Press

Thu 19th Jan 2012

Procurement - the profession of choice

As the CIPS President David Smith and Supply Management support the drive to raise the profile of the procurement profession, Rebecca Ellinor spoke to several procurement professionals about how they got an audience with school children to persuade them to consider a purchasing career.

Peter Rushton, CEO of Optimum Procurement, spoke to a group of 18 to 19 year olds at Highlands College in Jersey last year.  He says teachers, careers’ officers and heads of year have the “keys to the door” when it comes to getting in front of an audience of potential future buyers.

After giving an overview of the role, Rushton did a ‘power of procurement’ exercise, to demonstrate how you can double profits if you rethink the way you buy goods and services. He then explained about the opportunities and pay and gave some practical advice for next steps.

“They find the international aspects very appealing, as well as the opportunities for progression and the chance to be in a profession that is strategically significant.”

Also, he adds, for many of those who were considering marketing, the skills required are the same – such as communication, project management and teamwork.

“Afterwards, the teachers kept me back to say they were staggered by the career opportunities. They said they thought the profession had a really good story to tell and they guessed at least three of the group would probably seriously consider the profession.”

Read the full article in Supply Management.