How long does it take to become a Purchasing Agent?

1. Purchase Orders -- Supervised and monitored purchase orders, service agreements, bids and vendor selection, government subcontracting reports and contract administration.

2. Procedures -- Maintained and updated purchasing policies and procedures as required revised annually by legislature to ensure accordance with Oklahoma Statutory Law.

3. Vendor Invoices -- Saved company money by evaluating incoming vendor invoices for correct pricing.

4. Office Supplies -- Placed orders for medical equipment and office supplies based upon utilization reports, physical inventories and requests by management.

5. Customer Service -- Led, mentored and developed high performance cross-cultural/cross-functional operations teams that consistently exceeded customer service/satisfaction/performance/quality improvement goals over top competitors.

Common Educational Background For A Purchasing Agent

The education needed to be a Purchasing Agent is normally a Bachelor's Degree. Purchasing Agents usually study Business, Accounting or Management. 56.0% of Purchasing Agents hold a Bachelor's Degree and 22.0% hold a Associate Degree. We found these by analyzing 31662 Purchasing Agent resumes to investigate the topic of Purchasing Agent education more precisely.

The most common colleges for students to pursue their goal of becoming a Purchasing Agent are University of Phoenix and Pennsylvania State University. We also broke down what colleges provide the best overall education for a Purchasing Agent. Students have a great path to earning their Purchasing Agent qualifications at the following schools:

1. University of Pennsylvania
2. Bentley University
3. SUNY Farmingdale

If you're interested in getting a college degree in an affordable college for Purchasing Agents - Baruch College of the City University of New York is an excellent option for you. If your SAT or ACT score aren't as high as you'd like, you can look at Barry University, as the admission requirements aren't too selective. On the other end of that spectrum are the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and Northwestern University.

For those who would rather stay in your pajamas during the day, we prepared some online courses that can help in Purchasing Agent education paths.

Common Certifications For A Purchasing Agent

The Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) certification is most common among Purchasing Agents. This certification is awarded by the Institute for Supply Management. This certification is great to have as it shows an improvement in your competency to perform your role. You can earn this certification at the beginning of your career, as it often doesn't require a minimum education level and work experience. To become a certified Purchasing Agent with Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM), You need to pass the exam. This certificate requires more than two years of work experience. Renew certification every 5 year.