Purchasing execs want breadth and depth
By Staff -- Purchasing, 2/5/2004 2:00:00 AM
Trying to land a top post in strategic sourcing? Purchasing's interviews with top-level purchasing execs find equal emphasis on commodity expertise, sourcing-process expertise, and exposure to/background in other professional functions.
| Kurt Hornbecker, purchasing director for Kinder Morgan, Inc. (Lakewood, Colo.) | |
| What he looks for | Why |
| Experience in both procurement and the construction industry | "I don't want to turn someone loose on millions of dollars worth of construction contracts unless they have experience in negotiating terms and conditions, equalizing bids, and so on." |
| Experience in specific commodities | So they don't give suppliers the impression they don't know what they're doing. |
| Professional designations and affiliations such as the CPM offered by the Institute of Supply Management | Shows commitment to the profession, rather than someone who is just floating through purchasing on their way to other departments. |
| Evidence of prior accomplishments on resumes | "I'm not interested in generalities. I look for specifics, which shows me that they have set objectives and worked to achieve them." |
| People who can present clear courses of actions in response to hypothetical situations during an interview | "If the answers are not really clear, it suggests to me they haven't encountered the experiences before." |
| Jenny Verner, VP of supply chain management for Cargill Inc. (Minneapolis) | |
| What she looks for | Why |
| People with broad functional and industry experience; people who have spent time in various segments of the supply chain | So they will have the ability to empathize with people in various parts of the supply chain and understand other functional objectives, such as marketing, product development, manufacturing, and distribution. "They can understand the total value and be able to optimize that in the procurement area." |
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