Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
Special Requirements
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
Education and training. Educational requirements tend to vary with the size of the organization. Large stores and distributors prefer applicants who have completed a bachelor’s degree program with a business emphasis. Many manufacturing firms put an even greater emphasis on formal training, preferring applicants with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, business, economics, or one of the applied sciences. A master’s degree is essential for advancement to many top-level purchasing manager jobs.
Regardless of academic preparation, new employees must learn the specifics of their employer’s business. Training periods vary in length, with most lasting 1 to 5 years. In wholesale and retail establishments, most trainees begin by selling merchandise, supervising sales workers, checking invoices on material received, and keeping track of stock. As they progress, trainees are given increased buying-related responsibilities.
In manufacturing, new purchasing employees often are enrolled in company training programs and spend a considerable amount of time learning about their firm’s operations and purchasing practices. They work with experienced purchasers to learn about commodities, prices, suppliers, and markets. In addition, they may be assigned to the production planning department to learn about the material requirements system and the inventory system the company uses to keep production and replenishment functions working smoothly.
Other qualifications. Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents must know how to use word processing and spreadsheet software and the Internet. Other important qualities include the ability to analyze technical data in suppliers’ proposals; good communication, negotiation, and mathematical skills; knowledge of supply-chain management; and the ability to perform financial analyses.
People who wish to become wholesale or retail buyers should be good at planning and decisionmaking and have an interest in merchandising. Anticipating consumer preferences and ensuring that goods are in stock when they are needed requires resourcefulness, good judgment, and self-confidence. Buyers must be able to make decisions quickly and to take risks. Marketing skills and the ability to identify products that will sell also are very important. Employers often look for leadership ability, too, because buyers spend a large portion of their time supervising assistant buyers and dealing with manufacturers’ representatives and store executives.
Experienced buyers may advance by moving to a department that manages a larger volume or by becoming a merchandise manager. Others may go to work in sales for a manufacturer or wholesaler.
The data sources for the information displayed here include: Virginia Career VIEW Research. (Using onet28)
