With the right purchasing education, a properly equipped purchasing professional will be able to locate the appropriate materials to purchase and negotiate the best prices. Purchasing professionals are also expected to handle a broad range of responsibilities and duties, such as understanding and sometimes overseeing the supply chain, dealing directly with vendors and providers and dealing with complex ordering software.

When you're looking for education and training for purchasing professionals, basics to be aware of include:

1. Find out where you can take purchasing classes or acquire other education and training for purchasing professionals.
2. Determine if your work environment has specific needs or product knowledge that requires specialized purchasing training courses.
3. Assess which continuing education courses will keep your purchasing training certifications current and benefit your career.
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find the best source of purchasing training

Purchasing training is available on or offline, in programs that last up to two years or in short multi-day or day-long seminars. Finding the right setting, schedule and goal-oriented purchasing education or training programs is the first step toward making sure that you and your employees receive the best training to meets your needs.

I recommend: Next Level Purchasing offers an online certification program for purchasing professionals, and lists some of the benefits of participating and earning a certification. Learn more about training programs in public purchasing available at The University of Texas at Austin.

Learn purchasing techniques specific to your environment

In specialized environments you may need a specific certificate or training course to be allowed to work as a purchasing professional. In most state purchasing and materials management divisions, for example, you must be able to prove you've had the right training to navigate the paperwork, utilize ordering manuals and address specialized concerns that may arise.

I recommend: Learn about specialized materials management and purchasing training course descriptions and learning goals at the State of Minnesota, Department of Administration. The Office of Federal Environmental Executive offers purchasing training programs oriented specifically toward green purchasing methods and products.

Chart a course for purchasing training continuing education

Your work may not be done yet, even though you've completed the requisite purchasing courses to gain a certification. Many certifications, especially those from the most respected associations, require continuing education hours on a regular basis. Plan to attend seminars or extra classes to maintain a current certification; doing this also lets your clients know that you are serious about staying current and well prepared to serve their needs. You also can convey a well-qualified impression by joining a professional association, such as the American Purchasing Society.

I recommend: Klee Associates offers tips on how and where to find continuing education courses for a variety of major purchasing professional certifications. Join the American Purchasing Society to gain access to professional seminars and training, as well as books, tapes, salary information and more.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If your employees have completed purchasing agent training, consider providing customer service training courses for them as well. Even though purchasing professionals may not deal directly with the customers that are purchasing an end product, they will often be called upon to deal with their own sort of customer -- distributors and vendors.

Effective purchasing training is critical to the day-to-day operation of your business. It's also crucial to your company's bottom line and, therefore, to its ultimate success. This is true because the expertise and facility that your purchasing professionals bring to your company and to their jobs is directly proportional to both the effectiveness and the potential profit of your business.

By providing your procurement staff with the best purchasing education opportunities and tools available, you will equip them to do the following great things for your business:

1. Select the best vendors with which to develop ongoing relationships

2. More effectively manage supplier relations and transactions

3. Make the most advantageous purchasing decisions for your company

4. More consistently track and analyze critical purchasing data and determine its overall impact on the functioning of your enterprise.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Compare purchasing training options and choose the right one for your needs, logistics and budget

Purchasing training courses come in many varieties, so it shouldn't be difficult to find one that's appropriate to your company's needs. Purchasing courses of various types, including purchasing seminars and online purchasing training are offered by many educational organizations and entities.

I recommend: American Management Association (AMA) offers Purchasing and Supply Management seminars at various locations nationwide. The American Purchasing Society and Next Level Purchasing offer online purchasing training, with special member pricing from APA and a free skills report and free online mini-course from NLP. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) also offers purchasing seminars, conferences and onsite training programs, as well as other information helpful to purchasing professionals.

Maximize your purchasing agent training program by providing the best purchasing tools available

To help make the most of your staff's purchasing training classes, be sure to equip your team with the most effective software available for doing their jobs.

I recommend: Capterra offers comprehensive descriptions of a variety of procurement software, offered by a number of different vendors, enabling you to compare available resources and help you capitalize on your investment in employee purchasing education.

As a follow-up to purchasing training courses, give your team usable resources to simplify tasks

Procurement management consulting and e-sourcing services offered online can be a real boon to your purchasing team members' effectiveness, as they put the procurement principles learned in their purchasing classes to work on a daily basis.

I recommend: DynaQuote provides online procurement services and e-sourcing that can help streamline your purchasing processes, maximizing your purchasing team members' time and allowing them to put their training in business purchasing to more effective use.

Keep your purchasing agents' skills sharp with ongoing training in business purchasing

Supplement your team's purchasing classes with ongoing opportunities through which they can gain even greater skill in their specialty through access to the most up-to-date procurement information, advice and technological help available.

I recommend: Global eProcure provides helpful, free information on maximizing technology for the purchasing professional, helping you make the most of your investment in purchasing courses.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take as much time as you need to be sure that the purchasing training course you choose will be the one that will best serve your company's needs.

Understanding education and training for purchasing professionals key terms helps you realize what options are out there in addition to traditional training. While many purchasing professionals get their training in a classroom, there are also other training and educational methods available to professionals.

An understanding of education and training for purchasing professionals key terms helps you determine what might work best in your particular situation. Whether it's a conference, an online seminar or distance learning, understanding the terminology helps you take advantage of educational offerings that suit your lifestyle and needs.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Resource guides

This term refers to lesson plans and other educational information that professionals might tap into for further training and understanding on a particular topic. Resource guides might include websites, books and organizations.

I recommend: The National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals highlights its guide for purchasing professionals. It offers links where one might download a resource guide or order additional copies.

Independent learning

The term independent learning refers to a type of education used by institutions such as high schools and colleges in which a teacher agrees to work with a student outside of school boundaries. Students frequently get credit for their independent study courses.

I recommend: The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System offers information on its website detailing its independent learning offerings. Its courses help students study for ISM certification.

Institute for Supply Management

Formerly known as the National Association of Purchasing Management, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) provides conferences, seminars and other educational offerings for purchasing professionals.

I recommend: ISM uses its website to highlight various conferences, seminars and courses you might take to advance your education in the field of purchasing.

Seminars

A seminar is a particular type of academic instruction, generally offered by a professional organization or by a university. In most cases, a seminar brings together a small group of people interested in a particular topic. Seminars encourage participants to engage in conversation and activities related to the topic.

I recommend: Next Level Purchasing offers a variety of seminars for professionals interested in purchasing. It covers topics such as measuring purchasing performance, negotiations for successful buying and other topics.

Distance learning opportunities

Distance learning opportunities include coursework offered through video, CD, DVD or the Internet. This type of learning allows someone to meet educational requirements outside the standard classroom setting.

I recommend: The American Certification Institute offers distance learning opportunities and explains how the distance learning process works. It provides a certified purchasing professional review, as well as an accredited purchasing professional review.

Accreditation

This term refers to recognition or credits received, generally from an educational institution, showing that you met their standards. Many accredited schools offer degrees such as an associate, masters, doctorate or bachelor degree for purchasing professionals.

I recommend: Central Michigan University offers an accredited program so one can major in purchasing and supply management. Students taking purchasing courses earn credits toward their major.