The Supply Chain Career Path
According to an article from Supply Chain Digest, the demand for supply chain talent is hot and will continue to be for years to come. This is excellent news for those of us who are currently forging a career in the field, however if your anything like me you are probably wondering what is the best way to further your career development and how to map out a defined career path. Early on in my career I approached a Senior Vice President at my company for career advice. At the time I was fairly lucky in my career and had been exposed to numerous different aspects of the industry but was wondering what to do next. Unfortunately his advice was to just keep trying new tasks/positions until I found something I liked. Although his advice had a certain amount of merit, it did little in providing direction. For those of you wondering what to do to further your career, here are a few ideas from the article:
Guidelines for Building a Supply Chain Career
- Map out your career development and fill in the gaps: Companies today are looking for a broad set of skills, covering the whole supply chain. Proactively seek experience across many functions (logistics, sourcing, planning, manufacturing, global, etc.).
- Work for a company that gets it and invests in it: Naturally, other companies want to recruit from companies perceived as supply chain leaders. As talented as you may be, if you are working for a company that has a mediocre supply chain reputation, it won’t help your cause later.
- Work outside SCM (e.g., IT/Finance): Such as broad set of skills are now required to manage a supply chain, companies look favorably on those that have experience in related areas. Rollin Ford, formerly Wal-Mart’s head of supply chain, recently took the CIO role in the retail giant, for example.
- Change industries: While some companies still want deep experience in a specific industry (e.g. retail), the trend is increasingly for companies to value a broad range of industry experience. As a recent example, SCDigest notes Reuben Slone, who led the supply chain transformation efforts at consumer durables manufacturer Whirlpool, more recently took the top supply chain spot at retailer Office Max.
- Get international experience and live abroad: It goes without saying that companies are looking today for execs with skills in the global supply chain, but MacEachern said there’s often an even greater presence for someone who has actually lived overseas for some time. “If you have lived in China, that may be considered more favorably even if you have visited there 50 times,†he said.
- Seek out board experience: Companies today are increasingly looking to add outside supply chain executives to their boards. If you get that opportunity, grab it – thinking and working at a board level will be considered highly by companies looking to fill a Chief Supply Chain Officer position.
- Build your network: Potential employers and recruiters need to be able to find you – the breadth of your network greatly increases the odds.
- Find a mentor: Identify an exec inside or outside your company who can help show you the way.
Thembani on Wed, 22nd Dec 2010 1:52 am
Hi there
I am 32 years old currently working for a retail company as a security Analyst in IT but I am now interested in supply chain & logistics.
Please advise if I can change a career at my age?
Regards