Data from the US has revealed that practitioners in supply chain jobs who hold professional certifications from respected benchmarking supply chain associations earn significantly more than colleagues who lack such qualifications, Supply Chain Dive reports.
The leading US supply chain associations – the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) – have all enhanced their certification programmes in recent years and more modifications are in the pipeline for this year.
CSCMP’s VP of marketing, engagement and education explained that the changes were driven by rapid technological developments and by the growth of global business.
Data from the ASCM show that people in supply chain jobs who hold no certifications earn a median annual salary of $72,800.
This rises to $85,000 for those with one certification and to $95,000 for those with two certifications.
Similar differences would be applicable between non-certificated and certificated supply chain interims.
New courses on offer in the US, such as the Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM), offer online learning programmes with algorithms that evaluate a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses in each required subject area. This is useful for letting candidates know where they need to concentrate their efforts.
In the UK, the latest Salary Guide from Hays found that the MCIPS certification from the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), the leading British procurement and supply chain professional association, pushed the average annual salaries of procurement pros up from £44,430 for non-certificated buyers to £54,062 – a difference of nearly £10,000.
As CIPs explains on its training website, in the foreseeable future, professionals in procurement jobs will need a licence to practise as a buyer.
As specialist procurement recruitment agencies can testify, recognised certifications like this will help candidates for the more coveted procurement jobs stand out from the crowd, as they demonstrate proficiencies and skills that help secure the best cost reductions and the effective deployment of resources onto the optimal suppliers.