Our Head of Practice for Logistics and Operations, Seb Taylor, recently spoke with a senior supply chain leader preparing for their final stage interview.
He spoke on recruiting senior leaders across the supply chain and logistics this year, and discussed that we're in a unique position to hear feedback trends from various hiring teams at the latter interview stages on those who both have and haven't progressed in hiring processes.
Seb wanted to share these insights, as others within the same sector may find these intresting and useful!
1. Master the balance between 'strategic' and 'hands-on'
There are multiple occasions of feedback on individuals leaning too far one side of being either strategic, or hands-on day to day - although it's a very fine line to tread. Advice here is to discuss the high-level journey arc of a major transformation/challenge, but then delve into specific moments where you tackled real problems, sharing in the detailed analysis of the issue, the root cause and how this was solved. This demonstrates your ability to think big while executing detailed tasks effectively.
2. Highlight your influence beyond Supply Chain
Supply Chain is becoming more commercial and more visible. Executives want to understand the commercial impact you drive. Showcase your ability to align Finance, Commercial, Tech, or Customer Experience teams around key priorities, and how these efforts shifted revenue, aligned on company goals, margin, cost or improved customer experience.
Especially at the final stage of an interview process, you'll likely be meeting people outside of Supply Chain and Ops, so it will be a different style and type of interview. So, keep in mind the stakeholders you are sitting with; their agenda, pain points and the impact your role has on them and their team.
3. Illustrate your understanging of their cultural environment and specific ways on working
Whether it's a PE-backed firm, a corporate parent, or a scale-up, each has its own dynamics. Share your experience navigating these contexts to signal your ability to navigate and share board-level insight.
By the time you're at the final stage, your experience is a given. They're looking for you to gain confidence in your fit for the business and a deep understanding of their pain points and your approach to solving these.
Is there anything you think is missing? We'd love to hear from you - you can contact Seb at seb.taylor@pod-talent.com