5 Ways to Use Your CIPS Membership to Keep Your Job
During times of uncertainty, you need to make yourself stand out to help you keep your job. This is where your CIPS membership is worth its weight in gold.
If you are one of the over 200,000 procurement professionals globally with a CIPS membership, the chances are high that you are studying, or have studied, towards your MCIPS qualification. You may even have started your chartership journey through Continuous Professional Development (CPD). As said previously, there are great benefits available to those who are lucky enough to be in this position.
There will come a time in your career where holding these qualifications will prove even more valuable than before. In times of uncertainty, either globally or even just for your organisation, belts will be tightened, and headcounts will be reduced.
And your FCIPS, MCIPS and/or Chartership could be the means by which you weather the storm.
Can qualifications help me keep my job?
As procurement and supply chain follow other professions down the route of chartership, qualifications will increasingly be sought and expected by employers and CPOs. There is an expectation in role development that procurement professionals will have, or at very least be studying towards, these qualifications.
Leaders of the profession both expect and are expected to have MCIPS and will look to build teams in this image. When it comes to times of turmoil, not having qualifications may result in you being the one without a chair when the music stops.
How, then, can the time and effort put into your exams and CPD help you be the one to hold on to your job? Here are our five top reasons.
1. A willingness to learn
When it comes to your qualifications and job, it’s not enough to settle with what you have and where you are. Your CIPS membership and CPD show your organisation that you are invested in your career and have a keenness to better yourself and keep working.
Your willingness to put in extra time and effort to earn and keep these qualifications is not only a benefit to you, but to your organisation too. Not only that, but self-study and CPD show you can direct yourself independently, something that will be noticed by your managers and may be important when it comes to that next round of promotions or cuts.
2. Up to date knowledge and training
Earning your qualifications based on specific exam-based knowledge is one thing, but subsequently keeping that knowledge up to date is something else entirely. Your CIPS membership, complete with its numerous sources of information and learning, is a great way to ensure that your knowledge is always on point.
You will continue to learn new skills, and understand key industry trends and requirements in the wider procurement profession. You can then bring this new knowledge and concepts back to your organisation, helping to keep it up to date, and potentially even providing it with a competitive advantage.
3. Show yourself as a committed professional
Organisations continue to recognise the importance of professional qualifications, CPD and networking for their procurement teams. For those who are wanting to undertake further studies, organisations are increasingly aiding this by choosing to invest in their employees’ studies.
However, beyond the monetary investment, organisations will recognise your commitment to them and procurement as a career by choosing to further your studies. Those people who don’t go down this route may not be seen as committed in the same way, which could count against them in the future.
4. Part of a community and network
An important part of expanding our own sphere of knowledge is networking with peers and collaborating in procurement-led, highly interactive communities, like CIPS and Procurious. Information from textbooks can help provide a foundation, but the real benefit to you and your organisation comes from understanding what has been successful in the real world.
With a global membership of over 200,000 procurement and supply chain professionals, the CIPS network is a cornucopia of ideas and knowledge. Being an active part in this network means you bring your learning, as well as ideas from others, into your organisation, increasing your value and future potential.
5. A strong future prospect
A willingness to learn and then keep that learning up to date. Commitment to your chosen profession and your organisation. A wealth of knowledge and experience at your fingertips. On top of this all, professional membership and qualifications. Having some of this will help your career; having all of it will mark you out as a strong future prospect in any organisation.
Your qualifications will open up new routes and job roles and ultimately make you a better candidate for promotion, rather than a candidate for headcount reduction.
While there are no guarantees that your CIPS membership will mean you keep your job, it provides a compelling case as to why it’s in the interests of your organisation to hold on to you and support your studies. With most organisations asking for MCIPS for new roles and recruitment, you would question why you wouldn’t study towards it given the opportunity. It’s the start of the journey to a long, and hopefully prosperous, career in procurement.
