The Perfect Purchasing Specialist Resume Writing Tips

Do you want to apply for a Purchasing Specialist position to help you get closer to your career goals? Applying for jobs on Seek, LinkedIn, and other job boards can be a time-consuming process, however, to streamline the process, you can ensure your resume writing helps you to stand out from the crowd, and your online profile helps you to get an interview!

If a recruiter or hiring manager are looking for a Purchasing Specialist, they are searching for specific transferable skills. With less than ten people being interviewed for the job and hundreds of people, just like you, applying, The Perfect Resume team have created Resume Writing Tips to help you stand out from the others.

What do recruiters look for in a Purchasing Specialist resume or an online profile?

Tailoring your resume to a Purchasing Specialist position is mandatory today to ensure that your application will pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In doing so, your resume will be read by the prospective employer. Then, fingers crossed, you will be shortlisted as a potential candidate and be called for not one, but multiple job interviews!

Firstly, before you apply to be a Purchasing Specialist, you need to be acquainted with what a Purchasing Specialist does!

Purchasing Specialists handle the procurement of a company's supplies.

Hiring Managers are looking for a motivated Purchasing Specialist to assist in researching and identifying prospective suppliers, evaluating their offering against key business criteria and the required product specifications, and negotiating purchase agreements.

To be successful as a Purchasing Specialist, you should have knowledge of necessary Manufacturing, Transport, and Logistics procedures, be open to learning, and have strong communication skills. Ultimately, a quality Purchasing Specialist should be able to achieve timely delivery and resolve any supply issues or discrepancies.

Knowing this, your resume and online profile should include the hard and soft skills that the recruiter or hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

The Purchasing Specialist position description template will also contain pivotal information about what the candidate will need to do daily. Such as:

• Researching and identifying prospective suppliers.
• Liaising with internal project teams and maintaining strong supplier relations.
• Evaluating products and suppliers according to key business criteria.
• Preparing proposals, requesting quotes, and negotiating purchase terms and conditions.
• Preparing and issuing purchase orders and agreements.
• Monitoring supplier performance and resolving issues and concerns.
• Inspecting and evaluating the quality of purchased items and resolving shortcomings.
• Analyzing industry and demand trends and supporting senior management with the development and implementation of sourcing strategies.
• Preparing reports and maintaining accurate inventory and procurement records.
• Complying with company policies, procedures, and regulatory standards.

You will also have some requirements and personal attributes that you will need to demonstrate in your resume to ensure your potential employer will take your application seriously, such as:

• 2+ years of experience as a purchasing specialist or in a similar role.
• Bachelor's degree in business administration, supply chain management, or a similar field preferred.
• CPM or APICS certification preferred.
• Good working knowledge of purchasing strategies.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and with business application software, purchasing, and resource planning systems.
• Team player with strong organizational skills.

You may also want to do some industry research to find out what other companies want in their Purchasing Specialists.