Purchase planner to purchaser
A purchase planner already meets 65% of what the purchaser role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
39.8/ 100
1 How much of what a purchaser is expected to do is already part of a purchase planner’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the purchaser role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A purchaser role treats 12 of its required skills as things a purchase planner already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assess supplier risks
- embargo regulations
- ensure compliance with purchasing and contracting regulations
- export control principles
- have computer literacy
- identify suppliers
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 26 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A purchaser role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a purchase planner background worth leading with.
- already held manage purchasing cycle communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held category specific expertise business, administration and law
- already held track price trends information skills
- already held perform procurement market analysis information skills
- already held report accounts of the professional activity information skills
- already held analyse logistic changes information skills
All 26 carried skills, including the 12 the purchaser role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 11 missing skills fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn communicate price changes required
- still to learn coordinate purchasing activities required
- still to learn maintain relationship with customers required
- still to learn compare contractors' bids required
- still to learn manage contracts required
- still to learn speak different languages required
- still to learn issue purchase orders required
- still to learn manage tender processes required
- optional, not held conduct performance measurement optional
- optional, not held analyse logistic needs optional
- optional, not held analyse supply chain strategies optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a purchaser role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 communicate price changes practise this
- 02 coordinate purchasing activities practise this
- 03 issue purchase orders practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 26 skills that carry over
- already held assess supplier risks skill
- already held embargo regulations knowledge
- already held ensure compliance with purchasing and contracting regulations skill
- already held export control principles knowledge
- already held have computer literacy skill
- already held identify suppliers skill
- already held international import export regulations knowledge
- already held maintain relationship with suppliers skill
- already held manage purchasing cycle skill
- already held perform procurement processes skill
- already held supply chain management knowledge
- already held track price trends skill
- already held analyse consumer buying trends skill
- already held analyse logistic changes skill
- already held assess procurement needs skill
- already held category specific expertise knowledge
- already held identify new business opportunities skill
- already held implement procurement of innovation skill
- already held implement sustainable procurement skill
- already held international business knowledge
- already held negotiate sales contracts skill
- already held perform procurement market analysis skill
- already held procurement legislation knowledge
- already held procurement lifecycle knowledge
- already held report accounts of the professional activity skill
- already held use e-procurement skill
3 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held analyse logistic needs optional
- optional, not held analyse supply chain strategies optional
- optional, not held conduct performance measurement optional
19 held skills the purchaser role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role apply numeracy skills skill
- not needed by the target role carry out statistical forecasts skill
- not needed by the target role check shipments skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role conduct research on food waste prevention skill
- not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
- not needed by the target role design indicators for food waste reduction skill
- not needed by the target role develop food waste reduction strategies skill
- not needed by the target role manage procurement planning skill
- not needed by the target role manage standard enterprise resource planning system skill
- not needed by the target role manufacturer's recommended price knowledge
- not needed by the target role negotiate buying conditions skill
- not needed by the target role perform market research skill
- not needed by the target role perform multiple tasks at the same time skill
- not needed by the target role plan schedule skill
- not needed by the target role prepare purchasing reportings skill
- not needed by the target role show diplomacy skill
- not needed by the target role transportation methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role visit suppliers skill
Other moves recorded from purchase planner
Common questions about this move
Can a purchase planner become a purchaser?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A purchase planner already covers 65% of what a purchaser is expected to do: 26 skills carry over, 12 of which the purchaser role treats as required.
What skills does a purchase planner need to become a purchaser?
8 required skills are missing, plus 3 optional ones. They fall into 3 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is communicate price changes.
How hard is the move from purchase planner to purchaser?
Its learning distance is 39.8 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.