What Does The Term Three
Three-way matching is a process for validating and authenticating the authenticity of a supplier invoice. The term three-way refers to comparing three documentsthe purchase order, the invoice, and the receiving reportto determine whether payment should be made. The process ensures that only authorized purchases are paid, avoiding losses caused by carelessness or fraud. If this three-way match indicates that the invoice is valid, you, the buyer, may proceed with the payment. If not, you should contact the supplier and inform them of any discrepancies you discovered, requesting that they revise the invoice or issue a credit memo.
What Methods Do You Use To Find New Suppliers
The XYZ Register is a great place to look for new suppliers. The XYZ Register is a database of manufacturers organized by product categories and location. Supplier information from XYZ Register can be found on their website , on a set of their CDs that can be networked within a company, and in their catalogs. Trade associations are another good place to look for suppliers, and most of them can be found online. Search engines on the internet, such as google.com, can be used to find specific products, commodities, or companies.
Q: What Was Your Best/favorite Negotiation And Why Was It Your Best
The responses you get will tell you more about the candidates 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 forbes article useful to get you thinking outside the box!
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What Are Documents Against Acceptance
Scenario: Documents against acceptance are an arrangement or provision, where the exporter instructs a bank to hand over shipping and title documents to the importer only if the importer agrees on the accompanying bill of exchange or draft by signing it. This question is commonly asked to measure your knowledge of important sourcing terms.
How to Answer: Give your best explanation in the briefest form possible.
What Experience Do You Have Managing Indirect Procurement Relationships
Relationship building is an essential skill for a job in indirect procurement, according to Supply Chain Careers. Come to the interview prepared to explain how you successfully manage relationships with vendors, suppliers or sellers. For indirect procurement activities, the seller has less power over the buyer than in direct procurement activities. For example, you may describe how you require suppliers to buy from your company before you intend to do business with them. This balances the relationship.
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What Is The Difference Between Procurement And Sourcing
Scenario: For this question, the hiring manager wants to learn if you know what these two terms mean. Both procurement and sourcing are terms that may sound alike, but they are also different from one another. We even have a dedicated article for that here.
Being able to answer this question means you know exactly what position you are trying to apply to and will give the hiring manager confidence in picking you for the position.
How to Answer: Give a simple but concise answer. Procurement is the process of purchasing supplies for the companys growth and/or operations. Sourcing is the procurement process of looking for the best suppliers to get the supplies or services from.
How Will You Ensure That A Project You Implement Will Also Meet Unilever’s Goals And Values
Tough question with a lot of layers to it. Do a lot of research into Unilever’s values – that’s what made me fall in love with the company.Less
Hi! Did you automatically received a level 2 email after you submitted your online application form? or you waited for several weeks before receiving the level 2 email? 🙂Less
Hi! Would like to ask how did you answer the question above? I’m trying to apply for their procurement management programme. TIA! 🙂Less
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What Are The Steps In The Procurement Process
It is dependent on your business objectives and requirements as to what steps should be taken during the procurement process. The typical procurement process includes the following steps:
- Determining the requirements for goods and services.
- Identifying potential suppliers.
- Requesting proposals or quotations is a formal request.
- The tender is being evaluated.
- Developing agreements with suppliers on terms and conditions.
- Arranging for the delivery and receipt of goods or services.
What Are Some Questions You Could Ask When Asking For Supplier References
In PurchTips edition #215, the NLPA introduced you to four of our favorite questions to ask supplier references:
- Whats your relationship with the supplier?
- How do you interact with the supplier?
- Describe a situation where the supplier disappointed you and how they responded.
- What are some things you wish the supplier would do differently?
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How Do You Organize Supply And Vendor Records
The interviewer may cover several questions that allow them to see how you apply your organizational skills, attention to detail and administrative talents. Provide examples of vendor account management or spreadsheet software you used in the past to maintain accurate records for documentation.
Example:”I apply two methods to keep company and vendor records organized. My primary tool is a digital management system, where I can enter custom labels, create invoices and contracts and manage multiple accounts. The software also lets me track how spending impacts company budgets in real-time, making it an effective tool for identifying procurement risks or issues in supply chain management.
The other tool I use is a basic computer spreadsheet software, which I find highly beneficial for backing up the data I store in the vendor management system. With the combination of these tools, I have been successful at keeping records organized and maintaining accuracy.”
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Can You Tell Me How You Handle Confidentiality In Your Work
Maintaining confidentiality is important as a contract specialist because it helps to build trust between you and your client. If an interviewer asks this, they want you to talk about how you’ve upheld confidential information in past positions. Be sure to explain briefly the situation, while keeping the specifics private, and the steps you took to keep the information safe.
Example:”In my last position, our organization had a new client who only wanted a select few of our employees to work on a project. To maintain confidentiality, I created policies and confidentiality agreement forms for the project team to sign. A week before they began the project, we required those employees to take a training course to ensure everyone understood the client’s information and the project details were to be kept private. We also asked them to not have their phones at the client’s site unless there was an emergency.”
What Is The Biggest Challenge You Foresee In This Job
As technology advances, so makes the threat to private data. Organizations will tend to lack transparency with their suppliers, withholding critical information. As a result, a procurement problem will arise, limiting suppliers ability to provide clients with value-packed options. Unwanted surprises can arise from critical data such as market trends, product changes, and sales forecasts, jeopardizing relationships with suppliers.
The solution will be to request the suppliers demand or the details required to provide quality services. Maintain an open request line for these demands and updates whenever new requirements emerge.
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What Have You Done In The Past Year To Improve Your Skills As A Contract Specialist
An interviewer asking this question wants to see that you’re a motivated worker who actively seeks opportunities to improve your skills in the field. When answering this question, explain ways you’ve been improving your contract specialist skills to show your self-improvement.
Example:”In the last year, I’ve done a couple of things to improve my skills as a contract specialist. I attended a few lectures given by a group of contractors who’ve been working in this field for over a decade. In those lectures, the professionals shared some challenges they experienced in their earlier years and provided suggestions so attendees could avoid making those same errors. More recently, I read a book about helpful tips and methods for creating stronger agreements and impactful negotiations.”
What Methods Do You Use To Stay Motivated At Work
For the duration of my internship, I was motivated by the prospect of tracking and reporting on the performance of selected suppliers, identifying areas of concern, and making recommendations for alternatives when necessary. This gave me a sense of accomplishment regarding the companys goals and my own goals. Since then, Ive been looking forward to my new job as a procurement officer. The satisfaction I receive from providing procurement services to businesses allows me to continue working.
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How Do You Decide If You Need A Contract For A Purchase Or Not
There may be an infinite number of reasons that two parties feel that they need a contract. However, in our online course Supply Management Contract Writing, we explore six in detail, including when to formalize obligations and rights, to control and allocate risk, and to agree on how exceptions will be handled.w
How Are You Going To Ascertain This Companys Purchasing Habits
Conducting a spend analysis and developing a spend profile serve as the foundation for determining an organizations purchasing patterns. A well-constructed spend profile will reveal how much money your organization spends on each category of goods and services it purchases, how much money it spends with each supplier, how spending changes over time, and other useful information. Further analysis of that spending will assist me in identifying cost-cutting opportunities such as supplier consolidation, strategic sourcing, and standardization. Spend analysis can be performed using various tools, ranging from cutting-edge source-to-pay software to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with PivotTables.
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Procurement Interview Questions Are They All The Same
The rule of thumb when it comes to expecting procurement analyst questions is that most companies will never use the same questions twice or thrice.
The hiring manager will always look to cycle these questions from time to time, depending on the level of experience of the applicant that theyre talking to. Most applicants who are new in the procurement scene, expect basic procurement specialist questions. But for the professional procurement managers, the questions are going to be more on the advanced or expert level side.
Again, always expect that companies will be employing difficult but fair questions to assess if you can do the job.
A helpful tip would be to get yourself familiarized with the STAR method. If youre not familiar with the STAR method, its the acronym that stands for the following:
Situation: Setting the scene and then give the details of your example
Task: Describing what you need to do during that situation
Action: This means your explanation on what were the steps you took to address the problem.
Result: Share what the outcome was for the actions you achieved
The STAR method is often employed by hiring managers and interviewers to gauge how the applicant can answer critical situations to the best of their abilities. The ticket to answering these questions effectively would be to know the scope of the position that youre applying for and to give each answer as simple and concise as you can.
Editor’s note:
Q1: Ask Them About Their Market Intelligence And Strategy
This Procurement Interview Question 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. This article briefly talks about Procurement Strategy Development which could be a good start to gather your thoughts.
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How Do You Define Cost Savings In A Way That Will Be Embraced By Executive Management
Historically, there has been a gap between what procurement professionals consider to be cost savings and what executive management considers to be cost savings. You see, executive management uses standard financial statements as their scorecard for the business.
Some procurement professionals have never made an effort to understand how financial statements work. Therefore, they have a difficult time reporting cost savings in a way that people using financial statements will consider legitimate.
To define cost savings in a way that will be embraced by executive management, you need to communicate cost savings in a way that can be reconciled with data on the organizations official financial statements using the language of accounting.
Describe Your Negotiating Skills And Tactics
A procurement professional should have a large arsenal of negotiation skills and tactics. Suppliers and circumstances can vary tremendously from negotiation to negotiation, so todays procurement professional should be able to choose from a large array of negotiation skills and tactics to deploy based on the situation. Win-win negotiation skills and tactics are particularly important to have in this arsenal.
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Probing For Procurement Problem Solving
To provide lasting value for your procurement organization, interviewees for the jobs you offer need to have relevant experience and the ability to handle the day-to-day activities of the position. But they also need to display flexibility, skill, and outside-the-box thinking in order to address new challenges or identify and exploit potential supply chain improvements.
To identify these aptitudes and attitudes, you might ask more complex, multi-part questions such as:
Please describe your top three career accomplishments. A candidates accomplishments underscore not only their perceived competencies but how much value they place on key parts of the position on offer. Maybe they restructured the purchase order process and implemented three-way verification to reduce rogue spending. Perhaps they spearheaded the streamlining of the supply chain for additional cost savings, or establishing a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with a supplier. Whatever the case, their answer should make it clear how they can put the skills theyve used in the past to help strengthen your purchasing organization in the future.
If Theres A Need To Buy Equipment Thats Beyond Companys Budget What Will Be Your Take
Scenario: For this question, the interviewer is trying to check on how good you are at managing a critical situation while ensuring that the project receives everything that it needs.
How to Answer: First, explain the importance of proper resource planning. Make sure to list down the techniques needed to handle the requests.
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How Do You Know If The Price Is Fair If We Buy From A Single Vendor
Scenario: This is a question that will determine if you are capable enough to decide whether it is profitable to buy from one vendor.
How to Answer: Explain the reason why you will have a single vendor only and then list down the best procurement techniques that you can follow for such circumstances.
Tell Me About A Time You Anticipated A Problem And How You Resolved It
Problem-solving skills are important in the workplace because they help employees successfully handle challenges they may encounter. When an interviewer asks this type of question, they want to determine whether you can think of a solution when there isn’t an obvious answer. In your response, briefly explain the background of the situation, what you did and what you learned from it.
Example:”Once, when I was writing agreement forms in my last position, I worked too fast and forgot to ensure thoroughly outlined the agreement. I sent the forms to the client without reviewing them, and a few minutes later, I realized that several parts of the negotiation were missing. Fortunately, I was able to make the necessary edits quickly and an updated version to the client, along with an apology for any inconvenience. After that, I made sure to always double check my writing before sending any documents to clients.”
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What Is Your Market Strategy And How Will You Shape It
Scenario: The interviewer will use this question to check if you have enough knowledge on how to move in the market. Market strategy is all about your market information.
How to Answer: You can start by describing what a market strategy is. Then follow up with an explanation of how it depends on internal and external circumstances. The Porter 5 forces model can help you with this.
How Will You Determine The Organizations Purchasing Patterns
Scenario: For this question, your interviewer will want to know if you are ready to follow the companys procurement pattern or if youll readily use your procurement strategy. The best advice in this situation is to analyze the procurement pattern and then evaluate it to mark the areas that need improvement.
How to Answer: Start by explaining the second analysis. Include some techniques and tools that you can use for checking the purchasing pattern so that youll sound like an expert during the interview.
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