Fortnum & Mason is
currently accepting applications for Chocolate
Buyer. The job includes successfully maintaining
existing relationships with our esteemed suppliers
as well as actively looking for new products and
new business partners.
A passion for food, with
an especially good palate for chocolate is essential,
as is the commercial acumen to negotiate successful
business deals. Also, possessing the flair and
ability to bring products to the customer in Fortnum's
inimitable style is highly desirable.
The position is full time,
permanent, 5 days, 37.5 hours per week.
It's probably one of the few
job ads that have received international attention:
Chocolate Buyer at Fortnum
& Mason's world-renowned Food Hall. I
first heard about it on the radio and was sufficiently
intrigued by what I heard to hunt down the job
ad itself. (Note to my boss: It was for research
purposes only. Not that I would ever consider
changing jobs anyway.)
As I thought about the ad,
I asked myself: Is this a good ad? Does it really
give job seekers all the information they need
to respond and, more importantly, make it into
the first round of interviews? What does the ad
tell me about the company and its expectations?
This article examines how
to begin formulating questions when you see any
job ad, display or classified, using the above
ad as an example. Sure, I could have borrowed
an ad from Chemical & Engineering Newsor
made one upas an example for this story
but this makes the exercise a bit more fun and
the same principles apply when you review any
classified or display ad.
Dissecting A Job Ad
Let's say you're in the market
to make a career transition and you see this ad.
It's probably a given that you love chocolate
and you're intrigued about a full-time job deciding
which chocolate products this retailer will sell.
It's important to gather as much information as
you can about a company and an advertisement can
offer some clues about how things are run and
what type of work they do. Using the Chocolate
Buyer ad, let's dig out the clues.
Business skills.The
ad emphasizes the ability to maintain relationships
with existing suppliers while looking for new
products and new suppliers. The ad also indicates
"a successful candidate must be able to negotiate
business deals and have some sense of customer
demand. Having a flair and ability to bring products
to the customer in the store's unique style is
highly desirable."
If you had no clue about what
a buyer does, one resource to use is the Occupational
Outlook Handbook, published by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is an outstanding
source of career information and it provides valuable
assistance in making career decisions. Revised
every two years, the Handbook describes what workers
do on the job, working conditions, the training
and education needed, earnings, and expected job
prospects in a wide range of occupations. Here
is some of the information you would learn from
reading the section about buyers
in the Handbook:
- Buyers largely determine
which products their establishment will sell.
Therefore, it is essential that they have the
ability to accurately predict what will appeal
to consumers.
- They must constantly stay
informed of the latest trends because failure
to do so could jeopardize profits and the reputation
of their company.
- Buyers also follow ads
in newspapers and other media to check competitors'
sales activities and watch general economic
conditions to anticipate consumer-buying patterns.
- Computerized systems have
dramatically simplified many of the acquisition
functions and improved the efficiency of determining
which products are selling. Buyers can gain
instant access to the specifications for thousands
of commodities, inventory records, and their
customers' purchase records to avoid overpaying
for goods and to avoid shortages of popular
goods or surpluses of goods that do not sell
as well.
- Some buyers are also responsible
for creating merchandise displays and advertising
plans.
It's clear from this entry
that a buyer's decisions have a big impact on
a store's success. The job demands high performance
under high pressure: a good buyer is always in
the marketplace, analyzing information, talking
to people, and negotiating the best deals possible.
After all, no store wants to be stuck with slow-moving
merchandise that will have to be marked down,
resulting in a profit loss.
Working conditions.
The ad specifies that the position
is full-time, permanent, 5 days, 37.5 hours per
week. According to the Handbook
description, most buyers frequently work more
than the standard 40-hour week because of special
sales, conferences, or other deadlines. Evening
and weekend work also is common. For those working
in retail trade, this is especially true prior
to holiday and back-to-school seasons. Also, buyers
and merchandise managers often work under great
pressure because retail stores are so competitive.
Many buyers also travel several days a month;
this is how they maintain their relationships
with existing suppliers and find new suppliers
and products. Since this job is located in the
UK, travel throughout Europe is probably a given.
Some questions to consider:
1) The stated work hours
seem to diverge from what the nature of the
work seems to be. Can someone perform this job
successfully during a 5 day, 37.5-hour workweek?
2) Does the store discourage vacation time during
peak retail periods? (The answer is probably
yes, but if you don't ask, you won't know.)
Salary. What is the
salary for this position? While it's not stated
in the advertisement, you would need to find a
resource that will give you some idea of what
buyers earn. At Salary.com,
for example, the median reported salary for an
entry-level buyer (Buyer I) is $36,807 while the
median salary for a more experienced buyer (Buyer
IV) is $65,415.
(A story about this job ad
appeared in The
Daily Telegraph reported that the salary is
$35,000, or about $54,000. Another indicator that
whoever applies ought to have some experience
behind them.)
American Chemical Society
members
can find relevant salary information at the ACS
Salary Comparator, which reports the complete
range of full-time base salaries being paid to
chemists in jobs like yours (or any other position
for chemists which you choose to define). The
comparator gives attention to many specific factors
that influence pay, including experience, level
of education, professional specialties, job functions,
types of employers, and geographic location. Both
academic and non-academic positions are covered.
Nonmember chemists can find general salary information
in the Occupational
Outlook Handbook or on Salary.com.
Benefits. Some
ads will also mention fringe benefits, such as
retirement plans, medical, dental, and vision
insurance, and tuition reimbursement as a way
to sell the company to potential applicants. If
this information doesn't appear in the ad, you
can search the careers section on the company's
Web site or contact Human Resources and ask.
Corporate Environment.
What can you tell about the
environment from the job description? In this
case, you can look at Fortnum
& Mason's Web page and read a history
beginning with how Mr. Fortnum met Mr. Mason in
1705. Read some more and you'll discover that
the store is very proud of its reputation for
fine food and service to their customers, including
their world-famous Food Hall. This is a company
that has a very long history, and a particular
reputation and image with its customers which
all employees have a responsibility to maintain.
Company Web pages often feature
a history of the company from its establishment
to the present and may also list particular milestones
and accomplishments. These will give you some
sense about the image the company wants to project
to the public. One trend in corporate Web sites
is to promote the company's mission and vision
and other statements that convey a particular
philosophy. For example, here is the credo
that has guided Johnson & Johnson's business
for over 50 years.
This information is easy to
find if the company name appears in the ad. If
the ad has been placed by a recruiting firm or
simply doesn't identify the company, then you'll
have to get a sense of the company environment
if you're invited for an interview.
Company expectations.
What does the company expect
of individuals who would be eligible to fill this
position? The clue here is "
possessing
the flair and ability to bring products to the
customer in Fortnum's inimitable style
"
which says that this person is going to have to
have enthusiasm, energy, and creativity to succeed
on the job. This person should also have a "passion
for food" and the "commercial acumen
to negotiate successful business deals".
Clearly, the successful candidate will have to
further develop a diverse range of products this
retailer sells.
The ad also states "an
especially good palate for chocolate is essential"
but what does that mean? Is it simply sufficient
to love chocolate or should you have some knowledge
of what you are buying? Did the company just assume
that people with the "right" background
would apply? This qualification isn't so well
defined and the company did not respond to a request
for additional clarification. The lack of clarification
didn't benefit the company, either: it was inundated
with applications from people with no qualifications
but who applied because they love chocolate.
Yes or no? What
is your level of interest after reading the ad?
If you are sufficiently motivated to apply after
reading the ad, then you can use these clues to
pull your resume
and cover letter together in response. Some
ads will contain more information than others
so look to other job search resources that may
help fill in as many of the blanks as possible
such as networking, Web sites, and articles in
business publications like The
Wall Street Journal, Fortune
or Business
Week.
Corinne Marasco is Content
Manager of JobSpectrum.org.
Related Resources
It wouldn't be fair to mention
chocolate in this article without a review of
how chocolate is
made from the bean to the bar.
Chemical
& Engineering News publishes an annual
salary
survey article. In 2002, the median salary
for American Chemical Society members who are
chemists and have a full-time job in the U.S.
has posted a sixth consecutive year of solid growth.
The increase this year is almost four times the
unusually low rate of inflation. Meanwhile, unemployment
among chemist members has reversed a substantial
year-earlier decline and spiraled to its highest
level since ACS started measuring it annually
and on a reasonably consistent basis 30 years
ago.
Internet recruiting expert
Barbara Ling offers this advice
to recruiters on how to write a dynamic job ad
that will attract candidates. Sometimes, it helps
to see what folks on the other side of the table
are reading.
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