1⟩ Can you tell us what is your leadership style?
Does the candidate have leadership qualities? Can they articulate this?
Purchasing Agent
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“Purchasing Agent Frequently Asked Questions in various Purchasing Agent job interviews by interviewer. The set of questions are here to ensures that you offer a perfect answer posed to you. So get preparation for your new job interview”
40 Purchasing Agent Questions And Answers
2⟩ Tell us what have been the most significant achievements in your procurement career?
The processes or steps they go through is fundamental, and how they measure their success on the job. A clear response to this useful statement ensures you are dealing with an expert in the commodity/category.
3⟩ Tell us what are your targets and goals if you are hired?
In this procurement interview question, the hiring manager wants to learn about your ambition as a procurement professional or life in general. For me, this is one of the trickier questions and there is no easy answer.
4⟩ Tell us how would you define incoterm using some leading examples?
Amongst the Procurement Interview Questions, this is one question every professional needs to nail.
5⟩ Explain me what motivates you to do your best on the job as Purchasing Agent?
I was motivated by the challenge of monitoring the performance of selected suppliers, highlighting areas of concern and recommending alternatives where necessary. This gives me the sense of achievement towards the company goals and to myself too.
6⟩ Tell us do you have any experience building a procurement team from the ground up?
Is the candidate a change agent? How do they work with high levels of autonomy? Sometimes, it’s important that a candidate can create processes to drive the strategic vision of the organization
7⟩ Can I ask about CIPS and its importance or any Procurement related qualification?
In my view, asking the candidate if he/she has ever heard about CIPS and its importance or any Procurement related qualification is also essential.
8⟩ Tell us what are your biggest Procure to Pay challenges?
Procure to Pay is an important aspect of the procurement function. The challenge for each procurement professional is to set-up the most streamline process.
9⟩ Please explain how JIT Purchasing is different from Traditional Purchasing?
This is the question I am always asking when hiring buyers. And in most cases, people struggle to explain or they start waffling! There is a difference and you can learn the difference by reading JIT
10⟩ Tell us what was your best/favorite negotiation; and why was it your best?
The responses you get will tell you more about the candidate’s definition of value. With this Procurement Interview Question, you get a better view of his/her interpretation of values, style and interpersonal skills. There are a host of information available on CIPS regarding negotiation or you can find this forbs article useful to get you thinking outside the box!
11⟩ Tell me what are the top three accomplishments in your career?
This shines a light on what a candidate considers to be an accomplishment and what aspects of the job they feel are most important. Is it cost-savings? Is it the fact they connected their company to the right supplier?
12⟩ Can you ask them about their Market intelligence and strategy?
This Procurement Interview Questions aims to gauge the depth and breadth of information they have coming in. A Buyer and Or Commodity Manager is only as right as the information they use to lead financial decisions they are tasked to make. If they just react to demand from a system database and supplier feedback, you are interviewing a Procurement coordinator not a Buyer.
13⟩ Tell us what approach and definition do you apply to purchasing?
Understanding the concept of buying and the processes involved while buying any product or service is essential. With this Procurement Interview Questions, you should be able to know the difference between procurement and purchasing with the provided response. Part of your response should include how suppliers are compared and awarded, specifications, which internal customers are involved, etc. With this, you also get to know if internal stakeholder’s negotiations are allowed.
14⟩ Can you give me an example where you have to lead the cost reduction programme?
Since I am a supply chain guy and my focus is primarily on KPI’s like Inventory, On-Time Delivery, lead time reduction and so on and so forth, which, at times, I find it contradictory to the procurement guys main aim of cost reduction.
For example, I have gone into battle with some commodity managers who have agreed a very high batch size of machined parts to get the best price, which throws my Just in Time, lean means supply chain design out of the window! So, we need to find the right balance between cost reduction and best supply chain design to meet customer service targets and operational goals.
15⟩ Please explain an experience, buying or selling, you successfully coordinated its activities?
Describing a successful experience in which he/she was a significant partaker in coordinating the activities speaks volume of his/her style and personal touch. Also, this Procurement Interview Question, would mainly tell if he/she has the required experience level you are looking for in a procurement professional.
16⟩ Tell us what percentage of your current role is strategic versus tactical?
This reveals how often candidates “roll up their sleeves,” as MRA said. It can also reveal their analytical skills.
17⟩ Explain me how you’ve won over a difficult stakeholder?
This illustrates how a candidate will go about building relationships and how he approaches dealing with resistance.
18⟩ Tell me why do you want to work here as Purchasing Agent?
Also try to look for news articles about the company, their recent successes and challenges, any information in the press about the developments of the industry they work in. Come up with concrete reasons which show your interest and enthusiasm for why you want to work for the company,
19⟩ What are your strengths as Purchasing Agent?
Over my three years experience I have accumulated extensive knowledge of procurement policies, practices and procedures and also knowledge in tendering procedures and systems. In my previous job I successfully prepared suitable contracts in close consultation with the user departments and I also obtained competitive bids and quality discounts which reduced the company losses by 50%
20⟩ Please tell me how do you manage your relationship with your supplier?
If you are seasoned procurement professional it is very likely that you would know the answer of this question and may talk for hours, if there is no time limit! However, don’t take this question lightly. Here, the interviewer is trying to understand your ethos and technical knowledge of how you would manager supplier relationship.
