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Paul has responsibility to manage the category management agenda for ABN AMRO globally. ABN AMRO is a prominent international bank, ranking eighth in Europe and 13th in the world based on total assets, with more than 4,500 branches in 53 countries, a staff of more than 105,000 full-time equivalents and total assets of EUR 987 billion. Paul has over 20 years of procurement experience working for prominent global organisations in a variety of roles ie ExxonMobil , GlaxoSmithkline , IBM Consulting , ABN AMRO.

Q1 What made you go into the Procurement field ?

My answer , as I suspect like lot's of others in Procurement is that it happened by accident ! After leaving university with an engineering degree I was vaguely looking for something "in business" with a large company. I ended up being interviewed and accepting a junior buyer's role with Mobil Oil. My recollections of the early days are about being amazed at the level of financial responsibility and seniority of relationships I was given almost from day 1.

Q2 So what made you stay in Procurement ?

Two things stand out - the constant challenge and the variety. I have been lucky enough to be part of a shift in the nature of the services Procurement functions provide to organisations which can be described as the " journey from humble servant to an equal partner" Coming into a mature Procurement organisation now you should expect to be having real business conversations about how value can be delivered to your company rather than being told what and who to buy from.

Q3 What skills and experience are you looking for in a Procurement role

This obviously depends upon the seniority and complexity of the role but it's always a combination of technical and softer skills & experience. I think as the role of Procurement has changed there is even greater emphasis on the softer skills - the areas I often see experienced procurement practioner's falling down on are around being able influence / communicate to senior business stakeholders. Also as the role becomes more proactive and complex there is a greater need for planning & project management skills. If you are looking to develop your procurement skills then CIPS ( Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply ) is a good place to start

Q4 Who do I speak to in an organisation to find out about job opportunities ?

My advise would be to call / write to the HR function. They should be able to advise you of the company's recruitment process. You may be steered into the direction of recruitment agencies , many firms have preferred agencies which they direct hiring through. As with other profession's there are a combination a generalist and specialist agencies in the market. In any case they are a great source of information around the general state of the procurement recruitment market , about the level of skills & experience required for different roles and the likely financial package you could secure.

Q5 What do you look for in the "perfect" CV ?

I'm not sure there is such a thing and ultimately it's about how closely your skills and experiences match the demands of the role. However there are things you can do to help your cause - look at the job / role description , try to find out something about the company and if possible the procurement function. I look for evidence that someone has thought through what I'm looking for and tailor's their CV or the covering letter. Conciseness and quality of the communication - if you can't do it in a CV then I'm likely to think that the recommendation or business case you write in the role will not be good enough. Show me what YOU have delivered - I look for people to emphasise what their successes have been.