Home > Publications > E-mail Newsletters > Just in ETime

 
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
   


EBSCO Industries, Inc.

 University of San Diego School of Business Administration

 Karrass

 ISM Career Center

In This Issue ...
  • This Month in the Inside Supply Management® Magazine.  Read more.
  • The Supply Management Professional’s Survival Checklist.  Read more.
  • Attention Instructors Interested in Teaching CPSM Reviews — New Train-the-Trainer Program Developed Just For You!  Read more.
  • Calendar of Events for July.  Read more.
  • Term of the Day.  Read more.
  • Contact Us.  Read more.

This Month in the Inside Supply Management® Magazine

Have you checked out this month's issue of Inside Supply Management® magazine? The June issue is full of useful information and includes the following articles:

  • J. Shipman Gold Medal Recipient
  • R. Gene Richter Corporate Awards
  • 2008 Scholarship Winners
  • 2008 Spring Semiannual Forecast

To access the June Inside Supply Management® magazine's table of contents, which contains links to all this month's articles, click here.

Back to Top


The Supply Management Professional’s Survival Checklist

Seven ideas on how to better position your career during tough times.

It’s a tough environment for business and it’s getting tougher. With a volatile economy, the price of energy and commodities are rising. Hiring freezes and work-force reductions are also becoming more common. There are, however, a number of strategies you can implement to help keep your job and improve your career path during these tough times. Here are a number of smart career strategies to keep in mind.

  1. Set Professional Development Goals and Work to Exceed Them — Document your plans and bring your supervisor in as a consultant. This will send a clear message to your employer that you’re serious about your responsibilities and the success of the organization.

  2. Improve Your Networking — Work to gain the trust and respect of influential and powerful professionals as they will help to maximize your ability to network. Plus, never underestimate the power of professionals outside the supply management arena. Contacts in marketing, production and finance can be strategic allies.

    Networking and developing a reputation for participation can have extremely positive benefits for your career. Getting involved with local community organizations, your affiliate and with ISM are great ways to build connections. By doing this you expand opportunities to attend events, conferences and network with industry peers in one of ISM’s Groups or Forums — an excellent way to meet supply professionals from across the globe. For more information, click here.

    In addition, online social networking sites are great ways to make valuable contacts. It’s recommended that you join multiple networking sites in order to be known and develop a good reputation. Incidentally, ISM has formed supply management networking groups in a number of these sites. Look for us on:


  3. Pay Attention to Your Environment — Are there signs of downsizing? And, are you at risk? Since the mid-1980’s the average job tenure has decreased from 12.5 years to less than seven. Regardless of your present position, be aware of career opportunities that will advance your career and job security. If you’re looking for a new opportunity, try ISM’s Online Career Center in addition to other professional job search sites. ISM members can search career opportunities and post their resumes to be seen by top employers. You can also take advantage of our face-to-face Conference Career Center held each May at ISM’s Annual Conference. Keep an eye on ISM’s Report on Business® which is published the first and third business day each month. This highly respected economic barometer can give you insight into your industry and the marketplace in general.

  4. Be Visible — Volunteer with a community organization or your affiliate to showcase your talent. Visibility is a key ingredient to networking and becoming known in the supply management profession. When you serve on task forces and committees, you have opportunities to develop networking contacts and allies. Remember, everything you do in the public arena has the ability to make a positive impression to your present or a possible future employer.

  5. Build Your Competitive Advantage — Earning a university degree, acquiring additional business skills or becoming certified is critical to staying current and in demand—especially in tough times. By doing this you will become more effective in your present position and more valuable to potential employers. ISM offers the Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) professional designation. With a critical analysis of today’s profession, trends and outlook, the CPSM has become the new standard for the Supply Management profession. For more information, click here.

  6. Maintain Current Skills — If you find gaps between your company's needs and your skills, it’s a good time to invest in your professional development. If you sense downsizing is a probability, pay for your own training. It may not be the best time to make a request for spending. There are numerous opportunities for professional training and education for supply managers. If you’re a member of ISM, you can even take advantage of a number of free Knowledge Center courses and Web seminars.

    ISM offers several formats for our educational programs. These courses are flexible, convenient and are designed to teach the newest and most critical supply practices. They include live, public seminars which focus on critical supply management tasks; Knowledge Center courses which are both self-paced or instructor led; and, ISM’s Professional Development Services, which brings training to your location—saving time and travel costs. For more information, click here.

  7. Think Globally — Increase your opportunities and chances for advancement by becoming more attractive to international employers. You might start with simple things such as brushing up on a foreign language or learning a new one. Make sure you take advantage of any opportunity to travel abroad and/or work with global clients.

Back to Top


Attention Instructors Interested in Teaching CPSM Reviews — New Train-the-Trainer Program Developed Just For You!

Get the tools you need to develop and teach CPSM review courses!

Register for a program (free until September 1, 2008; $100 after that) to learn how to teach CPSM reviews and get all the materials* you need to teach. Be one of the first to take advantage of ISM's CPSM Train-the-Trainer (T3) Program, offered to you at no cost by ISM. You only have to purchase a CPSM Study Guide to attend. (You will need to register for the program on our Web site. Additionally, please bring a laptop so you can work on customizing the course materials for your needs.)

For the first time, ISM has developed CPSM training materials (courseware) for you to use in designing and teaching CPSM review courses. The courseware includes all needed teaching material that you can copy and use as-is when developing and delivering CPSM review programs. We will offer several programs throughout the spring and summer. Each seminar reviews the CPSM program, CPSM Exam development, question (item) writing, how the courseware was developed and adult-learning principles. You will then spend time reviewing some of the content, followed by working with the content and slides on your laptop so you know how to customize the materials to fit your teaching style and audience.

Register for and attend this program to receive:

  • Comprehensive instructor manual/teaching guide with detailed information and teaching notes about each task in the CPSM Exam specification
  • For each task, the courseware includes:
    • Review questions
    • Case studies, with questions to pose to your class, answers to questions with rationale for each and teaching notes
    • Sample questions formatted similarly to exam questions
  • Suggested timing to spend on each task, question, discussion and case study
  • Access to digital copies of all PowerPoint slides needed for the program
  • Comprehensive participant manual to be used by those attending the courses you instruct
  • Permission to copy as many participant manuals as you need when teaching the program
  • Listing on ISM's Web site indicating that you attended the Train-the-Trainer program (must attend the full program to be included)
  • Continuing Education Hours (CEHs) also awarded for attending the program

As a reminder, please bring your copy of the CPSM Study Guide, along with your laptop, to the program. Remember that you must attend one of the T3 programs to receive the materials. (We will be offering Web-based T3 seminars later this summer.)

* Please note that you must also attend a Train-the-Trainer program in order to receive the teaching materials.

Program Dates:

  • June 30-July 1, 2008 — Dallas, TX
  • July 23-24, 2008 — Boston, MA
  • August 3, 2008 (1 day program only) — Las Vegas, NV
  • September 16-17, 2008 — Tempe, AZ
  • December 2-3, 2008 — Phoenix, AZ

For more information or to register, click here.

Back to Top


Calendar of Events for July

Back to Top


Term of the Day

Today's ISM Term of the Day is: SUBCONTRACTING.

Definition: The practice in which a prime contractor contracts with another party for performance of all or part of the prime contractor's work.

A different Term of the Day is posted on the ISM Home Page (www.ism.ws) each day — 7 days a week. The Term of the Day is currently taken from the ISM Glossary of Key Supply Management Terms.

ISM members can access the online Members Only Glossary which includes terms from the private, public, and various industry sectors, and from a wide variety of sources. The Glossary can be browsed alphabetically, or searched by keyword.

To access the online Glossary, click here.

If you are not a member but would like membership information, click here.

Back to Top


Contact Us

Questions/Comments? Contact RaeAnn Slaybaugh.

If you would like to sponsor this e-newsletter, contact Kathy Braase or Trish True.

Back to Top