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Thinking about starting a career in Commerce?

As demand for candidates with more specific commercial skills grew we launched a new division and recruited a driven, successful consultant with a wealth of knowledge in the field of Commerce.

Our Commerce candidates come from a variety of industry sectors and their skills include buying, contracts management, demand planning, merchandising, planning, project management, supply chain management and a range of eCommerce functions.

Most of our Commerce candidates are experienced in their field and Commerce roles range from 1-2 years’ experience to Director level appointments. However, if you are thinking about a change in career or you’re just interested in finding out a bit more then read on. We’ve put together some key skills which may help you consider a career change:

Logistics and Supply Chain:

• Goods will need to be procured, stored and distributed; therefore, efficient management skills are needed.
• Time-management skills are essential as customer demand is the priority.
• Specific degrees in Logistics or Supply Chain are beneficial.
• Having the ability to succeed under pressure whilst remaining calm is useful.
• Data driven candidates who are stimulated by solving problems are sought after.

Procurement:

• You’ll need to be good with numbers, it’s important your finance abilities are a key priority.
• Strong forecasting and planning skills, with a keen eye on what the business wants and more importantly, needs.
• Negotiation skills are an excellent attribute to have across Commerce but especially Procurement as you’ll need to negotiate the best prices for the business.
• A degree in a related field such as business or economics will put you in good stead but as you don’t need a licence to practice a degree isn’t essential.

Facilities:

• It is essential you have a varied skillset as the role is demanding you will need to work well under-pressure, be hard-working and understand the importance of getting things right.
• You will need an active interest in the sector you wish to work in as you’ll be fundamental to the businesses achievements.
• If this is a sector you wish to explore it’d be great if you have training/management skills as you will need to develop the employees you work with.
• You’ll be a natural problem-solver and be able to make fast decisions.

Contracts

• You’ll need to have great communication skills and be an excellent team player.
• It would be a good idea to ensure you at least have the basic skills on Excel.
• Due to the nature of Contracts roles you’ll need to ensure you provide excellent customer service skills, so a background in customer service would be good.
• As this can be quite a pressurised role, you’ll need to be efficient and able to perform under pressure.

A lot of the skills involved to begin a career in Commerce are similar for each sector.

If you’d like to discuss this further then please call us on 01452 412 999 or email hello@gbsolutions.co.uk Lucy has a vast amount of knowledge and she works with some of the biggest Commerce businesses in the County. Lucy is happy to help, and she can advise you on your CV style, which jobs you would be good for and she can spec you out to her clients if she feels you’d be a good fit.

Take a look at our latest Commerce roles here

We wish you the best of luck with your job hunting and hopefully we will be able to help you.