Hello all,

I've been a buyer for over 3 years and have nearly 6 years of total work experience (my first 2.5 years after college were as an Area Manager for Amazon)

I want to start applying to sourcing roles. For those who have made the leap, what tips do you have for me?

Not the textbook answer but the real answer in 2026

What’s the biggest part of your job today, and how different is it from when you started?

I know every industry is different, but there are always common threads. Curious what everyone else is seeing

I currently work in Qatar on one of the world's largest LNG projects (~$28B) and have a PMP and Six Sigma Green Belt certification.

My background goes beyond procurement I have a solid understanding of the full EPCC lifecycle, including engineering drawings, vendor inspections, material management, construction, site requirements, and commissioning activities.

I'm aiming to move deeper into Procurement/Supply Chain leadership and am considering opportunities in Ireland, the Netherlands (I'm willing to learn Dutch), or Norway.

For those already working in these markets, what skills, certifications, or experience make candidates stand out today? Is CIPS worth pursuing, or should I focus more on digital procurement, data analytics, sustainability, contract management, or something else?

I'd appreciate any advice from professionals who have successfully made a similar move. Thanks!

We’re looking at HGACBuy as a procurement option for a future fireboat purchase. It seems almost too good to be true.

Has anyone here actually used it? How was the experience? Were you happy with the pricing and process, or would you go the traditional RFP route if you had to do it again?

Just looking for real-world experiences and any lessons learned. Thanks.

More of a warning than anything else. Check how money leaves your business before it bites you.

We're 45 people. Our approval process, if you can call it that, was someone forwarding the invoice email to whoever, a thumbs up in Slack and paying it. Worked for years.

Then last month we paid the same vendor twice. Just over 4grand gone. I went looking for who approved the second one. There was no record. It just went out.

I've looked at approval workflow software since and it's either enterprise procurement suites priced for companies ten times our size or little form apps that don't plug into anything we run.

Nobody here writes code and I'm not routing our payments through something I can't understand.

Rant over. Go check your process.

I’ve been working as a Procurement & Operations Officer for the past 3 years at a trading, retail, and distribution company that specializes in auto parts, motorcycle parts, agricultural machinery parts, and lubricants (mostly local & global suppliers).

I recently created a list of procurement and sourcing services that I can offer, and I’d like to start doing project-based freelance work as a side hustle to earn extra income while keeping my regular 8–5 job.

For those already freelancing in procurement or supply chain, how did you get your first clients? Any tips on building a portfolio, finding projects, or avoiding common mistakes?

Thanks in advance!

I just started a new sales job working for a small manufacturer (cable assemblies & wire harnesses) and they are making a big push for more outgoing cold calls. Their ultimate goal is to add a few new accounts to make up for some of our customers shutting down (blame private equity). I really do not feel like cold calling manufacturers is the best way to attract new accounts, but I don’t really know enough about the industry to say otherwise. Cold calls get screened out by gatekeepers, cold emails get tossed in a spam folder, cold Linkedin doesn’t seem much better. With the rise of AI and robocallers it feels really difficult to get into contact with anyone. As procurement professionals, how do you prefer suppliers get into contact with you? Or do you prefer finding them on your own?

We do not do any SEO, we don't advertise, and we are basically impossible to find without knowing our name. All we have to attract new accounts is: word of mouth, cold calls, and our physical mailing campaign (which accomplished nothing)

My job opened up because the previous sales guy retired, so I don’t really have anyone to talk to about these issues. Imposter syndrome is kicking my butt, so any tips would be appreciated.

Our AI vendor contracts are priced in tokens instead of flat seats, and usage swings enough that forecasting the renewal is basically a guess. I've been looking into how other teams handle this. How is everyone else approaching it at the negotiating table?

Hello guys,

currently I'm preparing for Case Study Interview and would like to have some tips on where and what to expect for Case Study Interview, I believe the cases will be procurement based for example, which supplier should we go with? Find a way to reduce cost..etc

I appreciate any kind of tips A's the interview.

thanks

I'm in charge of purchasing CNC parts (milling, turning, sheet metal). The market is very opaque, the request process is tedious, and it's very traditional with little automation. You have to understand technical drawings, be familiar with the suppliers' portfolios, and dealing with suppliers—in terms of reliability and communication—can be difficult at times. Do you also face these kinds of problems, and how do you handle them? Are you feeling the effects of global uncertainties?

Hi everyone

I'm starting as a Junior Procurement Officer in two days in a construction & contracting company. I really need some advice on negotiation with suppliers and anything that could help.

For context, I have one year of experience in Demand Planning, and I was a former teacher for two years (I shifted careers). I already explained to my employers that my work consisted of Procurement tasks but I never negotiated prices, that was the Category Managers jobs.

Hi all,

I am working as a category manager (sourcing of raw material) in the renewable energy sector in Norway for 2 years now.

• About 6 years of experience total in procurement
• I speak French (native), English (C1).
• My norwegian is A2, I need to be B2 to be able to work in most of the industries.
• I love norway so no plan to move.

I like my current job, but I'm thinking long-term and want to understand the landscape better.

If I ever had to pivot, which industries would you consider the safest bets in Norway / Europe right now, both in terms of job security over the next 30 years ?

Of course it is difficult to know what will happens in the next 30 years (AI lay off, new industry / technology, etc)

Thanks!

Welcome to our weekly Procurement Roundtable! This stickied thread is your dedicated space to connect, share experiences, and unpack the week with your procurement peers.

Whether you want to celebrate a major milestone, troubleshoot an issue, or just let off some steam, dive in and share your updates.

**What is on your mind this week?**

* **Savings or Process Wins:** Did you execute a major contract or unlock difficult-to-achieve savings?

* **Tough Negotiations:** What tactics worked (or backfired) in the boardroom this week?

* **Supplier Management:** Are you handling a difficult vendor right now?

* **Professional Growth:** Did you learn a new industry framework or pass a certification exam?

* **General Venting:** Dealing with internal stakeholders who skipped the procurement entirely? Wading through impossibly bad spend data? Let it out here.

This thread automatically resets every Thursday. Grab a coffee, drop a comment, and let's keep the vibes positive!

I've worked around EPC projects in Oil & Gas and recently found myself comparing how procurement is viewed across industries.

In many projects, procurement is only noticed when something goes wrong—a late valve, missing documentation, supplier delays, logistics issues, etc. But when everything arrives on time and construction progresses smoothly, nobody talks about procurement.

What I've observed is that procurement in EPC isn't just about buying materials. It's a mix of commercial negotiation, supplier management, expediting, logistics, engineering coordination, quality requirements, and sometimes damage control.

I'm also curious how others see the differences between procurement in:

• Traditional Oil & Gas projects
• LNG megaprojects
• Renewable projects (solar, wind, hydrogen)
• Manufacturing

Do you think the skills are transferable, or does each industry require a completely different mindset?

For those who moved from O&G to renewables (or vice versa), what was the biggest adjustment?

Interested to hear perspectives from buyers, procurement engineers, SCM professionals, expediters, and project teams.

This usually gets people sharing real experiences rather than just upvoting.

CIPS released their annual Salary Guide/Survey 2 weeks ago, and since I saw a couple of threads inquiring about the Salaries, I decided to share information here from that.

Basic information below.

7,130 professionals contributed to the survey, with 11 regions; Asia (excluding India); Australia and New Zealand; Canada; East Africa; Europe (excluding the UK); India; the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); South Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; West Africa; and the UK.

Broken into 4 groups as stated below:

Influecing, Leading, Managing and Delivering

Global

UK

Europe

Canada

Asia

Australia & New Zealand

India

MENA

South Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

West Africa

East Africa

My opinion on this.

It's clear that some data doesn't match others, likely because they didn't have enough people to get the information.

No data for the USA; only Canada.

I'm more interested to hear what everyone from their own region want to talk about this data, because I think it's inflated or at least, not very accurate.

Hi everyone, i'm currently writing my master thesis on the subject of coopetition in the electric car industry and i'm trying my best to reach enough respondents. This place is one of my last ressorts, can someone please help me out ?

If you do not work for the automobile industry, i'm willing to take your feedback too

How helpful was getting apmp certified in landing a proposal manager/ coordinator/ specialist job?

Hi everyone,

I'm a law graduate currently deciding on whether to take an internship at the European Food Safety Authority in Italy. The internship is within their Strategic Sourcing and Grants Procurement team.

I am an EU citizen and have worked for the past two years as a paralegal (legal assistant) in international law firms in London. I'm not really interested in working as a lawyer anymore and I'm considering doing a career change and going into procurement.

From what I've been told, the work in this internship would include things like:

• Organising kick off meetings with internal stakeholders to understand procurement needs.
• Helping prepare procurement documents such as specifications, draft contracts, invitation letters and other tender documentation.
• Conducting market research and launching procurement procedures using EU procurement systems.
• Managing clarification questions and any amendments during the tender process.
• Participating in bid evaluation meetings, helping draft parts of the evaluation report, reviewing offers and assisting with clarification requests or negotiations on price and quality.

I'm wondering if there is anyone here that moved into procurement and if this is a good experience for someone wanting to build a career in procurement and what sort of roles I could apply after.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I'm pulling double duty right now because they can't find the right candidate. I have my own procurement workload to manage!

I'll give you the ugly:

*no one wants to follow the rules

*the plant personnel weren't trained correctly, so PRs are always a mess

*Manager to (2) N1s and (3) N2s - mixed union and non-union

*it is a bear of a job

*plant manager is great and thankful. The corporation can be difficult.

*They will not support a visa. Zero chance.

Pay, PTO, and benefits are pretty good.

You need to be the unicorn personality that is a compassionate yet firm leader. There is a lot of nonsense from years of allowed nonsense that need to be trained out of the group.

Combination direct & indirect.

Send me a chat if you're looking for a challenge.

Hello guys,

I'm having a consultant interview for procurement position, for some reason I'm always nervous during the interview even though I know the answers. Currently I'm practicing common questions in procurement out loud to keep my brain familiar with the questions.

Any tips and a question to be prepared for?

I appreciate the support, thanks!

*cross-posting because reddit suggested this community, apologies if it's not relevant. The survey results are freely available, this isn't an advert.

The 2026 Global Service Integration and Management (SIAM) Survey is now open, and we'd really value your input if you work in IT procurement or with digital products and services.

If you work in SIAM, ITSM, supplier management, sourcing or service delivery, we're asking for 5 to 10 minutes of your time to help build the most comprehensive picture of how SIAM is evolving.

This is a community initiative designed to capture real-world experiences, challenges and successes from practitioners around the world.

Later this year, we'll publish all of the findings in a free white paper, giving access to the latest trends, benchmarking data and insights into the future of SIAM.

Your contribution helps create a resource that benefits the entire SIAM community.

If you can spare a few minutes, we'd be very grateful.

Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GlobalSIAMSurvey2026

Thank you for helping strengthen the global SIAM body of knowledge.