or we won’t be successful in negotiating or securing that last production quota.  Companies like to know how procurement think so that they can adjust their selling strategies ahead of time.  I have seen time and time again where procurement professionals joined the sales force because of the wealth of experience they carry.  You just have to figure out what kind of companies you want to get into.

5. Public Sector.  Well, this is not exactly a different category, but with increasing scrutiny over how our government is spending and the pressure from public policy watch dogs, this is an area worth investigating.  Not everyone has the stomach for opportunities like this.  Nevertheless, the screening criteria is fierce.

Obviously there are other possibilities out there.  If you know of any, do share!