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Angie
posted on Saturday, 07 January 2012 00:20
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I have been in Admin,Secretary function for 2 years.
In my view, this field is not sustainable and serious in age discrimination.
I do not want to be replaced later on.
I would like to change my Admin field. Now, I am now studying in Business Management (Can choose one major-marketing, HR, International business and Supply Chain, Logistics)
Other than HR, I guess Supply Chain, Logistics seems more specialized and professional among the others. It is not that easy to be replaced than admin field.
1.But I am not sure if supply chain, procurement, purchasing can be long-term career?? Is it sustainable enough, compared with the rest majors?
2.Since I just got limited experience in that area, I may not get the most relevant position.
Should I start this field with supporting role in that field (like admin in procurement dept)??
3.(Stray from the subject) Is MNC or Large scale company better for career development?
Looking for your advice. Thanks
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Dear Angie
It is good that you stay vigilant in the frequently changing and highly competitive job market nowadays and that you are adding value to yourself.
You mentioned that you are considering choosing Supply Chain and Logistics as your major in study to secure an entry to the field. Supply Chain and Logistics field had been booming in the last few years, thanks to the strong manufacturing activities in China and thus robust warehousing and re-export activities in Hong Kong. I am sure you noticed that the sector is slowing down since second half of 2011, due to economic situation in the US and Europe. Having said that, each sector will experience up and down and over time, trend and practices will change within the sector as well. Key thing is we keep updating and learning relentlessly.
More specifically to procurement and purchasing, there are many buying offices of large multinational retail brands being set up in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, a lot of the actual sourcing and buying are conducted in China. That implies regular traveling to China will be a normal part of procurement and purchasing jobs. This can be one of the factors for you to consider.
Since you have limited experience in the field, starting with supporting role in procurement department is one way to gain an entry. Another way is to find a combined role such as administration and logistics, which is quite common in many small and medium sized enterprises.
My opinion is that large multinational companies and small / medium sized enterprises both provide career development opportunities. In large organizations, you may have more opportunities for promotion but very often, the job scope can be quite specialized and exposure can be limited to a small area. In small / medium enterprises, multi-tasking is common and one can learn and grow and pick up new skills and exposure easier, despite the promotion chance seems lesser. Large multinational companies do have stronger capability in waiving through challenging economic times though.
Kind regards
Catherine Ng