When deciding to pursue a career in procurement, having a structured approach to career planning for procurement professionals can keep your career progression on track and give you a clear path to follow.
The plan doesn’t have to be a binding document and can be regularly updated to suit the changing profession and your personal progression. Whatever form your plan takes, it is a useful guide to have to help you keep focus and reach your career goals.
Splitting your plan into sections will help to make it clearer and more focused. We advise the following three sections form the basis of your plan and that you then adapt and expand on them as fits your own personal requirements.
Career Plan Section One: Assessing Your Overall Career Goal
The first step is essential in effective career planning for procurement professionals is to consider where you want to be. You don’t have to have your final career aim in mind right now; it may just be a milestone you want to reach in the next 5-10 years or even just an aim for the year ahead.
Setting an end goal for your plan is an important first step, as it will be the focus for all the steps you take in-between. It isn’t set in stone and can always be changed along the way, but it is important to be realistic as the goal will seem more achievable.
It is also important when assessing your overall goal that you consider why you have chosen it. Understanding what you want from your career and why is vital in the process of reaching your goal.
If your overall goal is a long-term one, it can be beneficial to set interim aims that will help to keep your plan on track and make your overall goal more achievable. For example, if the end goal is to be in X position in 5 years time, set yourself annual targets of where you need to be in order to keep your career progression on track for reaching the end goal.
Career Plan Section Two: Assessing Your Current Position In Your Career
Once you have an overall goal in mind, the next logical step is to consider where you currently stand in relation to your goal.
Based on your knowledge of your goal, you need to assess what stands between you and achieving it at present. If the goal is a position, what experience/qualifications are needed to get you closer to the role? If your goal is based around the gaining of experience or studying for a qualification, what steps need to be taken to get you started on the right path?
Based on your current position, you may decide to alter aspects of section one. For example, you may realise that achieving a qualification will take longer than expected, or that you are closer to gaining the role you are aiming for than expected and can reduce the time-frame to 2 years instead of 5.
Career Plan Section Three: Creating An Action Plan
Once you have decided on a career goal and have an idea of where you stand currently in relation to achieving it, the next step is to plan how you will achieve it.
You may already have a time frame in mind of when you think your career goal is achievable by, and your action plan should help you decide how to best use your time. You may find that the steps take less or more time than expected, and may want to adjust your time frame accordingly.
If your chosen overall career goal is a long term one and you have set smaller interim goals, use these to help you break-down the steps of the action plan into manageable chunks. For example, if your goal is to be in X position in 5 years, the position may require you to have a CIPS qualification and 2 years or more experience in Y position. Make your first goal to study for your CIPS qualification, and then the next actionable goal could be to research the requirements of a promotion to Y position to gain the needed experience.
Finally, Put It Into Action!
Career plans are a great way to help you visualise your chosen career path and the milestones you need to reach along the way to achieve the overall aim. It can be daunting when considering long term goals, as they seem so far away and unachievable from your current position.
However, career plans allow you to see the steps taken and time frames for reaching that goal, breaking the career progression down into manageable aims. If you would like any further procurement careers advice, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email, enquiries@oxfordpeg.com or call our friendly support team on (0)1865 515 255.