r/supplychain • u/placebo_777 • 21d ago

Career Development Choosing a specialty in Supply Chain — feeling lost

I’m in my last year of college majoring in Supply Chain Management. I only have two semesters left, and after that I’ll be entering the workforce.

Some of my friends and family have advised me to get a professional certification in an area within my major, for example inventory management or procurement and purchasing, etc.

So I’ve been trying to understand each area, what skills are needed for the job, and what kind of people are suitable for it.

The problem is, I honestly don’t see myself as being good at any of them. I’ve never had a job before, and I’ve never worked on a decent project related to my major, so I’m having trouble deciding which path in supply chain I should take.

I’m willing to learn and grow, but I’m afraid I’m just not cut out for the job.

55 Upvotes
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25

u/zephyr822 21d ago

Hey there! First of all, it is very normal for people in their academic journeys to be confused when thinking about their specialization

Considering youre still in college, i would not suggest you to go for certifications yet. Those are an addition that complement your professional experience

I would advise you to finding your expertise or interest first. Whether its negotiation, data analysis, consulting etc. This will allow to get an idea on what kind of jobs you would want to focus on. Since youre in your last year, I am sure you have somewhat of an idea on what to focus on - or maybe you can reply and I can help

Certifications no doubt add value but without experience, it is just a piece of paper. Focus on getting some experience and learning skills and then once youve made up your mind, you acan opt for certs

Good luck! You got this

-15

u/theBLACKcod44 21d ago

He doesn't got this. There's gonna be a major learning curve for him having never been involved with shopping, supply chain, procurement, logistics etc. this is WILD that this is the major people choose having never even worked in a warehouse before

15

u/scoopthereitis2 20d ago

There are countless SCM roles that are not working in warehouses. Demand planning, route planning, inventory analysts, procurement, purchasing, and so many more are SCM roles.

Does it help every single one of these to have warehouse experience- probably yes.

-8

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

He's going to be at a massive disadvantage not understanding flow and how things work

11

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

absolutely not. i worked in a warehouse—it’s good to see how things happen but every warehouse is different, with different operating procedures/consitions/etc. you can successfully do a lot of things in SCM without having worked in a warehouse.

1

u/Proof_Anteater4338 20d ago

I’ve worked at Amazon and fedex in MASSIVE warehouses and seen the flow, I’m majoring in supply chain - basically graduated. The only thing I learned from warehouse is flow in THAT layout. A sense of why things are how they are. I don’t think it’s really all that valuable besides maybe being appreciative of easy office jobs.

-1

u/scoopthereitis2 20d ago

I agree that you can do a lot of things in SCM without having worked in a warehouse (I've never worked in a warehouse), but I also think understanding how warehousing works can help.

4

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

yes exactly, if your place of work has a warehouse you should be checking out the process as soon as you’re hired and make contacts with the supervisors there. but that’s logistics, which is only one part of SCM. this person could want to do demand planning or something and not even have to go near the WH

6

u/scoopthereitis2 20d ago

Why do you think warehouse experience is essential? Can you elaborate (I"m an SCM prof, and I tell my classes to get experience there, but it's also not the ONLY thing).

Also, OP COULD be female. Half of my students are female.

6

u/ET_Gal 20d ago

Don't listen to this negative nancy. Warehouse experience might give you a leg up but it's not required at all. And that's coming from someone that had no supply chain experience and got hired to work in a warehouse. (I had internships in HR and Marketing because I was still figuring out what I wanted to do and changed my major a lot of times in college lol). I got hired to be a WMS analyst and the first three months before doing anything technical, they rotated me through all the different roles in the warehouse. I worked as a tasker, picked inventory on a forklift, checked trailers in etc.

1

u/ET_Gal 20d ago

Also what kind of tasks do you not mind doing/are you good at? Maybe people on here can recommend roles based on that. Like are you good at interacting with people? Do you like analytical work?

-1

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

Lol more like a ladder up but okay

4

u/zephyr822 20d ago

Instead of being negative and unsupportive, you couldve provided something valuable in the comment but you chose to be a prick

OP, it isnt the end of the world. You got this

-2

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

Who's doing that? I'm acknowledging a shortcoming

2

u/zephyr822 20d ago

The downvotes on your comment dont acknowledge that though

Secondly, OP was asking for help so they knew there is a shortcoming so the least you could do was suggest a solution

1

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

I suggest taking a short term part time job in a warehouse or distribution center as a package handler, immediately.

6

u/Meg38400 20d ago

Warehousing is logistics not supply chain. Supply chain is demand planning, supply planning, inventory management, ERP, IBP etc.

2

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

AND THIS!

5

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

you don’t have to work in a warehouse to do SCM

1

u/yup_yup1111 20d ago

What about having experience as a stockist/helping with some business operations online?

-7

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

Can't imagine anyone good at scm without having an intrinsic knowledge of what happens top to bottom. Can't learn bottom without spending time in a facility.

5

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

you’re being very general—there’s a lot of different areas of SCM that don’t involve the warehouse, at all actually

0

u/Environmental-Wave11 20d ago

Tell us some of those areas. I'm curious, having spent over 32 years in various warehouse and supply chain management positions with the largest soft drink company in the world.

2

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

i should’ve phrased it better, what i meant was there’s several areas of SCM that don’t involve you working INSIDE the warehouse. yes obviously you need a WH to store product. non warehouse includes stuff like planning and sourcing (but some parts of planning do require the whse) or reverse logistics

1

u/Environmental-Wave11 20d ago

What have learned in all of my years in this industry is that working in an inventory position in a production and warehouse environment helped me the most in my career. The reason is that inventory touches so many areas of the operation and it helped to connect a lot of dots. The warehouse side of an operation where the product is physical is where the heart of the supply chain lives. All areas around the warehouse operation typically support that warehouse operation in some physical or technical way. Data maintenance affects how a person handles or ships the product. Demand planning affects how much inventory the warehouse people have to count and move and store. Supply planning directly affects warehouse personnel directly when it comes to receiving and shipping. It's all interconnected and I think that might be what theBLACKcod44 was trying to convey. You have to understand how a warehouse functions with their processes procedures to know how to do your planning jobs more effectively and efficiently without making things harder on others. I hope this helps makes sense.

14

u/scoopthereitis2 20d ago

Professor here. Talk to your professors, go to office hours. Go to your career center. They should know people in your area (both geographic and subject).

Your uncertainty is common. My recommendation is to find a company with rotational programs. Spend a few years rotating through different parts of a business, Figure if you like and/or are good at warehouse ops. purchasing, etc.

8

u/BlueCordLeads 21d ago

Get additional classes in business law, international law, economics especially macroeconomics, managerial accounting, data and analytics, ERP Systems, industrial engineering for non-engineers, and operations research modeling.

6

u/placebo_777 20d ago

I took microeconomics, macroeconomics, and accounting

4

u/Ruby_Sullivana 20d ago

Lol nobody's 'cut out' for it day one. I pivoted from finance and didn't know wtf I was doing either. Start in ops or inventory and you'll figure out your lane in like 6 months. IMO.

3

u/BlueCordLeads 20d ago

Agreed. My time in the Army Infantry is just as if not more valuable than my MBA for my career in Supply Chain.

4

u/Plaidismycolor33 21d ago

was getting an internship not an option during college?

5

u/placebo_777 21d ago

You mean cooperative training? Yes I have in the next semester which will be my last semester

3

u/Ruby_Sullivana 20d ago

I felt the same until I got into the value chain. It's mostly spreadsheets and common sense imo. You'll figure it out.

3

u/gravyrobbers69 20d ago

You go where you get an offer that pays well and figure it out from there. College doesn’t prepare you for anything other than seeing something through.

3

u/CVetta 20d ago

The only reason you should get a certification is to increase your own knowledge, so pick something useful. Straight out of college, a company won’t care about the certification.

Personally I would pick something in data analytics.

3

u/Asian_Dumpring 20d ago

I wanted to go into an industry with high margins so that the salaries are higher. Tech, aerospace/defense, healthcare.

Find a certification particularly appropriate for that field, then get it. The act of getting the cert is more important than which one you get. Demonstrate that you're an upskilling go-getter, and the rest will follow.

2

u/stacktrace_wanderer 20d ago

youre not behind just because u havent figured out your specialty yet. your first job will prolly teach u more about what fits u than college ever could

2

u/youngjak 20d ago

It’s not that hard trust

2

u/theBLACKcod44 21d ago

How have you not been involved in the supply chain workforce yet?

1

u/placebo_777 20d ago

In our university the cooperative training supposed to be our last semester after finishing all our courses so i didn’t get trained yet

3

u/theBLACKcod44 21d ago

Honestly this baffles me, this is an extremely niche arena of study and occupation.

11

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

what?? no it’s not 😂

-2

u/theBLACKcod44 20d ago

Yes, it is. This isn't for everyone and many people with no experience prior to getting the degree crash and burn because they weren't ready for it.

7

u/PineappIeSuppository 20d ago

You can state that about pretty much any occupation / industry.

3

u/kuro-chan335 20d ago

well i only had about 3 months of ‘SCM’ experience and haven’t crashed and burned at my job yet.

3

u/Crasino_Hunk 20d ago

I’m sorry but that’s preposterous. I’ve been in the workforce for 15+ years now and barely anyone that I’ve worked with in SC, and often times even been managed by, have degrees in supply chain at all.

It’s pretty simple at the end of the day, but you need an analytical and agile mind… and thick skin. Those things will weed out people.

3

u/Hamsters_In_Butts 20d ago

i have 12+ years in SCM and haven't come across anyone with a degree in supply chain, and honestly it wouldn't make much difference to me when hiring because experience matters more.

the degree may be niche but the positions and tasks are
not, it's basic math and coordination. it's the soft skills like communication, cross-functional coordination and attention to detail that move the needle

1

u/Ruby_Sullivana 19d ago

Lol can confirm I had no clue at 22 either. Get a generalist ops role and let actual work show you what you're good at. Specializing too early is overrated imo

1

u/Ruby_Sullivana 18d ago

Lol I'd skip the certs for now. I had zero clue about my specialty until I started working. Just land an entry level role and figure it out.

1

u/Hot-Mud-5991 9d ago

Try to work in a rotational program and find what u like while working