Supply Chain Manager

For me, it is a lot of fun to take a bunch of numbers, crunch them, and get the results that ultimately make an impact on our business. Sometimes in supply chain management, it can take one to two years of planning for the results to show up. We're seeing that right now: two years ago we changed a lot of process systems in our structure, what people did what, etc. All those things were happening at once and it was really chaotic and uncomfortable to go through, but now we're really seeing the fruits of that labor. It's fun to see the results and see things turn out like you expected.

This is a commonly asked interview question designed to break the ice. A strong, succinct answer will quickly gain the interviewer's attention and separate you from other candidates who may be tempted to divulge their life story. Give a brief, concise description of who you are and your key qualifications, strengths and skills. Tailoring your answer to the role offered by declaring the strongest benefit that you offer an employer will leave the interviewer compelled to know more.

The interviewer wants to know if you are a high-achiever and ascertain how your accomplishments will be beneficial to them. Select one or two recent accomplishments that are directly related to the job offered. Identify the situations, the actions you took, skills you used and the positive outcomes, quantifying the benefits where possible. Show how you can bring what you learned to the new role.

☛ Tell me about a successful team project that you have been involved in. What was your role and what made it a success?

☛ What do you enjoy about this industry?

☛ Give me an example of when your work was criticized.

☛ Give me an example of when you haven't gotten along with co-workers or bosses. What did you do?

☛ Do you prefer to work alone or in a group? Why?

☛ What are you looking for in a company?

☛ How do you measure your own performance?

☛ What kind of pressures have you encountered at work?

☛ Are you a self-starter? Give me examples to demonstrate this.

☛ What can you bring to this organization?

The interviewer is trying to gauge your self-awareness. We all have weaknesses, so it's best not to say you don't have any. Avoid using the word 'weakness' and instead talk about an 'area for improvement' that is not vital for the job, or specify a 'challenge' that you are working to overcome. Demonstrating a willingness to develop yourself and face challenges turns the answer into a positive.

I don't use a lot of machinery, but I use the computer a lot. I use Microsoft Access and Excel all the time. As we get bigger, we're using SQL or Oracle databases, where we're writing queries to extract the data we want to work with in Excel or Access. I write a lot of queries to access the database, and then I need the skills to obtain and analyze data. Statistical software, like Minitab, is also helpful for this type of job.

The interviewer wants to know what you are particularly good at and how this would fit into the role. Choose a few of your key strengths that are required for the role and give examples of how you have demonstrated them successfully in the past. Strengths could include the ability to learn quickly, composure under pressure, ability to multi-task, team focus or your ability to work autonomously.

The interviewer wants to see that you have composure, problem solving skills and can stay focused in difficult conditions. Give an example of a time when you were faced with a stressful situation (not caused by you) and how you handled it with poise. Describe the context, how you approached the situation, the actions you took and the positive outcome. Demonstrate how you remained calm, in control and got the job done.

In college, I studied biology and finance, because I was interested in biology (although not medical school), and I thought that the finance degree would help me find a job. I was interested in the health-care industry, so I customized my degree in biology and finance to incorporate things like statistics and general analysis. It was a good lead into supply chain analysis, so it suited me for this position. I've also just started some supply chain management training through GGL, which is a national organization for inventory control and management.

The interviewer is trying to gauge your enthusiasm for the role as well as your level of knowledge about the company. Give specific examples of things that attracted you to the company and elaborate on your strengths, achievements and skills and how they match the position description, making you the right fit.

Supply chain analysis is a concept that came around in the 1980s and many people still don't know what it is. In the end, it's an analyst position where we're looking at data and making recommendations to management.

Obviously, technical proficiency is step one, but after that it's important to have interpersonal/people skills. You're constantly communicating and collaborating with people, trying to solve problems together, communicating your concerns or ideas, and approaching people and situations in a way they can understand. You need to be able to relay information in non-technical terms, in the way people can understand it and take actions needed. Oftentimes, there are problems that arise that a group needs to solve and we need to work with each other and communicate the needs of each area to find a solution that's good for the company.

This should be straightforward. Reflect positively on your current employer but state how you are looking for more challenge, responsibility, experience and a change of environment. Explain how your current role can no longer provide you with these things, but how you believe the role offered presents an opportunity for growth that will make full use of your strengths and potential.

GGL is an open environment that fosters a lot of growth. I get to take on projects that I'm really interested in, like the sales and operations planning project. I was interested in the finance side of things, so I was able to start and lead an initiative on that side of things that benefits the company. I like the nerdy stuff, like running numbers and doing analytics, making spreadsheets and models. I love being able to make a recommendation and eventually see the results - all from a numbers analysis that hadn't previously being done.

A sense of purpose is an attractive feature in an applicant, so this question is designed to probe your ambition and the extent of your career planning. Your commitment is also under question, but avoid blankly stating, "I want to be with your company." Instead, describe how your goal is to continue to grow, learn, add value and take on new responsibilities in the future that build on the role for which you are applying.