By Pete Simmonds, Senior Director
If a tree falls in the wood with nobody around to hear it, did it make a sound? How about, if an outstanding procurement manager starts job hunting with a threadbare CV, will anyone find them?
If you struggle with writing your CV, you’re not alone. Many people find it unnatural to sell themselves. Thankfully, our team of experts can help!
We have a team of dedicated recruitment consultants who specialise in the logistics sector. Building stand-out CVs is what they do best! So, sit back, and see what they have to say about building the perfect CV for procurement and supply chain roles…
Do not underestimate the importance of your personal summary. This section is a great opportunity to catch the hiring manager’s attention. It should be a short paragraph to celebrate your career highlights and reveal some of your personality.
As recruitment consultants, we present candidates to employers all the time and know how to summarise the best bits. If you need help, we can support you.
Efficient and reliable procurement specialist with X years’ experience in the FMCG industry. Skilled in strategic supply chain management, I manage a team of 4 to optimise a spend budget of £XXXX and have achieved a XX% quarterly cost reduction in my current role.
You may want to add a section to summarise your skills. Remember, that there are two types of skills, hard and soft skills. Your hard skills are what you need for your job such as cost analysis, contract negotiation, or forecasting. Whereas soft skills focus on your character traits – strong attention to detail, team player, problem-solver.
Again, tailor this to each application! List the exact skills and qualities that are mentioned in the job ad, if you have them. Use their wording, too. This will help ensure that your CV passes any automated filtering process and actually reaches the hiring manager.
Now we get into the main body of your CV. Each section here should cover the same framework so use this checklist as a guide:
⊗ Job title*, business name, location, dates of employment in years and months.
⊗ Indicate whether the role was temp or FTC so that employers know you aren’t just a job hopper.
⊗ Business summary: a short paragraph covering; industry and sector, products, turnover, number of staff, and whether it was multi-site or not.
⊗ Skills and responsibilities: the more specific, the better! Use quantifiable info such as spend size, SKU numbers, cost savings, improvements to stock levels/lead times/number of suppliers, team size you’ve managed, and systems you’ve used.
⊗ Key projects and achievements.
⊗ *If you progressed through multiple roles in the same business, list them each separately after your business summary. Hiring managers love to see evidence of your progression so don’t just list your most recent job title. Include dates for each role.
Buyer, Aug 2020 – Jan 2022
Smart Kitchen Ltd, Sheffield
SME kitchen design and fitting firm with a turnover of £XXXX. Retail site in city centre with separate warehouse.
Responsibilities: • Product sourcing • Cost negotiation • Stock monitoring • Regular reporting
Achievements: I met consistent cost reduction targets, saving an average of £XX per annum.
With your basic info sorted, remember to list your history in chronological order, starting with your current/most recent role. Plus, don’t forget to address timeline gaps. This stops employers worrying that you may have been fired or another negative reason. For example, if you were taking time to travel, or be with family, simply enter the dates with one line stating that.
If you don’t have lots of experience to draw upon, take a look at our tips for how to write a CV with no experience.
Once you start employment, most hiring managers are more interested in your professional experience than your education. For seasoned procurement professionals, you might simply list your highest qualification. However, those still in the junior years of their career can still list earlier qualifications.
The key thing is to keep it relevant. Only list training and qualifications that are related to the role. If you have a general degree, or other certification types, you can add details around relevant modules and assignments.
BSc (Hons) Business Studies – 2nd Class Degree
Sheffield Hallam 2014-2017
Including optional module in Operations & Supply Chain Management
A Levels (ABB) in Maths, History, and French
Barnsley College 2012-2014
GCSEs (A*-C) including Maths, English and Statistics
Rotherham High 2007-2012
⊗ Include your location – recruiters need to know where you are to see whether a vacancy might be relevant to you
⊗ Include contact details – so recruiters can reach you
⊗ Include your notice period if it’s less/more than 4 weeks
⊗ Include whether you’d consider temp roles
⊗ Check for spelling and grammar
Our experienced Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment team work with a range of successful organisations from market leading SMEs, Government institutions, and global business. We recruit for a number of logistical opportunities such as Buyers, Supply Chain Planners, Purchasing Coordinators, Operations Managers, Procurement Directors, and much more!
Check out our current vacancies in procurement, supply chain, and logistics.
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