Job Candidates Face Highly Selective Employers

-- Purchasing, 1/13/2000

The job market for purchasing pros remains strong and highly competitive, but prospective employers want very specific qualities in purchasing job applicants.

"Supply for candidates does not meet demand," says Jean Howell, president and owner of Fortune Personnel Consultants of the Virginia Highland.

Senior buyers are in demand, according to Howell, as well as lots of jobs "just below manager level," though there are considerably more positions involved with strategic sourcing.

"The upper midrange to high executive level" is hot, according to Ellen Martin of Hunt Ltd. in Lyndhurst, N.J. "The job market is strongand so is the need for sharp purchasing professionals."

Less willing to nurture

Seemingly paradoxical to the reality of the demand for purchasing professions, "selectivity" is one possible word to describe the current job market as it moves into the year 2000, according to Jim Panos of the P&L Group. Panos went on to categorize the 1980s as a period of "downsizing" and the '90s as a time of "right-sizing," which is leading companies into a more "lean and mean" hiring structure.

According to Howell, the cause of this attitude is likely connected to lessons learned by companies in the early '90s, and the effect is now being felt by those hiring and those looking for jobs. Many companies now "wait for the skill set and the commodity set they are looking for. They'd go without instead of settling for a lesser candidate."

"It's not enough to have good negotiating/financial skills; today's world demands mid-management and up to be strategic, sound technically as well as having good business savvy," adds Ellen Martin.

There are fewer and fewer "Cinderella stories" these days, says Panos. "Companies don't have time to train anymore."

The right stuff

It will be increasingly important for job seekers to position themselves correctly to stand out from the crowd of qualified purchasing professionals.

"Your resume is your occupational fingerprint," says Panos. And employers are asking, "how can you channel your knowledge?"

"Known quantity" is a phrase Panos uses that essentially means you become marketable by getting experiences with corporations and institutions that are well regarded by employers.

Masters degrees are "certainly desirable" says Howell, as is global strategic sourcing experience.

"Experience in supply chain management related tasks will be important, as well as "expertise within a discipline," says Martin.

Power from the bottom line

Regard for purchasing professionals is at an all-time high.

"These people must be top-notch because they are responsible for large spending," says Panos.

Jean Howell categorized them even more strongly as the, "central decision-making force in a corporation." But at the same time this importance has made job hunting more difficult as corporations are willing to wait to find the right person for the job.

Salaries and areas to watch

"I think salaries will remain competitive," says Martin. "The good news is that some companies are beginning to recognize purchasing managers as well as some buyers with bonus opportunities." According to Howell, there will be a small amount of wage inflation as companies watch their expenditures.

Many regions are hot spots for job opportunities. The southwest and southeast are strong for hi-tech jobs, Panos says. New England is turning around and the Mid-West is a steady industrial hub. And, "the West Coast is jumping off the map."