What does a "buyer" in the purchasing department of an industrial manufacturing business do?

Hand tailor your resume to the six items you mention, include simple examples of completing them.
MRO is Maintenance, Repair and Operations. They are the supplies and items that support the company from toilet paper, paper clips to cutting oil, step motors for multimillion dollar machine tools.

The “Buyer” or “procurement specialist” is responsible for finding and buying whatever the business needs to operate. You might be buying machinery, you might be buying the building supplies, you might be buying furniture for the offices. You might buy all three on a given day.

Such a position, in a well run organization, will have a lot of controls and approvals in place, and work closely with the finance and/or accounting departments. A good buyer can really help a company be successful.

Good luck! And it is great you are looking now, transition from one job to another is best all around.

Thanks guys. I looked the word up, @Tropical_Willie, and that’s what I got too. But looking more closely at the description it lists MRP and MRO systems. I assume they’re referring to the computer programs that I would use to order the materials. Where would I find such a system description or an example of one?

Also, do you know how much “heavy” lifting might be required? Would my computer skills outweigh any “weakness” ha ha I might have in that area?

@Windmill MRP is either Materials Requirements Planning or Manufacturing Resource Plannning ( usually shown as MRP II ). ERP is Enterprise Resource Planning is a system which includes everything in the company including HR, Financial, Sales . . . etc.
I’ve worked for almost 40 years in manufacturing ( white collar ), about the only times I was required to do lifting was on weekend coverage. It was frowned upon at union shops. Usually the lifting was to expedite on the receiving dock and finding the late shipment.

@Windmill While I admire your enthusiasm, you don’t have the skills for the position. The buyer is buying raw materials or parts (depending on what type of manufacturing). You would have to know the industry inside and out, as well as have other specialized skills. Perhaps you could apprentice yourself or intern for no pay with someone n the business.

Good luck and welcome to Fluther.!

I was trying to find the tactful, hopeful and optimistic words to say what @marinelife has said pretty clearly.

In a tight job market like today’s, there are going to be any number of qualified, experienced professionals with decades of experience to offer the employer. Trying to emphasize “Windows experience” and other peripheral qualifications on a résumé won’t even get you the interview.

For an entry-level position or a buyer’s assistant, you’d probably be very qualified and very likely trainable to a more skilled position in short order (it’s not rocket science, after all). But you can’t very well expect to step into a position whose qualifications aren’t already quite clear to you, and you don’t want to set yourself up for failure by trying for positions whose minimum qualifications you do not yet meet.

^^^ This makes me sad all day. :(

I don’t disagree, but may I ask if you’re speaking from experience or is it just your broad opinion? I know I don’t “qualify” right out of the gate, but this is an opportunity my husband got for me, and I feel pretty sure I’ll at least get an interview. If nothing else they’ll have my info in case something else comes up.

I was speaking from broad experience in several different industries.

On the other hand, if you have an “in” with the company or the interviewer because of a strong personal recommendation from someone that they trust, or – let’s be very candid here – “need to please”, then you may have a chance at the interview and, if there are no particularly glaring disqualifiers, you may have a reasonable chance at the job, too. And any new buyer into any new company is going to require “some” level of training on local customs, systems, procedures and quirks of the industry / business / management.

I held a position like this in a junior capacity years ago, buying raw materials for a metal fabricator. It turned out that one of the main skills needed (and not mentioned in the interview) was an ability to “wheel and deal”—to negotiate prices and bargain for discounts. Some people are natural shoppers and bargain hunters, but as a consumer I’m just the opposite; I routinely pay more just to get the transaction over with.

I’d never have taken the job if I’d known I was expected to master a complicated market at speed and exhibit a particularly aggressive kind of chutzpah in dealing with men who spoke industry jargon fluently and had nothing but disdain for naive, hesitant young women with college degrees. I didn’t last a year.

If you’re an assertive shopper and willing to negotiate boldly, I’m sure you’d have an advantage right where I had my greatest weakness.

@Jeruba that’s something I’m good at, actually, but I don’t know that it’s required for that position.

Of course I would expect training, @CWOTUS. I think my main point would be that I CAN learn the procedures and the programs and learn them pretty quickly. I’ve tackled some pretty steep learning curves in my life.

I understand, @Windmill, and so do most of the people in the world. But – and I wish I could recall which baseball book this was in, Ball Four, maybe – every owner wants to hire someone “with experience”, even though anyone with an ounce of intellect knows that the reason this person (with experience in the position) is available in the first place is because he has already failed or is already failing somewhere else and he has to make a move. That’s why when a coach or manager is fired after a losing season it’s a near certainty that he’ll be hired again by another team – almost regardless of his previous record – because he’s “experienced”.

It’s not always very bright, but it’s the way things really are.

Good luck on your interview. Maybe you should read Ball Four and lob to them nice and easy over the plate. If I figure out which book it was – because that doesn’t seem like the right one – I’ll be back.

EDIT: Upon further review, I think I was right the first time. It was a good book; I recommend it.

@CWOTUS. It’s also about “who you know,” too. As wrong as that is, that’s the way it is too. So I feel like I have a slim chance. At least it’s a goal to work toward. And my resume is updated. I never wanted to have to do that again.

Hello, Windmill…I recently retired after 40 years as a Senior Buyer / Purchasing Agent for several companies large-and-small in New York and in Florida. I agree with others that your lack of experience (including not knowing what a buyer does !) will be something of a handicap during your interview, but maybe the following will be of some help:

- Purchases will be made in support of the manufacture of some commodity, and it is not too important right now for you to have an in-depth understanding of the technical aspects of what they produce, or even of the commodities which you would be buying. Anyone with a brain and a good attitude can learn and obtain enough of a working knowledge about the various products to do an excellent job in a matter of months. You will begin learning all of the jargon which is used in that particular field starting on your first day, and will start sounding like an ‘old-timer’ in no time.

- Purchasing is a challenging and sometimes difficult profession, regardless of what people who have never done it think. Co-workers imagine that you can sit on the phone with your feet up all day, brow-beating all of your suppliers, (just because you are spending money) and that they all just sit up and beg whenever you call. To the contrary, the best suppliers are usually overwhelmed with work, production problems, being hounded all day by their customers about “rush” orders and quotes, etc. So you are continually trying to motivate multiple suppliers to pay more attention to your requirements since, as I said, everything from everybody is always….ALWAYS…..a “rush”.

The ability to know (or learn) a little bit about a lot of things and be able to communicate well every day with your suppliers will make all of the difference between regular success or constant failure. You must find the balance between treating suppliers respectfully, but not be a pushover. Showing that you know what you are doing without seeming arrogant, and occasionally making them laugh without coming across as a clueless clown just trying to BS everyone into getting what you want. People are smart, and most of them recognize phony respect in an instant.

I know that the above is a lengthy read, but I hope it is of some help to you.

Good luck….
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@OneBadApple I believe I can do, and have done all of done that in professions past. Thank you.
P.S. I’m pretty I know what a buyer does. A Buyer buys shit. And you think I’ll buy it at your best your “best” price think again! I’m up.