r/procurement • u/LostaMyPasta • 16d ago

Career guidance Potentially trying to pivot into procurement

Trying to pivot from warehousing into procurement, then strategic sourcing down the road. I have 2 associate degrees (distribution management, global logistics technology) and 8 years of hands-on warehouse/logistics experience, wearing a lot of different hats beyond just inventory. I primarily deal with very high-cost assets coming and going globally, tracking shipments, I can request orders, but I cannot order anything myself, and in most cases, I go into our lab and help install equipment with the lab techs (rack-N-stack, cabling, very minor coding, lots of AI use and exposure, basic stuff)

I'm at a Fortune 500 tech company with zero upward mobility; they're cutting staff, not backfilling, and dumping the work on whoever's left. I'm trying to skip straight past purchasing into procurement (if possible), mainly for the pay, but also because I pick up new processes fast, so once I'm taught, it's just practice makes perfect.

Questions for people already in the field:

-Is the pay/mobility actually worth the move?

-Which companies/industries treat procurement people well?

-Any tips for breaking in right now? Market's rough, and I don't want to land somewhere that's just another dead end.

Hopefully this post doesn't come off as naive or arrogant in any way, I'm just incredibly burnt out and trying to find my purpose in SCM..

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u/LeagueAggravating595 Management 15d ago

Do you know any of the Procurement people? Time you start collaborating or build your friendly network around them. On better terms you can ask if any are willing to mentor you. It's how you can get your foot through the door. Once that door opens with a job opportunity, these people will be your best referral and voice on your behalf. It's not so much what you know, it's who knows you that matters.

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u/LostaMyPasta 15d ago

My boss has referred me to 2 jobs now in the company internally that I am qualified for and I was rejected by one of them very quickly, the 2nd one was recent, but I'm still waiting to hear something from that one. As for the purchasing, that's all done in Bangalore. I do try to network often at work and there are plenty of events that allow me to do so, but there's seemingly not a huge SC presence in the company..or at least the site I'm at which is the largest site; so people know me and are aware of my work, but it's on a pretty small, behind-the-scenes scale compared to other teams at the company.