Some jobs in purchasing are actually international purchasing jobs. Many more materials, such as steel and lumber, are entering the United States by way of foreign countries. Because many purchases come from outside the United States, it is necessary to have purchasing agents who speak exporting countries' languages so that these types of purchases can be handled directly instead of through an interpreter. Because of that, in many cases, these purchasing agents are actually from the exporting country in question, not from the United States. In some cases, this has hurt the availability of purchasing jobs in the US.
Nonetheless, purchasing jobs are still necessary. Companies require purchasing agents to manage buying everything that company is going to need to keep running smoothly. This is different from being a retail or wholesale buyer, for example; in those jobs, products are bought at a lower, wholesale price and then price for resale at a higher price. As a purchasing agent or manager, though, you are strictly responsible for buying what your company is going to need to keep functioning. You may also hire people for services needed by the company but not performed by its employees, such as those provided by cleaning services. Every sector within the economy needs purchasing agents, including schools, hospitals, government agencies, and businesses.
When you buy products or services for your company, you have to have several factors in mind. You would not be able to spend so much (or keep so much in supply) that your company has a lot of its money tied up in inventory that could be purchased on a much more "as needed" basis. However, you also have to keep in mind that you will need enough and need to plan enough to have supplies necessary if a particular vendor goes out of business or does something else whereby you are going to need a new supplier. Therefore, you need enough cushion so that you can get through times where you might not be able to buy exactly what you need right then, but not so much that company's bottom line is going to be affected because liquid cash is less available.
You also have to consider quantity versus quality. Quality is good, certainly, but it may also be among your job duties to be very practical. Therefore, you might buy office furniture, from a warehouse office instead of a fine furniture company to save money, and that furniture might be made of metal instead of wood, so that it will be much more durable. Similarly, what you buy cannot be so cheap that it is going to break quickly and you will need to replace it often. Durable goods, in other words, should be durable and reasonably priced, while consumable supplies like paper, printer ink, and other continually used consumables are bought in such quantity and at such level of quality that they get the job done, but don't cost too much.
As a purchasing manager, you also need to keep your finger on price trends and market conditions so that you can keep track of trends there, because what's happening might just affect what you buy, how much, and from where. The Internet has made these types of jobs easier. Because with a simple click of a mouse, you can go online, figure out which sources are cheaper, determine costs of everything including shipping and handling (which themselves are going to be affected by such things as transportation difficulties or gas price hikes), and any other number of factors that will affect the final price you pay.
As a purchasing agent, your timing is everything, too. For example, in one season, price and supply may be very low, while in another season, price and supply may be very high. Of course, neither of these situations is what you really want. What you want is equate supply at the lowest prices possible. Therefore, you will need to hit suppliers when what you need is in supply, but in relatively low demand so that you will pay less for it.
You may also have to coordinate your company's schedule with outside suppliers' schedules. For example, if your suppliers are going to have delays from their own sources, you will need enough time to decide if you want or do not want to stay with that particular supplier or find a competitor. You will have to arrange with that supplier to buy supplies ahead of time before their delays; since that supplier would want to keep your business, it stands, to reason that they will take the necessary care of your needs in spite of any delays or the problems they might have themselves.
As a purchasing agent, you may be in charge of the department with other people working under you, or you may be working as one of several supply agents or managers within a larger company.
Training and education
Most purchasing agents or managers need college degrees and perhaps a master's degree, depending on the nature of work and level of position involved. In most cases, your company will want you to have a master's degree in business administration or in some related field. It also helps if you have taken courses in marketing, purchasing, office management or traffic management.
You will also need to have good computer skills and be very familiar with spreadsheet software and word processing.
Finally, depending on your industry, you may need to have additional education, as well. You need to have a thorough knowledge of the industry you become a purchasing agent for, and this means that if the industry itself is highly specialized, you will need to have additional education to cover that particular knowledge base. For example, if you work for a manufacturer of chemicals, you will need a thorough knowledge of that product base, in addition to the needs of the company in general. That means you will need some type of science background and a masters degree in business ministration or a related field.
When you begin, you might work under another purchasing manager, and then work your way up to become a manager yourself at some point. You will also get on-the-job training in addition to your formal educational background. Some of that on-the-job training may include classroom instruction. Depending on the size of your company, you may work in various departments when you first start out so that you know the company very thoroughly and are aware of what they need in regard purchases once you assume your duties as a purchasing agent.
Getting the job
Once you finish your education, check with your school placement office or local employment agencies, Internet job sites, and newspaper classifieds to find suitable employment. You may also apply directly to companies who are advertising positions as open. If you choose to work for the government, you probably need to take a civil service examination in addition to completing other previous educational requirements in order to be qualified to get the job.
Salary and outlook
As technology has made it easier to implement and process purchases expediently, fewer agents are needed to do the same volume of work, because they can be so much more efficient. For example, the Internet and computers may direct purchasing options much more expedient. This is good news, but it also means that fewer purchasing agents may be required in the future.
In general, the salary of purchasing agents across all sectors of the job market was about $48,000 a year as of 2004.
