I know there are some schools that provide majors in supply chain but never really gave it much thought. My school has a generalist business admin major with not even an elective class directly on supply chain so it's safe to say I'm basically clueless to this type of work.
I'm at the very beginning of interviews for a supply chain internship and after looking at various listings it does seem like there is a lot to know and someone can't simply start an internship with no studies/work exp beforehand and expect to knock it out of the park. Some questions I've had:
1. Can anyone give me a high level idea of what a supply chain intern would do? This company is a manufacturer that has its own retail locations. So they sell to different retail companies and have their own set of shops as well. Recruiter asked what I would do as an intern and I told them that I would be a part of a team that tried to get finished goods through distribution channels in the most cost effective manner. I kept it really general which is the best I had but would really like to get some help on gaining more info on it for an interview I have with the director coming up.
2. This internship is for "Supply Chain & Retail Operations" any straight talk on what that is? Retail operations seems like word jiujitsu for forklift driver or something. Its for a corp position so doubt its that bad but just want to make sure.
3. I ideally would like to work in a more traditional corp fin role so say FP&A but I wasn't sure where supply chain placed relative to that. What is the transferability into corp fin roles and exit opps for supply chain management? Is supply chain corp fin?
Thanks guys, I really appreciate any help on this.
Supply chain managers are actually integral in a company's efforts to reduce cost and deliver product in the most efficient manner. As an intern, you could be placed in a varity of role, including: planning distribution warehousing purchasing
Most programs would have their interns work on projects that look to reduce lead time or cost. There are plenty of great articles by HBR, but I would recommend the ZARA one. type in HBR ZARA on google and it should pop up
The articles that popped up is actually something that I was hoping for! Thanks for the lead fwg1.
Would you mind helping me with the other questions I had? Would love to hear about how people with supply chain experience is received and what opportunities there are for them.
yea sure..just pm me...as for your questions: 1) Cook at Apple used to work in their supply chain so that should give u a clue abt how highly valuable they are..usually it a junior level its v hard to break into..most places require experience and u cant get experience without working so its a catch 22..i know a few F500 firms do have SCM program or SCM as part of a rotation program 2) working in SCM gives u great insight into the meat and bones of a company/industry so once u get good at it u become highly sought after. Knew a guy at Halliburton, who was 28, and was heading up their Asiapac operation out of Singapore.
PS: there are certification that u can do to MK u stand out, most common is the APICS certification
Appreciate it ! Will pm you
Supply Chain actually covers a lot of diverse operations within a company. For example at my company the SCM team is responsible for short term revenue forecasting as well as normal supply chain functions. This is because in any given quarter what matters for revenue as much as sales is getting product through production and shipped to the customer.
They are paid on approximately the same scale as finance but arguably have a much more interesting role. SCM is one of the best places to be in a company IMO.
Another question added to the list:
What is the makeup of a SCM internship interview? Is there a technical portion as a part of the interview? Mainly behavioral? Lots of brain teasers or market sizing?
I know some purchasing departments can be responsible for their own hedging as well.
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