Starting Your Supply Chain Management Career

These pages will help you understand and provide valuable resources to begin your career in supply chain management (SCM).

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), through its Academic Strategies Committee (ASC) and other volunteers, developed this resource to familiarize you with the supply chain management discipline, some fundamentals of supply chain, and career opportunities. These pages will provide some understanding about what a supply chain is, the importance of SCM, how supply chains impact everyday life, and how you can begin your career as a SCM professional.

CSCMP is a membership-based association and a resource for professionals working in supply chain. It is dedicated to advancing the supply chain profession by connecting, educating, and developing the world’s supply chain management professionals throughout their careers. Comprised of some of the most respected professionals in the industry, CSCMP offers thought leadership, community and training programs that can help advance your SCM career.

Featured Member Benefits:

Participate in and receive the Young Professionals in Supply Chain Study. Download the latest edition here.
Participate in CSCMP's mentorship program. You can seek mentorship, volunteer to mentor a student, or both!
Mock Interview Program - Twice a year, CSCMP's Young Professionals Committee offers student members the opportunity to be paired with Young Professionals for a mock interview. During these sessions the Young Professional has the opportunity to coach students and assist with their interview skills.
Young Professionals Career Panels - These panels are held throughout the year highlighting other young professionals in the industry. This is a great way to learn about other areas of Supply Chain.
Volunteer on a Committee - CSCMP’s Young Professionals Committee is made up of volunteer leaders aged 32 and under, who are dedicated to creating value for early-career supply chain management professionals. This is a great opportunity for leadership development and networking!

Join Today!

Become a member today. If you would like to connect with our Membership Engagement Team, call us at 630-574-0985.

What is a Supply Chain?

Supply chains are made up of all the companies that participate in the design, assembly, and delivery of a particular product.

Vendors supply raw materials
Producers convert those raw materials into products
Warehouses store that product until it’s needed
Distribution centers pick up and deliver that product
Retailers, online and in-store, bring that product to you
Supply chains are the reason that the producer can provide customers what they want, when and where they want it, at the price they need.

For example, in the electronics industry, the supply chain is the central nervous system that governs how products are created. In an HDTV supply chain, a variety of companies play a role in building the components, assembling the final product, and moving it through the supply chain (see chart below). The goal of the supply chain is to have the television in stock when you’re ready to purchase it.

What is Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain management encompasses everyone involved in maintaining the supply chain. Behind every product you use – electronics, coffee, clothing, lawn mowers – there are SCM professionals making it possible to get your products better, faster, and cheaper.

Each year, these products get bigger and better, yet the prices drop. How is it possible? It’s the end result of SCM professionals working together – LCD glass panel fabricators in South Korea, semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan, television assembly plants in Mexico. These global partners collaborate across time zones and oceans to decrease costs and increase performance in ways no single company ever could.

In essence, supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies. Companies like Dell, Nokia, Proctor & Gamble, Toyota, and Walmart consider SCM to be a key factor in their overall success.

Not only is supply chain management important to the world’s leading organizations, this fast-paced, global field offers tremendous employment opportunities. Nearly every size and type of organization needs motivated, well-prepared individuals to become their supply chain leaders.

Supply chain management has a language of its own and numerous acronyms that are used in the industry. In fact, there are thousands of terms specific to managing supply chain processes. These terms are generally explained in supply chain textbooks, but you can also access online supply chain tools that discuss the meaning of logistics and supply chain terms.

Download the glossary of supply chain and logistics terms

And if all of that doesn't clear it up, the best definition of supply chain management was given to us by CSCMP's 2015 Distinguished Service Award winner, Robert Martichenko:

"We move big stuff and little stuff, we move dry stuff and wet stuff, we move hot stuff and frozen stuff. Some of us actually have the trucks, trains, airplanes, pipelines, and boats to move the stuff. And some of us just plan and coordinate the movement of the stuff and give it to the people who can actually move the stuff. We also have a lot of people who run big warehouses that store the stuff when the stuff can't move to the customer just yet. And, we don’t always agree on the right way to move and store the stuff, so we have academics and teachers who think of better ways to move and store the stuff.

Added to all this, we like to move our stuff over very long distances and store our stuff at crazy places so we have technology companies that build software tools so we can always see our stuff and so that we can use advanced mathematics to attempt to guess how much stuff we want to move. We love to guess a lot.

And, a lot of companies want professionals like us to move their stuff so we have third parties, professional recruiters, and many other professionals who help companies hire the right people and implement the right processes to move their stuff.

So, in summary, what we do is create the environment so all the people in the world can have the right stuff, in the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity and the right quality, and all at the right price."

The Importance of Supply Chain Management

It is well known that supply chain management is an integral part of most businesses and is essential to company success and customer satisfaction.

Boost Customer Service

Customers expect the correct product assortment and quantity to be delivered.
Customers expect products to be available at the right location. (i.e., customer satisfaction diminishes if an auto repair shop does not have the necessary parts in stock and can’t fix your car for an extra day or two).
Right Delivery Time – Customers expect products to be delivered on time (i.e., customer satisfaction diminishes if pizza delivery is two hours late or Christmas presents are delivered on December 26).
Right After Sale Support – Customers expect products to be serviced quickly. (i.e., customer satisfaction diminishes when a home furnace stops operating in the winter and repairs can’t be made for days)

Reduce Operating Costs

Decreases Purchasing Cost – Retailers depend on supply chains to quickly deliver expensive products to avoid holding costly inventories in stores any longer than necessary. For example, electronics stores require fast delivery of 60” flat-panel plasma HDTV’s to avoid high inventory costs.
Decreases Production Cost – Manufacturers depend on supply chains to reliably deliver materials to assembly plants to avoid material shortages that would shutdown production. For example, an unexpected parts shipment delay that causes an auto assembly plant shutdown can cost $20,000 per minute and millions of dollars per day in lost wages.
Decreases Total Supply Chain Cost – Manufacturers and retailers depend on supply chain managers to design networks that meet customer service goals at the least total cost. Efficient supply chains enable a firm to be more competitive in the market place. For example, Dell’s revolutionary computer supply chain approach involved making each computer based on a specific customer order, then shipping the computer directly to the customer. As a result, Dell was able to avoid having large computer inventories sitting in warehouses and retail stores which saved millions of dollars. Also, Dell avoided carrying computer inventories that could become technologically obsolete as computer technology changed rapidly.

Improve Financial Position

Increases Profit Leverage – Firms value supply chain managers because they help control and reduce supply chain costs. This can result in dramatic increases in firm profits. For instance, U.S. consumers eat 2.7 billion packages of cereal annually, so decreasing U.S. cereal supply chain costs just one cent per cereal box would result in $13 million dollars saved industry-wide as 13 billion boxes of cereal flowed through the improved supply chain over a five year period.
Decreases Fixed Assets – Firms value supply chain managers because they decrease the use of large fixed assets such as plants, warehouses and transportation vehicles in the supply chain. If supply chain experts can redesign the network to properly serve U.S. customers from six warehouses rather than ten, the firm will avoid building four very expensive buildings.
Increases Cash Flow – Firms value supply chain managers because they speed up product flows to customers. For example, if a firm can make and deliver a product to a customer in 10 days rather than 70 days, it can invoice the customer 60 days sooner.

Lesser known, is how supply chain management also plays a critical role in society. SCM knowledge and capabilities can be used to support medical missions, conduct disaster relief operations, and handle other types of emergencies.

Whether dealing with day-to-day product flows or dealing with an unexpected natural disaster, supply chain experts roll up their sleeves and get busy. They diagnose problems, creatively work around disruptions, and figure out how to move essential products to people in need as efficiently as possible.

Societal Roles of SCM

Ensure Human Survival

SCM Helps Sustains Human Life – Humans depend on supply chains to deliver basic necessities such as food and water. Any breakdown of these delivery pipelines quickly threatens human life. For example, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, LA leaving the residents without a way to get food or clean water. As a result, a massive rescue of the inhabitants had to be made. During the first weekend of the rescue effort, 1.9 million meals and 6.7 million liters of water were delivered.
SCM Improves Human Healthcare – Humans depend on supply chains to deliver medicines and healthcare. During a medical emergency, supply chain performance can be the difference between life and death. For example, medical rescue helicopters can save lives by quickly transporting accident victims to hospitals for emergency medical treatment. In addition, the medicines and equipment necessary for treatment will be available at the hospital as a result of excellent supply chain execution
SCM Protects Humans from Climate Extremes – Humans depend on an energy supply chain to deliver electrical energy to homes and businesses for light, heat, refrigeration and air conditioning. Logistical failure (a power blackout) can quickly result in a threat to human life. For example, during a massive East Coast ice storm in January 1998, 80,000 miles of electrical power lines fell resulting in no electricity for 3,200,000 Montreal, Quebec residents. Due to extreme cold, 30 died and 25% of all Quebec residents left home to seek heated shelter. In addition, economic costs included $3 billion in lost business, $1 billion in home damage and $1 billion in government expenditures.

Improve Quality of Life

Foundation for Economic Growth – Societies with a highly developed supply chain infrastructure (modern interstate highway system, vast railroad network, numerous modern ports and airports) are able to exchange many goods between businesses and consumers quickly and at low cost. As a result, the economy grows. In fact, the one thing that most poor nations have in common is no or a very poorly developed supply chain infrastructure.
Improves Standard of Living – Societies with a highly developed supply chain infrastructure (modern interstate highway system, vast railroad network, numerous modern ports and airports) are able to exchange many goods between businesses and consumers quickly and at low cost. As a result, consumers can afford to buy more products with their income thereby raising the standard of living in the society. For instance, it is estimated that supply chain costs make up 20% of a product’s cost in the U.S. but 40% of a product’s cost in China. If transport damage is added in, these costs make up 60% of a product’s cost in China. The high Chinese supply chain cost is a major impediment to improving the standard of living for Chinese citizens. Consequently, China has embarked on a massive effort to develop its infrastructure.
Job Creation – Supply chain professionals design and operate all of the supply chains in a society and manage transportation, warehousing, inventory management, packaging and logistics information. As a result, there are many jobs in the supply chain field. For example, in the U.S., logistics activities represent 9.9% of all dollars spent on goods and services in 2006. This translates into 10,000,000 U.S. logistics jobs.
Opportunity to Decrease Pollution – Supply chain activities require packaging and product transportation. As a by-product of these activities, some unwanted environmental pollutants such as cardboard waste and carbon dioxide fuel emissions are generated. For example, paper and paperboard accounted for 34% of U.S. landfill waste in 2005. Only 50% of the 84 million tons of paper and paperboard waste were recycled. Also, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation accounted for 33% of total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2005. As designers of the network, supply chain professionals are in a key position to develop more sustainable processes and methods.
Opportunity to Decrease Energy Use – Supply chain activities involve both human and product transportation. As a by-product of these activities, scarce energy is depleted. For example, currently transportation accounts for 30% of world energy use and 95% of global oil consumption. As designers of the network, supply chain professionals have the role of developing energy-efficient supply chains that use fewer resources.

Protect Cultural Freedom and Development

Defending Human Freedom – Citizens of a country depend on military logistics to defend their way of life from those who seek to end it. Military logisticians strategically locate aircraft, ships, tanks, missiles and other weapons in positions that provide maximum security to soldiers and other citizens. Also, superior logistics performance yields military victory. For example, the B-2 Stealth Bomber is able to deliver bombs to target without being detected by enemy radar.
Protects Delivery of Necessities – Citizens of a country depend on supply chain managers to design and operate food, medicine and water supply chains that protect products from tampering. Sophisticated packaging techniques, state of the art surveillance cameras, global positioning systems and RFID inventory tracking are some of the methods used to deter terrorists from accessing these vital logistics systems.

Supply Chain Management Concepts

Shortly after your alarm clock goes off and the coffee maker kicks on, the aroma of your favorite coffee fills the air. The supply chain is responsible for getting those coffee beans across the world and to your kitchen. Something so common in every household, takes a great deal of planning, demand forecasting, procurement, and logistical expertise to move those beans to local sellers while still fresh. Without a strong supply chain in place, your caffeine-fix options would be severely limited.

SCM involves a series of key activities and processes that must be completed in an efficient (fuel-conserving, cost-reducing, etc.) and timely manner. Otherwise, product will not be available when needed by consumers like you.

The Seven Rights of Fulfillment

The ability to meet customer requirements, for everything from coffee beans to Crocs, is built upon the expectation that everything is done correctly in the supply chain. And that means doing it right the first time – no mulligans, no mistakes are allowed. In the quest to provide quality service and satisfy customers, world-class companies along the supply chain are guided by the Seven Rights of Fulfillment.

If you think about it, every order needs to be executed according to these seven goals. You must attempt to deliver a “perfect order” to every customer every time. Doing it right the first time makes the customer happy, saves the cost of fixing errors, and doesn't require extra use of assets. Thus, every part of the organization has a vested interest in pursuing perfection.

A “perfect order” delivery is only attained when all Seven Rights of Fulfillment are achieved. To accomplish a perfect order fulfillment, the seller has to have your preferred product available for order, process your order correctly, ship the entire order via the means that you request, provide you with an advanced shipping notification and tracking number, deliver the complete order on time and without damage, and bill you correctly. A seller’s ultimate goal is to make the customer happy by doing the job right, which gives them a good reason to use the seller’s services again in the future.

SCM Flows

If the goal of SCM is to provide high product availability through efficient and timely fulfillment of customer demand, then how is the goal accomplished?

Obviously, you need effective flows of products from the point of origin to the point of consumption. But there’s more to it. Consider the diagram of the fresh food supply chain. A two-way flow of information and data between the supply chain participants creates visibility of demand and fast detection of problems. Both are needed by supply chain managers to make good decisions regarding what to buy, make, and move.

Other flows are also important. In their roles as suppliers, companies have a vested interest in financial flows; suppliers want to get paid for their products and services as soon as possible and with minimal hassle. Sometimes, it is also necessary to move products back through the supply chain for returns, repairs, recycling, or disposal.

Because of all the processes that have to take place at different types of participating companies, each company needs supply chain managers to help improve their flows of product, information, and money. This opens the door of opportunity to you to to a wide variety of SCM career options for you!

SCM Processes

Supply chain activities aren't the responsibility of one person or one company. Multiple people need to be actively involved in a number of different processes to make it work.

It's kind of like baseball. While all the participants are called baseball players, they don't do whatever they want. Each person has a role – pitcher, catcher, shortstop, etc. – and must perform well at their assigned duties – fielding, throwing, and/or hitting – for the team to be successful.

Of course, these players need to work well together. A hit-and-run play will only be successful if the base runner gets the signal and takes off running, while the batter makes solid contact with the ball. The team also needs a manager to develop a game plan, put people in the right positions, and monitor success.

Winning the SCM “game” requires supply chain professionals to play similar roles. Each supply chain player must understand his or her role, develop winning strategies, and collaborate with their supply chain teammates. By doing so, the SCM team can flawlessly execute the following processes:

Planning – the plan process seeks to create effective long- and short-range supply chain strategies. From the design of the supply chain network to the prediction of customer demand, supply chain leaders need to develop integrated supply chain strategies.
Procurement – the buy process focuses on the purchase of required raw materials, components, and goods. As a consumer, you're pretty familiar with buying stuff!
Production – the make process involves the manufacture, conversion, or assembly of materials into finished goods or parts for other products. Supply chain managers provide production support and ensure that key materials are available when needed.
Distribution – the move process manages the logistical flow of goods across the supply chain. Transportation companies, third party logistics firms, and others ensure that goods are flowing quickly and safely toward the point of demand.
Customer Interface – the demand process revolves around all the issues that are related to planning customer interactions, satisfying their needs, and fulfilling orders perfectly.

Seven Principles of SCM

More than ten years ago, a research study of 100+ manufacturers, distributors, and retailers uncovered some widely used supply chain strategies and initiatives. These ideas and practices were distilled down to seven principles and presented in an article in Supply Chain Management Review, a magazine widely read by SCM professionals.

Principle 1: Segment customers based on the service needs of distinct groups and adapt the supply chain to serve these segments profitably.
Principle 2: Customize the logistics network to the service requirements and profitability of customer segments.
Principle 3: Listen to market signals and align demand planning accordingly across the supply chain, ensuring consistent forecasts and optimal resource allocation.
Principle 4: Differentiate product closer to the customer and speed conversation across the supply chain.
Principle 5: Manage sources of supply strategically to reduce the total cost of owning materials and services.
Principle 6: Develop a supply chain-wide technology strategy that supports multiple levels of decision making and gives clear view of the flow of products, services, and information.
Principle 7: Adopt channel-spanning performance measures to gauge collective success in reaching the end-user effectively and efficiently.

Though they are more than a decade old, these timeless principles highlight the need for supply chain leaders to focus on the customer. They also stress the importance of coordinating activities (demand planning, sourcing, assembly, delivery, and information sharing) within and across organizations.

Here's an excerpt from the article:
“Managers increasingly find themselves assigned the role of the rope in a very real tug of war—pulled one way by customers’ mounting demands and the opposite way by the company’s need for growth and profitability. Many have discovered that they can keep the rope from snapping and, in fact, achieve profitable growth by treating supply chain management as a strategic variable.”

These savvy managers recognize two important things:

They think about the supply chain as a whole—all the links involved in managing the flow of products, services, and information from their suppliers' suppliers to their customers' customers (that is, channel customers, such as distributors and retailers).
They pursue tangible outcomes—focused on revenue growth, asset utilization, and cost.”

Source: David L. Anderson, Frank F. Britt, and Donavon J. Favre, “The Seven Principles of Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Management Review, (1997).

Finding the Right Career

There is no standard career path in SCM. You have the opportunity to pursue hundreds of potential career paths. Your skills, interests, and personal decisions will largely influence the path you pursue. It will also be impacted by the size, type, geographic scope, and organizational structure of the firm that you choose to work for.

A broad base of business skills, knowledge of supply chain processes, and relevant internship/work experience will give you ample opportunity to begin your career with a manufacturer, retailer, carrier, third party logistics firm, or other organization. You will likely begin as a management trainee, analyst, or front line supervisor. As you demonstrate your managerial capabilities, you can progress to SCM positions of greater responsibility. You may also decide to gain experience in other parts of the organization.

One key to your success in this field is flexibility. You will work with people throughout your company—logistics, manufacturing, and marketing. Depending on the size of your company, your initial responsibilities may deal with one or more logistics functions. Some positions will require you to specialize in a specific area of SCM. There are numerous opportunities and career paths in this field—it is up to you to seek them out and develop the appropriate skills to be successful.

How big is SCM? Logistics alone accounts for more than 9.5% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product! Over $1.3 trillion is spent on transportation, inventory, and related logistics activities. Add in the vast sums of money spent on supply management and manufacturing and you’re looking at a field with tremendous impact on the success of organizations, domestically and globally.
You will find SCM career opportunities in a variety of organizations. Nearly every organization is involved in purchasing goods, controlling inventory, building products, moving freight, and/or managing relationships. These fundamental activities translate into a myriad of supply chain employment opportunities with a vast number of potential employers.

Potential SCM Employers

3PL Firms – A third-party logistics (3PL) provider is a firm specializing in providing logistics services. Clients can employ these 3PL firms to manage and/or execute required logistics activities. Asset-based 3PLs own equipment and facilities that are used to provide a variety of supply chain services to their customers. Non-asset based 3PLs focus on advising clients on supply chain operations and can arrange to provide transportation, warehousing, and other similar 3PL services. 3PL usage has steadily risen since the early 1990s as organizations have become more aware of the critical importance of effective logistics and supply chain management practices.
Consulting Firms – A consulting firm offers knowledge and expertise to customers in need of supply chain management assistance. These firms can offer a broad range of services, but oftentimes they focus on helping to advise the client on supply chain practices as opposed to assisting with the actual execution of supply chain related processes. These types of firms can help to engineer a specific supply chain network design, provide insight into how to optimize a function, or simply review current supply chain practices and provide suggestions for improvement.
Government Agencies – An agency operating on behalf of a Federal, State, or Local governmental entity or municipality that requires the management of supply chains. Government entities oftentimes must manage the supply and acquisition of items, as well as their storage, and distribution. For example, the Department of Defense, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and many other governmental entities are regularly confronted with supply chain management issues such as inventory analysis, procurement, and transportation.
Manufacturing and Production Companies – Manufacturers produce products for resale to customers. Their customer may be another company, or an individual consumer, or both. For example, an automotive tire manufacturer may simultaneously serve as a supplier to the large automotive maker and also be a source of tires to a retail outlet targeting individual consumers who wish to replace worn tires on their used vehicle. Manufacturing firms can produce a wide variety of products for sale or resale to a wide range of customers.
Retailers and Distributors – Retailers and distributors are product resellers. They act as middlemen in the supply chain, improving access to markets for manufacturers and creating wide product assortments for customers. Major retailers recognize the importance of SCM to their success and take great strides to effectively manage inventory, control transportation costs, and provide exceptional customer service through high in-stock availability.
Service Firms – A service firm provides expertise to customers requiring assistance in a particular area. Supply chain planning and execution is supported by firms offering professional services such as finance, commercial real estate, or executive recruiting. Other service firms have a need for supply chain expertise for their own operations to be successful. As a result, supply chain job opportunities exist in the service sector with banks, hotels, restaurant chains, and others.
Transport Company – Transportation companies that provides freight delivery services. These companies exist in all modes of transportation (air, water, motor, rail, or even pipeline). In fact, many transportation firms have expertise in multiple modes and provide intermodal transportation services to their customers. Transportation companies provide a vital link in most supply chains since they help to move raw materials, component parts, and other types of products through the supply chain.
Universities and Educational Institutions – These entities provide expertise and distribute knowledge to clients or students with a desire to enhance their level of supply chain management knowledge. These types of organizations typically work to further the discipline in part by expanding on the knowledge base of the discipline by combining teaching, industry partnerships, and research.

Salary Outlook

Logistics Management Annual Salary Survey
Career Patterns Study

Salary Considerations

Although there's no perfect formula for estimating the offers that you will receive, the following issues impact an employer's starting salary offers:

Education Level – Advanced degree such as an MBA produce higher salary offers than do Bachelor or Associate degrees.
Relevant Work Experience – Extensive supply chain work experience (even as an hourly associate) or participation in SCM internships gives you a strong foundation and the ability to command more money.
Grades and Accomplishments – Some companies pay a premium for students with high GPAs and related academic accomplishments.
Leadership Experience – SCM is a people business. If you have a demonstrated ability to effectively lead people, your stock will rise.
Scope of Responsibilities – The greater the responsibility (e.g., managing more people or controlling a larger budget), the higher the salary!
Company Type – Historically, the highest SCM salary offers have come from the manufacturing sector. However, retailers, carriers, and 3PL firms are working to close the gap.
Geographic Flexibility – Being open to relocation early in your work life will positively impact your career options and salary growth.
Geographic Location – Jobs in larger cities and geographic areas (Northeast and West) with a higher cost of living pay more to offset your added expenses.
Ability to Negotiate – Many SCM positions are pegged to a starting salary range rather than a single number. Your ability to sell your skills, motivation, and potential for success will determine what you are offered within that range.

Salary Wizard

Salary.com is a great resource to find the most up-to-date information on salaries within the supply chain and logistics industries.

Where to Find Jobs

Don’t forget to visit the CSCMP Career Center, a comprehensive job search engine, dedicated exclusively to the supply chain profession, with outstanding resources to support and enhance your career.

Education and Experience

Education

Companies large and small are looking for talented individuals with a strong mix of education, potential, and motivation to manage and lead their global supply chains. If you want to be a future leader in this trillion-dollar industry, your best course of action is to pursue an appropriate college degree. Focus on logistics, transportation, purchasing, and/or operations in your studies to effectively prepare for supply chain careers. The coursework will be challenging, yet interesting, and the payoff for your hard work will be great. By the time graduation rolls around, you'll be primed for SCM positions of significant responsibility with very competitive starting salaries.

SCM courses are available through community colleges, universities, and specialized schools. Typically, SCM is housed within the business school at most universities, though the industrial engineering department is another option. While many schools offer only one or two courses, some have a four-year degree program that allows you to dive deeply into key SCM topics. After completing general coursework and the business core (accounting, management, marketing, etc.), you'll study:

Transportation and logistics
Inventory and forecasting
Sourcing and supplier management
Reverse logistics and green issues
Facility location
Outsourcing and strategic alliances
Global supply chain issues
Product design and new product introduction

Many students join SCM-focused student organizations on campus but think that professional organizations are reserved for industry executives. Nothing could be further from the truth! There's much to gain from membership and supply chain professional organizations actively encourage students to join. Sure, it looks great on your résumé but there are far more valuable reasons for getting actively involved now rather than later:

Job hunting resources – When it's time to start the job search process, you'll have valuable resources available through the professional organization's website. They provide job listings, resume posting services, salary information, and other career tools.
Networking, networking, networking – SCM organizations hold dinner meetings, conferences, and other events where you can interact with supply chain thought leaders. The organization's membership directory will also provide contact information for supply chain professionals in your area.
Information access – Need to learn about supply chain trends and issues for an interview, presentation, or paper? Professional organizations give you first-hand access to great resources on the current state of SCM and help you build useful knowledge.
Reduced membership fees – SCM professional organization leaders realize that students and young professionals don't have money to burn. In response, they offer major discounts on membership fees to full-time students and young professionals.

Continuing Education

There are many resources to help you sharpen your supply chain skills. Online courses and webinars provide easy access to knowledge leaders. Professional organizations facilitate interaction with your peers. Certification programs are another option. Finally, don’t forget your alma mater. Many universities conduct cutting-edge supply chain seminars (and alumni often get a discounted rate).

CSCMP provides a wide variety of continuing education programs for supply chain professionals:

Online Courses (Supply Chain Management Essentials)
Events (e.g., CSCMP's annual conference, CSCMP EDGE)
Roundtable Events
On-Site Education

Experience

It has long been said that there is no substitute for experience. This is absolutely true for individuals thinking about SCM careers. Relevant work experience builds skills that are desired by employers and exposes you to different areas of the supply chain. Just think about it, an internship or part-time position will help you build a solid resume and pinpoint your career interests.

Internships

Internships are a great way to gain knowledge and abilities in the rapidly changing world of global supply chains. Many companies hire university students for three-month or six-month internships, typically during their junior year. Internships are not just a summer job – they can happen any time, including fall or spring! Lots of firms also hire directly from their internship pools. They use internships for an in-depth look at you and other potential recruits.

While internships are generally paid positions, some are unpaid. It is important to check with the company before you take the position to determine if there is a salary, a stipend or no compensation. Many universities also offer academic credit for internships if you plan the internship in advance with your advisor.

Students who have recently completed internships have great things to say about their experiences. Click on each graphic for their insights.

How do you find internship opportunities?
It is important to visit your college's Career Services or Internship Programs office as soon as possible to check out their online resources. The office can direct you to internships targeted specifically towards students from your college. MonsterTrak is the top college oriented job listing database and also houses an internship database (select "internships" when searching). If you are a current student or a college graduate check with your school's Career Services office to see if your college is partnered with MonsterTrak and, if so, to obtain a password.

What about part-time and summer positions?
These are also excellent ways to gain professional experience. You'll learn a great deal by working in a supply chain role, even as an hourly associate. Work with teachers, family, former employers, coaches, friends, parents of friends to find supply chain contacts in your geographic area. Meet with, e-mail, or call these individuals for information about possible opportunities.