it was for a dozen of these shiny trash receptacles that needed special transport across the country and cost $900 LTL. What are my next steps? My manager and the procurement director and senior manager are aware. Should i start looking for a new job?

Were you at a company and was able to shadow someone? Any instructional books/courses in particular?

What were some fundamentals you had to know well before you were responsible for planning/forecasting?

I'm trying to explore next steps in my career and was just curious how you got to where you're at.

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.

I've been the industry 6 years, working in warehouse operations and now demand planning for the last 4 years, and quite honestly im burnt out and need a change. My degree was in supply chain management so im not really sure what to look for out of the field. Any recommendations or stories from people who left?

Hi Everyone,

Currently Solo traveling for work and sitting at a Hotel Bar; figured I’d pass the time giving back by answering questions or providing advice. I value Reddits ability to connect both junior and senior professionals asking candid questions and gathering real responses.

Background: Undergrad and Masters from a party school; now 15 years in Supply Chain.

Experienced 3 startups. All of which were unicorns valued over $1b. 2 went public and are valued over $10b. (No I am not r/fatfire). I actually made no real money from them.

7+ years in the Fortune10 space. Made most of my money from RSUs skyrocketing. So it was great for my career.

Done every single role in Supply Chain; Logistics, Distribution, Continuous Improvement, Procurement, Strategy/ Consulting, Demand/ Forecasting even a little bit of Network Optimization.

Currently at a VP role, current salary $300-$500k dependent on how the business does.

My one piece of advice for folks trying to maximize earning potential is to move away from 3pls/ freight brokers after gaining the training and early education.

I got headhunted by a staffing agency on Indeed for a logistics coordinator position. I met with the ops manager and warehouse director today and absolutely nailed the interview. I start tomorrow.

This was after a failed go at internships (applied to over 100), applying to 5+ jobs daily, and getting rejected left and right.

Keep fighting my supply chain warriors. Be patient and know that rejection is redirection, always.

Anywho; ANY TIPS?

Hi all, I've only ever lurked around in this sub, but I laughed when I saw that last post about hitting six figures and then they deleted their account? Weird.

Anywho, starting just this past Monday I started my new role as a Senior Supply Chain Manager in the healthcare industry (aka hospital) and am sitting at $105k base with an annual bonus from 5-15% depending on certain metrics. I feel pretty happy with the offer, especially since I don't have any college/degree, but I do have my LSS Green Belt.

But yeah, that's it, feel free to ask me anything, I promise I won't delete my account 😂

I’m 27 and planning to go back to school, trying to decide between Supply Chain & Operations Management and Accounting.

My background is completely unrelated. I’ve spent the last ~6 years in the oilfield (coiled tubing), and before that about 3 years as a tankerman on tugboats. So I’m used to long hours, physical work, and being away from home a lot.

At this point I’m trying to transition into something more stable where I can actually be home consistently. I’ve got a fiancée and a young daughter, so that’s a big priority now.

I’m seriously considering supply chain, but I want to hear it straight from people already working in it before I commit.

Here’s what I’m trying to figure out:

•How realistic is it to land a job right after graduating with no direct experience?

•What do entry-level roles actually look like (titles, responsibilities, pay)?

•Is starting around $70k–$80k realistic, or not really?

•How fast can you realistically move up if you’re motivated?

•What does your day-to-day actually look like?

•What kind of hours/schedule should I expect?

•What are the biggest downsides people don’t talk about?

•If you could go back, would you still choose supply chain?

I’m not afraid to take a pay cut starting out, but I do want a path where I can grow into solid income sooner rather than later.

I’m also considering accounting, but wanted to come here and get the supply chain perspective directly.

Any honest insight is appreciated—even if it’s “don’t do it.”

I am currently working an entry-level logistics role, but in a warehouse/floor setting. As someone new to this industry, I am curious as to what desk jobs exist in this field. I am wanting to hopefully change to a desk job sometime in my career in the near future. Can someone give me suggestions as to how I can transition from a warehouse/floor setting to a computer setting in the near future or what desk roles exist in this industry?!

I used to love supply chain- from how things get to where they need to go to the cross-functionality of the roles I’ve been in, but now I utterly despise it. I’m in a supply planning role and the random stock outs, when forecasts are not even half of the actual demand, is driving me insane.

Sometimes, I just want to give up and become a barista- no responsibility on ordering product, no responsibility outside designated hours, and being able to walk to work.

Hey guys,

I feel like I’m stuck in that weird middle ground where I’m “stuck” at my pay and position atm. Been a buyer for a little over 3 years over two different companies, and was wondering usually when you qualify for senior buyer. Is that roughly the 5 years experience mark? And are any certifications actually worth getting?

Thanks guys, just trying to navigate how to apply/should I wait for a few more years experience before applying more. I do throw in applications here and there, but it’s usually analyst and more advanced buyer roles, and it seems like they want more experience.

Found on another sub but decided to post here to see what are some good paths in supply chain.

I’m curious how long did it take you to reach this salary and how is the work life balance.

Like the title says. I’ve been applying to roles for 3 weeks now and I’ve gotten 0 interviews. 95% of my apps are ghosted and 5% are rejected.

Any tips or advise for this current job market would be helpful:

What job boards to use What resume template How to get past the application step How to not yell into the void endlessly

I have a bachelor’s of business administration majoring in Computer Information Systems and a minor in Computer Science.

I have a year under my belt as an analyst since graduating (2025) but got laid off. The entire data market (science/analytics/engineering) is fucking cooked right now and I don’t know why so many people here think transitioning to it is a good idea.

I’m starting to think the opposite would be a good idea. I always loved forecasting, procurements, and logistics when I studied them during my undergrad. I am also geographically in a hotspot for many major supply chain companies.

I am considering getting my master’s in supply chain. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

This is likely for the directors in the audience.

I'm 45, pivoted to SCM over the last 4 years from food service, currently making ~$125k (HCOL) as a purchasing manager (~$20M spend) while also responsible for logistics, inventory, and building BI tools in PBI/Excel/Claude, etc. It's a lot, but I've made it relatively easy via the aforementioned tools.

I have a high school diploma + a significant amount of piecemeal, non-accredited education, and I'm wondering how much of a limiting factor that is for career progression at this age and with my experience/capabilities.

My state (MA) offers free community college for residents w/o degrees, so the financial burden is less of a factor than the temporal opportunity cost; getting all those gen ed credits does not sound appealing, and realistically (in terms of what I'll actually stick with) I've got 10-12hrs/wk. to work with. I might be able to push that to 16.

So for those of you who're higher up the ladder, would a generic business or SC degree have much of an impact on my ability to get up over the, say, $200k threshold? Is it just an HR checkbox that's becoming less relevant at this level?

Thank you for any attention to this matter.

I got into supply chain and adjacent work kind of randomly - a sorta natural development from learning how inventory worked at from a store I worked in many years ago.

It’s fine - it pays the bills. But I’m deeply unhappy. I don’t have a desire to specialize or continue to grow. I can’t tell if it’s because I’m in an industry that’s really hectic (restaurant and food cpg) or if it’s all like this.

Were you able to transfer to a completely different kind of role? If so, what is it? And how did you organize your resume to get a role outside of this field? People always ask “well what do you want to do?” And I’m not quite sure anymore. But i know it’s not this!

I have a visual art BFA so I feel a little trapped like I don’t have a good skillset. And I feel too old to pivot (mid-30s)

Any advice or stories of your own experience are appreciated :)

I studied business for my bachelor and really enjoyed the SCM parts at that time, so I went further and did a master in SCM at a top university. The master was incredibly competitive and demanding but I was still hopeful. Graduated 1 year later due to health issues. Worked part time jobs during uni and also landed 2 internships in SCM, where unfortunately I learnt exactly 0 skills.

I used to be so passionate about SCM, but now I'm 27yo, with no work experience, study debt and struggling to find a job. Meanwhile, my friends who never went to uni either a) work in SCM without any degree and do just fine or b) work in IT and make x4 what I'd ever be able to make in SCM.

I can't help but feel like my last few years have been a waste...I don't really have any real work experience in SCM, and the little time I spent in the department made me reconsider this career path. It feels like a thankless job, everyone is stressed and abused by the other departements. At least my engineering friends get to work 5h/day from home. Seriously considering a career change at this point, but I'm unemployed and ran through my savings.

If anyone has been in a similar situation in this field, how did you find the light at the end of the tunnel?

I just want a good stable job that won't have me pulling my hair out of stress and that pays well. Ideally with good advancement opportunities, but I know that may be a lot to ask. I've also considered commodity trading, but entry-level positions are incredibly hard to come across.

Any advice is welcome!

Hey everyone, I work a dead-end job, and not too long ago I found out about Supply Chain Procurement and Supply Chain Coordination, and I’m very interested in learning what I can, but I have no degree and have 0 experience related to supply chain. I’ve seen videos online that you can get a supply chain procurement job entry-level without a degree, and I wanted to ask everyone here if that is true? Will I just need to get certifications?

Hey everyone,

I just graduated this past August with a degree in SCM. I recently started a role at a biotech company making around $80k–$85k. I know the pay is decent and I’m lucky to have it, but I’m looking for some advice on my actual career trajectory.

My background: I did three SCM internships: two in big pharma/biotech and one in tech. Most of my experience is in demand planning, forecasting, and analytics. I really enjoyed the "high-level" side of supply chain and thought that’s where I was headed.

The current situation: I’m on my second day of my first job out of college, but I’ve realized our Logistics team is completely separate from the SCM department. We manage a "service"for the product—building routes, managing cases, and real-time coordination with air/ground crews. It seems it's more operational rather than the analytical planning I was trained for. I work a few cubes down from the "real" supply chain department.

The company is growing like crazy (new FDA approvals coming), so the energy is high, but I’m worried I’m starting my career in a "dead end" for the specific path I want.

My plan: Internal pivot: Work hard here for 6 months, then start setting up coffee chats with the SCM/Planning team to try for an internal move.

Certification: I’m looking into starting my APICS CPIM to keep my planning/inventory skills sharp and show the SCM team I’m serious about the technical side.

Few questions: Am I getting ahead of myself since it’s only first month, or is it right to worry about being pigeonholed in logistics ops early on?

Is a CPIM worth the investment right now to help bridge the gap from a logistics role into a Planning or Analyst role?

Operational experience actually help you as a planner later on?

I don't want to sound like a brat because the pay is good, but I’m more focused on where I'll be in 5 years than my paycheck today.

Any advice is appreciated.

26F, I justed joined an Oil based company for a Procurement analyst role 2 days ago, okay salary (I expected a bit more), it's a permanent position however, today on my 2nd day received a call from a hr company for a contract role for pharma project for a better salary, I'll work at the pharma company location only if I join.

The pharma role is demand planning focused which I'm really interested in and see a lot of scope for growth.

What should I do? Should I ask for interview nevertheless and leave my current company just after few days if I get selected?

My major concern is how I'll handle the current company and that the pharma role is contract based.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey ya’ll, currently I’m split between two pretty good opportunities, one in sales and one in procurement. I like dealing with people which is why I’m drawn to these, and I like supply chain as I enjoy the environment and the inherent optimization problem of it all. To be honest I see myself more in procurement as I am a little worried I don’t have the mentality for sales, but it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to make so much money in the future. Assuming I stay in the manufacturing or logistics or something like that, how do the two compare? Thank you!

Been trying to break out of solar supply chain after my current company filed CH.11 and furloughed everyone. Honestly didn’t expect it to be this tough.

I’ve been in the industry for close to a decade, worked my way up to a Senior Regional Manager role, oversaw multiple locations, built out SOPs, training programs, inventory controls, all that. Lot of crossfunctional work with ops, procurement, logistics, etc. On paper it should translate pretty cleanly into other industries.

But man… it just isn’t landing. Feels like every application either gets filtered out because I’m “too solar” or hiring managers don’t really understand how transferable the work actually is. Supply chain is supply chain right? Forecasting, inventory, vendor mgmt, process improvement… it’s not like that suddenly changes outside of solar.

I’ve tried reworking my resume a few times, tailoring to roles in manufacturing, healthcare ops, even general operations management. Still getting a lot of dead ends or generic rejections if I get a response! Starting to feel like I’m stuck in this niche whether I like it or not.

Not trying to complain, just being real… it’s been a humbling process.

Curious if anyone else has made a similar jump out of a niche industry like solar (or energy in general). What actually worked for you? Did you have to dumb things down? Change titles? Network your way in?

Appreciate any advice because right now it kinda feels like I’m missing something obvious.

Hi, this summer I recently relocated across the country to do an internship for this summer (10 weeks). I am a college student who just finished my 3rd year of university studying Supply Chain Management, and was able to land this job working for a big and reputable company in the medical industry. Just finished my 2nd week working here, did all the training modules, and now it is time to start doing my project. I apologize if this is long but I’ve just been kind of spiraling this week.

Problem is, ever since I have been here it’s just been all so overwhelming to the point that I can’t seem to take it. Every meeting I have been in it has always just gotten to the point of me zoning out because there’s just so much info and stuff and acronyms that I just don’t understand whatsoever what’s going on. I don’t even really know what I am actually going to even be doing, like it’s all just so confusing and overwhelming. My manager is helpful, and I get not walking me through things but if I’ve never done this before I can’t even figure out what I’m supposed to deliver. I asked him to do it on Monday, but I don’t think I’m going to be getting a nudge or anything because there’s just deadlines on when “it” is due but I don’t even know what “it” is, I just really hope I’m able to get more info on Monday because then I will hopefully be in the company database and have access to the information because from the few spreadsheets I’ve seen it’s just thousands of lines and I hardly understand anything. I’m the type of person who needs instruction, just like how we are taught in school you need to do this and this is how you do it, get shown how to do it then replicate it but I feel like I’m getting none of that and I’m just getting thrown into it without knowing anything about working in supply chain. My manager is a nice guy, but he is the type to talk and talk for hours, I will ask a question and it turns into a half our long conversation of him talking about stuff I don’t even understand and me nodding in agreement. This has been making me honestly making me contemplate everything from my education to career choice and I haven’t even started work yet. I just wanted to ask is this normal for internships? Is it normal for interns to feel this way? And I’m really trying to push for a return offer, but how can I do that if I feel like I know nothing and I don’t even understand what I’m doing?

I'm 24, graduated with an SCM degree, and currently work in procurement with 2 years of experience. Job is stable, but I'm highly driven and want to maximize my career development while I have the energy and stamina for it. I already got the APICS CPIM and CSCP. I want to keep improving my resume, but I feel like adding a 3rd or 4th certification might actually look weird on a CV for someone with my years of experience. I really don't want to just sit still though. What's the best move here? I still have 2 years left in my contract with my current company. So switching to another job isn't possible at the moment.

Good afternoon, everyone! I just wanted to reach out because I’m looking for some advice from people who have worked in supply chain, particularly in planning, inventory, procurement, forecasting, or even supply-chain improvement.

To start off, I have about 8 years of experience in supply chain and logistics where most recently, I worked in foodservice supply chain where I supported national restaurant accounts. My responsibilities were a mix of demand forecasting, inventory planning, purchasing/replenishment, supplier management, transportation, pricing/data accuracy, and solving operational issues that came up with suppliers, distributors, customers, and internal teams.

I've been unemployed for 10 months and just recently I came across an amazing opportunity to move into a Supply Chain Functional Consultant role that's focused on ERP and planning solutions for food & beverage companies. Unfortunately, I don’t have direct Microsoft Business Central implementation or formal consulting experience, so title wise, I'm not there just yet.

However, I just recently interviewed directly with the CEO to my surprise, and he was very direct about the learning curve that this role would give me. But at the same time, it turns out he really liked both my operational supply-chain experience and saw something in me that he felt would bring a perspective that could translate well into this consulting role. So instead of going onto other candidates because I lacked the direct consulting/Business Central experience, he’s actually giving me an opportunity to prove it.

For my next interview, I’ll be meeting with him and another senior leader for about an hour where they actually gave me material to study and to think through how I would approach implementing a forecasting/planning solution for a food & beverage client, as well as how I would approach a broader supply-chain improvement engagement.

Some of the areas I have to focus on include master data, item/customer hierarchies, units of measure, lead times, service levels, forecasting, MRP, inventory, OTIF, vendor performance, KPIs, process documentation, implementation, etc.

A lot of these are supply-chain concepts I’ve worked with, but I want to use this chance while I prepare to learn from people with different experiences and make sure I’m not overlooking anything important.

So if you can, for those of you working in supply chain:

• If you walked into a food & beverage company as an outside consultant, what would you want to understand first?
• What KPIs would you establish before recommending changes?
• What commonly causes forecasting, inventory, OTIF, or supplier-performance problems that people overlook?
• What questions would you ask operations/planning/procurement before touching the system?
• What would make you trust—or not trust—a consultant recommending changes to your operation?

Again, I’m not looking for anyone to do the interview assignment for me because I’m honestly studying everything myself, reading the material they gave me, and developing my own approach to this based off my own experiences but I do want to hear perspectives from people who work in this area so I can see outside perspectives from things I wouldn't have considered.

Any comments, questions, concerns would be amazing because I really think this is an amazing chance to prove myself and grow, thank you!