Transcript

Hi guys. So if I had to restart my supply chain career in 2026, these are the five things that I would do differently. First and foremost, I would learn the tools, especially excel. So in supply chain there are multiple tools that are used across um the supply chain functions and XL is one of the mostly used um platforms. It's used for analysis. It can be used for a whole bunch of different things and literally one of the first things they ask you in an interview is what is your Excel level or Excel skill? Another thing I would learn to do once I understand Excel is how to analyse data using Excel and Cisco Networking Academy does provide a free course. I would also learn how to understand how SAP works right? So on SAP Learning Hub it's completely free. You can just learn about SAP, the logistics part, the tap, I B P if you are in planning and so forth. It's a whole bunch of free courses. But if you do want to become certified, then that's um that's paid for. But YouTube has to be your best friend because most of the answers that you have regarding supply chain, you'll probably find the answers there. So become best friends with YouTube Research. No. 2 is build project and create a portfolio. So I think I did previously teach you guys how to do this. You go on to certain um platforms such as Coggle, you pull data, you clean it and you start answering business questions, right? You provide uh insights, you provide recommendations to solve these issues or for the company to take action using and you create a dashboard and this basically helps you to upskill yourself and when you add these portfolio onto your c v, then the recruiters also able to see your ability and your skill. No.3 is choose your supply chain lane. You need to be very specific as to where do you specialise right? Are you a planner? Are you in logistics? Are you in inventory? Are you in procurement? Which part of the supply chain do you actually lie in? So being a Jack of all trades and a master of nothing in supply chain could impact you in a very negative way. Okay. So uh, Google describes a Jack of all trades as a person who has many different skills and can do many different types of work but is not an expert in any single one right? And it's okay for you to be that if you are still a student or you're a graduate so you don't have much experience, you're in entry level but the minute you get to 5+ years experience working in supply chain, you need to start being a master in something. You need to be an expert in something. You need to be a specialist in something. And if we take a look at what a I says a I says that in a senior supply chain role companies almost always prioritise deep specialised expertise over a broad surface level skill sets when operations scale general generalists often struggle with the hyperspecific high stakes problems that senior leaders face right and then they explain why generalists fail to secure senior supply chain roles and then they go on to say that supply chain management is highly vulnerable to systematic risks, tights margins and complex compliance laws companies avoid generalist at senior level for three main reasons and then it goes on you guys can go on and do research but basically a company can only trust someone in a senior position who is an expert or um a specialist in a specific thing so you're an expert in inventory you're an expert in logistics we can trust you to run this department we can trust you to run this team we can trust you to make these decisions because you have in depth um knowledge about this you have analytical expertise you have what what but if you are just a Jack of all trades where you can do a little bit of this a little bit of that then it doesn't really help you being in a senior position or doesn't really help the company because then you cannot master a specific thing or a person cannot come to you for a deep complex issues where we can a company can trust you to solve That problem because you are a Jack of all trades and a master of nothing. So that can negatively impact you. So also now have a look at yourself, understand what your lane is. So if you are obviously new in the industry right? Like I said, you just got out of school, it's okay for you to be a logistics coordinator, then become a procurement um, administrator, then become a plan, a junior plan I think become a what what but it's okay cause you're still finding your feet and you're still trying to learn the different functions, learn the different departments, see what works for you, see what you enjoy. But it's also good to have experience in working in other functions because you work um with cross functional teams anyways in general and supply chain. So understanding how other functions work can help you in whatever position in supply chain you are in. But the minute you hit that 5 year Mark of working in supply chain, you have to understand which lane you are going into. You you yourself know that okay, I, I, I'm in logistics, I'm in inventory, I'm in this, I'm in that. Okay, that's very important. The next point is stop using a generic C v. So once you've found your lane, ensure that you update your C v and make your c v specific to the lane you are in. So if you are in procurement for example, make sure with Sivi Ako is appealing to the world of procurement. Make sure that you have keywords in there that show that will that will be picked up by the a t s right? In my supply chain career toolkit that I sell, I do have all of that information there in part 2 and part 3 I explain all of those things and just in as as an example in the keywords for procurement you'll see there's strategic sourcing, um, cost analysis, purchase orders, supplier management. Those are the keywords that the a t s system will be looking for someone who is an expert in procurement. And the minute you change your C V and make it appealing to the lane in which you want to go into then you'll start getting interviews for relevant jobs. You'll start getting um interviews for uh Procurement Manager for uh a buyer for Category Manager for what what because now you are aligned and you are specific right? And then the last point would be prepare for the interview and not just the application. And here I'm not talking about preparing for an interview only after you've received an interview invite. I'm talking about preparing for an interview as in prepare yourself to be confident when speaking in front of people when speaking in interviews when speaking in front of a large panel cause you could find yourself in a situation where your c v is amazing portrays you well 100% all is Well, but you struggle when it comes to interviews you struggle with confidence, you struggle you don't know what to do right? And then you flop in interviews and then that's what blocks you from um going further into the recruitment stage or even getting that job so there's a lot of people on YouTube that teach you how to build your confidence in interviews so it's important for you if you're a person who is shy or a person who is not so strong in speaking in front of people or you get nervous when it comes to interviews it's important for you to just um take time for yourself and just listen to some of these um some of these videos on YouTube to just understand how can I better myself and just a quick piece of advice sometimes you'll get a call for an interview and then you'll panic cause you'll be like, oh my gosh, it's an interview I'm so scared they gonna ask me questions that I don't know how to answer I'm so nervous I don't know what to do it's okay but remember you, you are going to walk into that interview with confidence and the reason why you going to walk into that interview with confidence is because some of the positions you've applied for, it's not just you who applied there's over 100 people who have applied and some of these screenshots are from I went on LinkedIn and I found Positions and I and I I was just checking here on top how many people could have applied could have been 800 people could have been 200 could have been 1,000 for all we know we don't know but you were competing against multiple people but out of all those people, the company called they picked up their phone and they called you because they went through your C v and they already saw value in you through your C v so when you walk into that interview room, it's not an interrogation, it's a get to know me and you walk into that room already knowing or already having that confidence to say that the company already sees value in me enough to want to speak to me and ask their managers to take time from their busy schedules to get to know me so find comfort in that alright? Use that as your strength. Don't walk in with arrogance right? But just use it as a form or some level of confidence to say okay, since they called me, no, I'm okay. They see value in me. You know, there's multiple people who have applied I was called I they scheduled an interview for me and the managers are making time to see me. They see your value already so don't panic and then just like I say go on to YouTube use uh these platforms and these resources and just learn how to build confidence in interviews So that all can go well. And that's all for today, guys. I'll see y'all on Thursday for supply chain trivia. Bye.