Career Advice - How to build your career in: Buying & Merchandising

Buying and Merchandising Jobs

This sector offers a wealth of options, whether you are starting out or aiming for that promotion. Here, a candidate, employer and recruitment consultant explain how to get what you want from a Buying & Merchandising career.

The Candidate: Darran Turner – Head of Trading Operations at JJB Sports

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I left college – other than I didn’t want to go to University. I had good GCSEs and 4 A-levels, though I didn’t gain any specific qualifications related to my career. However, I found that, in Buying & Merchandising, your education becomes much less relevant as time progresses; it’s the experience that counts.

Starting out, you must be really clear about where you want to go. Quite often I hear people saying in interviews that they want to be either a Buyer or Merchandiser when in my experience, the two personalities are totally different and rarely do people switch between the two careers.

You should be prepared to start at a low level, but with commitment and hard work your career can really go places. You should also always expect to put in before you get out; expect to get your hands dirty and see it as part of the learning experience.

While a career in retail involves hard work and long hours, there are many positives, including the increase in pay once your career has begun to take off. If you’re creative and can prove your ideas will work, you enjoy a challenge and perform under pressure, a career in Buying or Merchandising will suit you as it’s very rare you get the same day twice. If you enjoy working in a close-knit team and can overcome the tensions pressure will inevitably create, you are likely to do well in this sector.

From a progression standpoint, I’ve been prompted to leave jobs to follow people I’ve respected that I’ve worked with before or because the current company wasn’t progressing my career as quickly as I thought it should, so decided to take my skills elsewhere.

Using a specialist recruitment agency like Quest is great because they advise you every step of the way and help with all preparation required as part of the recruitment process. They will likely be much more aware of what’s going on in your particular sector than you will be and can target specific employers with your details. These existing relationships with retailers are useful so you should always keep in touch with your contact, even if you’re not specifically looking for a new role. I know that the relationship I have with Quest would mean that I would hope to be contacted if they thought they had a suitable role for me – whether I was looking or not.

Quest has been one of my very few trusted recruitment agencies for a number of years now and I’ve always found the team to be honest, forthright, very discreet and easy to deal with. Their network around the UK means you can deal with your local office or further afield if you’re looking to relocate.”

The Employer: Kate Hayes – Head of Supply Chain at JJB Sports

"When recruiting, I look for cultural fit and personal qualities as much as candidates’ technical skills and prior experience . If I hire the greatest Buyer or Merchandiser who doesn’t fit, the fall-out of this does much greater long term damage across the existing teams than the new employee alone. I look for personal qualities such as enthusiasm, tenacity, ‘can do’ approach, robustness and positivity, which I think is essential to be successful in the retail world – it’s more important now than ever.

In spite of these tough economic times, you always need to be raising the bar of your team and replacing the weaker employees with new blood if required to continually build the team for success in the future.

Quest took time to understand JJB’s needs – both in the short term and longer term – and helped shape the organisation which was in a very fluid state of design. They accepted that the confirmation of each hire may well affect subsequent hires and the organisational design and their flexible approach was absolutely key to success.

Quest regards you as an individual rather than a commodity, looking to support you with your next move only if it is right for you as an individual."

The Recruitment Consultant: Denise Byrne - Managing Consultant at Quest

"Buying & Merchandising is the backbone to Quest’s business and also the bloodline to any retail head office. These individuals are responsible for determining what the business represents in terms of product offering before other functions kick in such as Marketing and Supply Chain. Every Head Office function plays a part, however getting these key roles right is imperative to business success.

When I place a candidate with my clients, my main focus is twofold:

1. The candidate in question must meet and exceed my client’s expectations by offering a diverse skill set that not only meets the requirements of the job role but also brings highly sought after market-leading knowledge.
2. My client must feel that they have got value for money and have appointed the best possible candidate in the marketplace to fulfil their requirements therefore building trust in both my own and Quest’s capabilities for attracting the best talent available.

First and foremost, Quest can offer an unrivalled database of client and candidate contacts within the Buying & Merchandising sector which has been built since 1994. We have continually delivered on a preferred supplier basis for leading retailers and aim to work in partnership with clients and candidates alike. Our personal relationships are highly important to us; as without these the Quest brand, network and reputation cannot grow. As the leading UK Buying & Merchandising retail recruiter for more than 15 years, we have client relationships developed over a decade and have taken careers from graduate trainee to Director.

We are here to provide candidates with a free service with everything from CV reviews and feedback to regular contact about current and forthcoming vacancies. We pride ourselves on offering professional and friendly advice throughout the process from interview stage to acceptance of your new job."

To find out more about our current Buying & Merchandising jobs, connect with Denise on LinkedIn