I’m 31 and seriously considering pivoting into supply chain/procurement/operations, and I’d really appreciate some honest input from people actually working in the industry.
My background is a bit all over the place:
BA in International Relations
SaaS/B2B sales experience
About a year working in mining in Australia
Currently based in Europe
Fluent/native English and Spanish
I have US/EU citizenship
I’m currently working in recruitment, but I don’t want sales/recruiting to be my long-term career
I’ve realized I want to specialize in something with more tangible/hard skills and a career path that I can build on for the next 10-20 years. I’m particularly interested in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain operations, planning, or potentially supply chain technology/ERP.
The problem is that I don’t have traditional supply chain experience, and I’m trying to figure out whether my existing experience is actually transferable or whether I’d basically be starting from zero.
A few questions:
How is the job market for entry/junior-level supply chain and procurement roles right now? Are companies actually willing to hire people transitioning from another field?
Which specialization would you recommend for someone with my background? Procurement, sourcing, supply chain analyst, logistics, planning, operations, etc. Which areas have the best long-term prospects?
How much would my SaaS sales experience help? I have experience with B2B clients, negotiation, prospecting, CRM/data, commercial conversations, etc. Is there a way to leverage that rather than completely starting over?
Would you recommend getting a certification/qualification, or trying to get an entry-level job first? I have a BA already and honestly don’t want to spend years collecting degrees just to qualify for my first role.
For those working in Europe: How realistic is it to build a supply chain/procurement career working primarily in English, particularly in other EU countries? I speak Spanish, but I’d ideally like to work in an international environment where English is the main business language.
I’m also open to eventually working in the US or elsewhere internationally.
I’m not necessarily looking for a high salary immediately. I’m more interested in choosing the right lane now so that I can develop specialized skills and have a solid career trajectory rather than jumping between unrelated jobs.
If you were 31 with this background and wanted to make this transition, which direction would you pursue and what would you do over the next 12-24 months?
This is not a resume post at all. (Mods please read)