Buyer

Review the job description for the Buyer position. The underlined keywords link to interview questions for that keyword or job function. Description: A Buyer locates and purchases various materials and parts; receives written requisitions or oral requests; operate a computer; input purchase orders from requisitions and order materials; locate suitable vendors and obtain pricing from vendors or catalogs; prepare bid or quote specifications; coordinate activities with warehouse personnel; contact vendors regarding problem orders; work with vendors and internal users to insure satisfactory procurement of materials. You have the supply chain experience and skills. Make a perfect presentation with theComplete Interview Guide. Answer questions naturally without sounding rehearsed and be confident for your interview. Plus: Answers to the toughest interview situations - follow-up letters, illegal questions, salary, job history questions and more! How to answer and how not to answer Questions to ask the interviewers What should you do the day of the interview? Identify possible interview questions Interview Etiquette How to Dress for Your Interview Questions to Ask the Interviewers Learn how to practice right for the interview. Good or bad? I wish, I think, I feel. How can hand gestures improve your interview performance? Why are mock interviews important? Why isn't one mock interview enough? Why you shouldn't use limiting words such as "only" or "just"?

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Practice Buyer Interview

1. How does your experience and training qualify you as a Buyer?

Focus on the aspects of your experience that apply to this position. 2. What is the Uniform Commercial Code? 3. What items of information are required on a requisition to insure a complete and accurate purchase? 4. What experience have you had in developing specifications? 5. An internal customer calls and is angry over a requisition. The customer claims that you are providing poor service and threatens to call your supervisor. What will you do? 6. Name the essential elements of a contract. 7. What steps will you take when a vendor continually fails to deliver materials as specified? 8. What does "Net 30" or "Net 30 days" mean? 9. Tell us about the most challenging situation you've encountered in the workplace. How did you meet the challenge?
10. How much do you want to be paid?

How does your experience and qualifications match up to the job? Do you know how much other companies are paying? Check Salary.com for complete salary information. Get the salary that you're worth. 11.Is there anything else you'd like to say?

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Procurement Insights

14.The Ariba Interviews: Re-engineering the Future of On-Demand?

15. Posted on August 31, 2007 by piblogger 16. 0
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18.Earlier this month I was contacted by Aribas PR firm indicating that they wanted to schedule an interview between myself and a senior executive from the company. The purpose for the interview was to discuss Aribas latest

contract win in the Healthcare sector. For those of you who may not already be aware, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey will be, and I quote leveraging Aribas on-demand Procure-to-Pay offering to drive savings, efficiencies and competitive advantage. (Note: here is a link to the actual press release;http://www.ariba.com/company/news.cfm?pressid=2672). 19.The timing of their call was interesting in that I had just read an article which had appeared in the August 9th issue of Supply Chain Digest proclaiming that the halcyon days of the pre-internet bubble crash had returned for supply chain software providers. Citing strong increases in stock values, and a spate of new contract signings, I could not help but wonder if this latest press release from Ariba would be lost in the celebratory noise of the happy days are here again atmosphere implied by the articles author. In an earlier posting I had referred to the growing cynicism of procurement professionals who, being inundated with press releases and announcements of exciting breakthroughs, have for the most part discounted brand-centric promotion as a reliable indicator of a vendors ability to deliver results. 20.Based on this trend, I could not understand Aribas (or for that matter any other vendors) decision to employ what is certainly a jaded if not outdated method of promoting their products virtues. Specifically, are press releases designed to succor existing clients by telling them that a new account meant that they had made the right decision? Or is it believed to be an enticement for prospective clients being the equivalent of the old saying come on in, the waters fine? Perhaps it is a little bit of both. 21.With this as the backdrop, I went into the first of what became three separate interviews over a two week period with both an open mind and a flexible ear. Joined on the call by a member of the PR Firm, and an in-house PR representative, I listened to the executives responses to my obligatory questions involving the new contract. While interesting to a degree there was very little said that would stand out from any other vendor interview. In short, and to no ones discredit it was another infomercial. 22.The Importance of Vendor Financial Performance? 23.For example, the PR Firms assertion that Aribas recent earnings combined with the 108% growth in their on-demand client base means very little to what is becoming an increasingly sophisticated market. Especially when there is an absence of a point of reference by which said growth can be compared or quantified. 24.And this is my issue with the Ariba announcement as it is with the majority of all vendor announcements. 25.What is particularly egregious about this archaic practice of platitude filled, self-congratulatory press releases is that it actually undermines what I believe is a sound overall strategy. In this particular case the decision by Ariba to be one of the first to move toward an on-demand (now commonly referred to as a software-as-a-service or SaaS) product offering. (Note: a November 14th, 2005article in eWeek.com titled Ariba Follows the OnDemand Trend, Renee Boucher Ferguson reported that software companies from Microsoft Corp. to SAP AG and Oracle Corp. were also embracing the on-demand model at that time.)

26.With recent stories such as todays (August 30th, 2007) article in Canadian Business On-line (ERP: Small fish, big sea by Mike Ouellette) in which both hosted ERP and SaaS were identified as a potential competitive advantage for smaller ERP providers, the attempt by a vendor to differentiate their organization through the announcement of a contract win, or by making reference to financial performance and percentage increases is largely ineffectual. In fact this time worn(out) practice has limited upside in todays market. But it does have a definite downside. I will illustrate my point. 27.The PR team provided me with a July 25th, 2007 press release that reported Aribas third quarter results for fiscal year 2007. The numbers are as follows; total revenues for the third quarter were $75.6 million, as compared with $73.6 million for Q3 of 2006. Net loss for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 was $2.0 million (or $0.03 per share for those who follow the stock market), as compared to a $31.5 million loss ($0.48 per share) for the same quarter in 2006. 28.Referring once again to Ouellettes article, St. Paul, Minnesota-based Lawson software (NASDAQ:LWSN) which develops ERP systems for SMEs in the manufacturing, financial and healthcare industries has seen their stock rise 50% since August 2006. (According to the August 9th Software Digest article, Ariba experienced a 19% growth over the same period.) Lawsons fiscal year end-revenue grew to US $212.9 million from $126.1 million last year, which resulted in an $8.1 million quarterly profit. 29.While Lawson may not be a supply chain software vendor, companies such as JDA and Manhattan Associates which are in the Ariba space have also posted considerably stronger numbers with a growth rate of 37% and 30% respectively. Based on these results, the implications of focusing on financial performance is pretty clear. If you were a prospective customer and areas such as overall profitability and growth percentages were determining factors in your decision, with who would you choose to do business? 30.This is what I mean by a definite downside. Using financial data or growth percentages (i.e. the 108%) as an indication of market acceptance for ones product is unlikely to stimulate consumer confidence. However, it does have the potential to marginalize an organizations sales efforts. 31.Quite frankly, I have yet to speak with a procurement professional who honestly considers financial data to be more than a perfunctory issue that is usually addressed before the first meeting. 32.Please do not misunderstand me. I am not attempting to discount the general importance of a financially stable organization. What I am saying however, is that its relevance is misdirected when it is used as a marketing tool. 33.More Important Questions 34.In the two subsequent interviews in which the PR representatives were participants, I asked a number of questions including what was the driving force behind Aribas original decision to as they put it re-engineer their software to adapt to the on-demand or SaaS world? Was there a concern that the new business model would cannibalize their traditional business rather than expand their market share into new areas such as the SME community? Was there a point in which they would come to a fork in the

road and have to embrace one model over the other? In short, how will customers (and prospective customers) respond to their strategy in the long run? 35.Ariba was unable to provide definitive answers to these as well as other questions by the time our final interview had concluded. A member of their PR team did indicate that they would send me the information at a later date for inclusion in a future post. 36.While I will look forward to providing you with the Ariba responses when they are available, perhaps the key to their success as well as the success of the other software goliaths can be found in todays Little fish, big sea article. 37.According to Simon Bragg, research director for enterprise software at ARC Advisory Group, smaller ERP providers are successful because of their ability to exploit what he referred to as niche markets. Combined with IDCs Joel Martins position that the SaaS model provides smaller players with a competitive advantage, offers some insight into the success these firms have experienced in terms of client acceptance at the SME level. 38.That said Bragg cautions that SAP and Oracle are getting exceedingly good at identifying niches which could be served with only minor tweaks to their core products. For years according to Bragg SAP couldnt do it, however as they develop their capabilities in response to market changes, the niches as he calls them are disappearing fast. 39.While Ariba may have started down the on-demand path inadvertently (at least according to the previously referenced November 2005 eWeek.com article), CEO Calderonis statement that we are now putting powerful spend management results within the reach of every company, regardless of size leads one to believe that they should pay closer attention to these smaller fish. 40.Note: To obtain a complete listing including links for the materials referenced in this post send me an e-mail at jhansen@procureinsights.com and put Ariba in the subject line.
41.Procurement Insights Annual Subscription Service: Insights for a Changing World 42. To obtain information on our annual subscription service, visit our web site by way of the following link; www.procureinsights.com and select the Subscription Service tab.