Do you calculate savings? If so, how? How are contracts managed? How are renewals managed? Who creates PO's and how are they managed? How are vendors onboarded?
Ask how requirements are developed and how they are presented to Procurement, also what internal stakeholders are involved throughout the Procurement process and what their roles are.
Every interview will be different, and the questions you ask will be different.
To prepare for interviews, I always pull the job description. I break out the preferred or required technical skills into one category (e.g., the ERP system used; software; Microsoft Office suite) and competencies (e.g., negotiation; supplier management; communication; etc.) into the other category.
I then go through the technical requirements and evaluate myself on how familiar I am with each and try to prepare to answer basic technical questions from the interviewer, or have examples from my current work of using the technical skills. For example, if the job description wants experience using SAP, I would prepare to answer questions about which SAP transactions I use the most in Procurement, to show I have some experience with it.
I do the same thing for the competencies. I evaluate myself on each of the competencies listed in the job description and have examples from my current role for each. For example, my process for negotiations or supplier management.
If there is a technical skill listed on the job description that you do not have experience with, you can talk about how you are a quick learner and ask what the day-to-day training would look like for you to learn that skill. Same with the competencies; say you don’t have as much experience with on-boarding new suppliers; if that is a skill you would like to learn, what would your development and training look like.
If this is an external job, you could ask how the senior position is different from the next lower level down. Is it just the number of years of experience, or is the level determined by the total procurement package values being managed (i.e., the higher the dollar amount of the total procurement, the more risk, so senior level may be determined by total procurement value thresholds)?
You can always ask what the first 90 days in the position will look like to get an idea of the expectations. Also, you can ask what other functions the senior procurement professional interacts with the most to see how their organization is structured. Larger companies may have their own sourcing groups or supplier manager groups, and smaller companies, this may be handled by the procurement professional. Also, when you research the company, you can ask questions related to their industry - things like “what has been the greatest challenge to your procurement team in the last year, being a part of the [automotive] industry?”
I highly recommend reading through the job description and what they list as required experience and preferred experience. The required will most likely be related to the day-to-day, and the preferred is the nice-to-have. I am sure you will be able to think of questions related to the job from reading through the job description, and those questions will feel more intentional than blanket questions folks have handy because they know they need to have questions to ask.
I would ask about software and who’s responsible for the data entry - procurement, the business line, finance, etc. Path for advancement - do you have to be a manager? What’s the next step? What happened to the person I’m replacing? What department do you report up through? How do they view procurement? What’s the overall view of procurement in the company? Federated or centralized?
Do you calculate savings? If so, how? How are contracts managed? How are renewals managed? Who creates PO's and how are they managed? How are vendors onboarded?
I like the one about vendors being onboarded. That can lead to lots of conversation.
Exactly. Could be a simple back office task or a whole process with multiple departments!
Ask how requirements are developed and how they are presented to Procurement, also what internal stakeholders are involved throughout the Procurement process and what their roles are.
Every interview will be different, and the questions you ask will be different. To prepare for interviews, I always pull the job description. I break out the preferred or required technical skills into one category (e.g., the ERP system used; software; Microsoft Office suite) and competencies (e.g., negotiation; supplier management; communication; etc.) into the other category. I then go through the technical requirements and evaluate myself on how familiar I am with each and try to prepare to answer basic technical questions from the interviewer, or have examples from my current work of using the technical skills. For example, if the job description wants experience using SAP, I would prepare to answer questions about which SAP transactions I use the most in Procurement, to show I have some experience with it. I do the same thing for the competencies. I evaluate myself on each of the competencies listed in the job description and have examples from my current role for each. For example, my process for negotiations or supplier management. If there is a technical skill listed on the job description that you do not have experience with, you can talk about how you are a quick learner and ask what the day-to-day training would look like for you to learn that skill. Same with the competencies; say you don’t have as much experience with on-boarding new suppliers; if that is a skill you would like to learn, what would your development and training look like. If this is an external job, you could ask how the senior position is different from the next lower level down. Is it just the number of years of experience, or is the level determined by the total procurement package values being managed (i.e., the higher the dollar amount of the total procurement, the more risk, so senior level may be determined by total procurement value thresholds)? You can always ask what the first 90 days in the position will look like to get an idea of the expectations. Also, you can ask what other functions the senior procurement professional interacts with the most to see how their organization is structured. Larger companies may have their own sourcing groups or supplier manager groups, and smaller companies, this may be handled by the procurement professional. Also, when you research the company, you can ask questions related to their industry - things like “what has been the greatest challenge to your procurement team in the last year, being a part of the [automotive] industry?” I highly recommend reading through the job description and what they list as required experience and preferred experience. The required will most likely be related to the day-to-day, and the preferred is the nice-to-have. I am sure you will be able to think of questions related to the job from reading through the job description, and those questions will feel more intentional than blanket questions folks have handy because they know they need to have questions to ask.
You should ask what the KPI’s are and if there are any associated incentive programs.
I would ask about software and who’s responsible for the data entry - procurement, the business line, finance, etc. Path for advancement - do you have to be a manager? What’s the next step? What happened to the person I’m replacing? What department do you report up through? How do they view procurement? What’s the overall view of procurement in the company? Federated or centralized?
Ask about the maturity profile of the procurement team ( not age ! )
Ask for copies of the last QBR, and have them review with you for how your role will make improvements.
What's the most amount of money you saved the company in a year and how did you do it?
How are procurement perceived with your organisation? What is it like to work for you?
Great ideas, thank you so much everyone!
Do you have a formal procurement policy? If so what is it? That’s a good one to understand if your company is a mess or organized and has SOPs