My career in sales & interests outside school

Fresh out of school, I started a career in Sales. Initially, I sold office and home furniture. I always pride myself on my ability to strike a good bargain and close any deal. This can be attributed to my basic knowledge of supply chain management. At a young age, I helped my mother with her business of supplying pastries to local stores in my community. The first thing I learned was that profitability is the primary goal of all business ventures. We understood the need for strategic sourcing in order to save cost and mitigate risks to meet the needs of our buyers. This business principle was essentially what I went ahead to practice in my university days and it served me throughout.

One particular incident that took place in the furniture company resolved my zeal to be in the business of “ supply chain management”. Amongst our office chairs, the most functional at the time was the “ T301” which acted as a basic office leather chair for junior workers. It was the most frequently sold chair because of its durability and price. I had just received a purchase order for about three hundred and seventeen of those office chairs from a company that was just about to open a branch office. Armed with a lead-time of 45 working days, I place an order to our very dependable vendors in China who to our chagrin delivered wholly different models.

In order to preserve the existing relationship with the clients who were model specific and adverse to change, I employed some cost-effective mechanisms by selling the model at a discounted rate to another company and placed a new purchase order with the sales received. Poor management was a major setback in the industry, which was associated with the short life cycle of some chairs; drop in demand, recalls and uncertainty of new product. This aroused my curiosity and desire to bring a change in the sector of procurement.

Having been exposed to the above, the concept of supply chain management appealed to me. I knew that to curb these problems in my organization, there was a need to move from the what some experts would call the old paradigm of only negotiating fiercely/efficient purchasing to the new paradigm of effectively integrating suppliers, warehouses and stores in order to ensure even distribution of goods and cost maximization. I majored in English Language Education in my undergraduate studies and I am highly entrepreneurial. Having worked in sales, logistics and as a procurement coordinator on the Egina FPSO Project (the third deep offshore development of Total in Nigeria targeted towards upstream development $3. 5bn), I have excellent knowledge of the ropes of the profession.

Currently I work as the Purchasing Manager in an Oil and Gas servicing firm where I am responsible for buying the equipment and services required to carry out all projects in my region. In a bid to better understand procurement practices and worldwide standard, I am a certified member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS U. K.) where I obtained a Diploma Certificate. It is now my desire to understand the crux of supply chain management at a higher level while increasing my management skills and in turn, use my knowledge as a purchaser to effect a change in procurement practices in my organization upon my return.

Your institution, being one of high repute offers a window to develop my knowledge, understanding and business management skills in the fields of supply chain management. I believe this is an integral part in achieving my goal. Research has also shown that your institution is certified with the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Chain Management, and also sends a lot of graduates to supply chain fields every year. My wish is to be one of the graduates to tap into the knowledge of such a unique institution. The journey to becoming a better person has not been a path devoid of challenges as I achieved a Lower second class honors for my undergraduate studies due to ill health.

However, as can be seen from my transcript, my grades got better over time. Being a dogged and resilient person of excellence, I made sure I performed well to be employed in the procurement division by multinational companies which have exposed me to various areas and best purchasing practices for offshore oil exploration and exploration. I intend to demonstrate my academic ability by achieving an outstanding degree in this great institution and using the knowledge I acquire to bringing a positive change in my community.

My interest outside school includes volunteer work, community service, computing, sales, squash and challenging myself with various opportunities and courses especially as I have worked with people from diverse cultures, understood their cultures and exchanged ideas. I look forward to the opportunity of being groomed by this prestigious university that prepares students to be leaders in Supply Chain Management. It is my desire that someday I would ensure operation efficiency by reducing cost and enhancing customer service in my community.