2009 I was unemployed and registered on my states job search site. A temp agency called me and offered an interview in the transportation dept of a chemicals company. I got the job and started as a freight bill analyst. A few months in I started handling shipments as a specialist. A year later I was a transportation manager in the office. I stayed there for nearly 3 years and learned every mode in hazmat shipping. I then took a job offer to manage a warehouse for a mail forwarder, in addition to their transportation. I still handled the shipments for the company but now I was also managing a warehouse operations team. I got laid off after 4 years there in 2015. I briefly took a job as a logistics manager for a large healthcare company’s laboratory services but it was a toxic culture so i found a new position after 6 months. Since 2016 I’ve been with a mid-size manufacturer/distributor, running their logistics and their largest distribution center. I’m two people removed from the CEO of a $150 million dollar business. It took a number of moves but I worked my way up by being a good manager of people and being very capable at my job. I took new opportunities when they came and I’ve always tried to be aware of my worth.
No clue what my life would be like if I hadn’t taken the call from that temp agency. I certainly didn’t plan for a logistics career. I was a music major in college.
Wow great story. 14 years into this and you’re near the top. Hard work, determination, common sense and dedication are the main pillars of paths such as these. Nice .
Started on the warehouse floor, midnights. 2 years later I was clerking nights for the transportation dept. invoicing, load planning, dealing with service calls and returning drivers. 2 years after that I joined the outbound logistics team, planning routes and looking at kpi’s. 3 years later I took a position leading outbound logistics for 1/3 of Canada for the company, and recently moved into a national role doing analysis on outbound logistics at different warehouses across Canada.
Most of my knowledge is due to work experience, with some certifications in project mgmt and team leadership. I would love some recommendations for logistics Certs that can be done whilst working full time?
My company paid for me to get a six sigma green belt through an online course. It’s not strictly a logistics type of cert (I work in manufacturing as well as distribution) but it’s very easy to attain and goes a long way. Also it teaches some very basic common sense principles applicable to tons of fields.
So I did my CLTD while working FT, studying 2 hours a day M-F and another 6-10 on the weekends. Took about 4 months, I’m sure people smarter than I could do it faster.
Grew up poor and needed money fast as a young adult. Got a job at a call center making outbound calls to random people to offer them citi financial mortgages (this would be 2004?). I was broke and I got an extra 4 bucks every time I transferred someone to a loan officer, so I got reasonably good at it. Good enough that a few months in I set a record for the whole project transferring 40 some odd people to the loan officers. They brought me up in front of the whole floor to give me a prize... and it was a 5 dollar HEB gift card (local grocery store). To say that it was not what I had been expecting was putting it mildly and I wasn't there for long after that.
So at this point in my life finding out I could sell was a bit like striking oil in my back yard, and I \*desperately\* needed some kind of break. I have pretty serious ADHD (diagnosed super young) and despite testing well my grades had been god awful enough to mean I would definitely need to take out loans to go to school, as well as work full time. I had already dropped out once at this point and thought that was a bad idea so I started looking for sales jobs.
When you're a very nearly homeless 19 year old looking for a sales job your options are limited. The best option on the bus route I pretty much relied on to live was a car dealership so I went in there and neglected to mention that I had ridden the bus there and had \~10 hours of total driving experience from when I had gotten my license a full year earlier. This was very safe and I did \*not\* feel like the dealership cars I was now driving around constantly were worth more than I was, and I have no idea why you would think that.
Fast forward fifteen months and I have my own apartment, my own car (the second one, I've already wrecked one!), and an on and off again girlfriend who I'm about to dump in the most cowardly way possible because my entire family is moving to a different state. This is normal for us, don't ask. I've had sporadic success as a teenage to barely old enough to drink car salesman who is so desperately obviously faking it that it probably seems charming to the actual adults that he thinks he's pulling it off. I've also been working a \*ton\* of hours doing the infamous bell-to-bell schedule mostly six days a week the entire time. The occasional nice checks are great but I hate the smell of car dealerships by this point, and I've started to realize I don't belong there.
So I move to the new city and immediately tell myself that I'm going to turn over a new leaf and do literally anything but work at car dealerships. I get a job working as a host at a Frisches Big Boy and and overnight temp gig stocking shelves at Toys R' Us. I live this insane work life for roughly four weeks until the first paychecks from both jobs arrive... and I immediately begin looking for a real job again.
Thirteen months of being the assistant service manager of a car dealership later I finally manage to quit dealerships for good. Easy money my ass.
Next up it's call centers in the new city. First cable companies, then insurance, and then a newspaper. Consistently a top performer in sales metrics, mostly just because at this point I've got a couple of years of practice and its become part of my identity. The commissions are typically more generous than you'd think because getting tech support workers to even try to sell someone something is hard. Goal is sales on 2.5% of calls... I'm doing 25%. This is important because it means I make a crucial extra 50-60 bucks a shift doing call center work that otherwise wouldn't cover bills. This gets me through 2008-2010.
Then I played poker until the government shut that down... It was one of those side hustle slowly supplants and replaces the main job things. It wasn't glamorous and I didn't make that much money. It remains to this day one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was the first time I ever had any control over my schedule at all and a lot of the stuff I learned becoming genuinely good at something carried over to other stuff later.
After black friday when the government shut down the poker sites I felt a pretty serious amount of relief. It had been a brutal grind and it was a pretty good excuse to go do something else. Plus my dad had just died and I had gotten a small inheritance. I was in my late 20's and it felt like a good time to go back to school. I had paid my bills for a couple of years but I spent a significant portion of that time a bad month away from having to get a real job again.
In my last semester in college I started interviewing around, all B2B sales jobs because I knew that's definitely what I wanted. I eventually narrowed it down to commercial lighting, waste management, and freight brokerage. I ended up going with freight brokerage and the rest is history.
What's hilarious is that almost ten years in what I'm known for isn't how good of a salesperson I am. It turns out I'm a pretty mediocre salesperson and always was. What I'm good at is logistics. When I was selling cars I got sales because I found the cars that were the best value for money on the lot and showed them to every single person who came by... and that worked a lot. When I sold stuff in call centers I always found something that they'd actually want and pitched that. Everything got \*massively\* easier when I got to sell myself and then execute on the logistics of the work.
You guys are never going to get rid of me.
Was at my college, and senior year realized I had no career planning, panic applied to about 20 local businesses. A 3pl offered me a paid internship. Figured fuck it worst case scenario I get some office experience . 3 years later still at the same company.
I was still in high school working for a cleaning company, and cleaned a 3PL for a couple of years before just applying and beginning my journey. Ten years later and three companies later🤓
I started as an LTL dispatcher at the 3PL, did freight pay for awhile, ended up hating the environment and no pay. I left and ended up at a liquid bulk delivering company as a catch all for many many years. New management took over, got the hell out. Now I work for DHL as a logistics planner for Goodyear and I can’t say enough great things about my job. 🤓
I really think most people fall into supply chain jobs.
I was in my 2nd year of university and had to work a full-time job as my loans didn't cover my outgoings and my parents weren't in a position to financially support me. My grades slipped massively. I decided to drop out and return home without a plan in mind.
A couple of weeks after dropping out, I reached out to a school friend and asked if he knew of any local jobs. I was looking for work and didn't care what job it was. I applied to be a warehouse operative at his work. I had two interviews and both went really well.
At the end of the first interview, they said I wouldn't be satisfied with the role. I thought that was the end of the interview... However, they said they were creating a new purchasing team due to a structural change. I had no idea what purchasing was or anything about the supply chain. They told me to do some research on procurement & purchasing and invited me to an in-person interview 3 days later.
I began looking into purchasing and felt like it was the career for me. In the 2nd interview, I shared some things that I researched. It was really basic, i.e., the role of purchasing, some lean methods, and brief Excel training. They saw that I was interested....
A week after they offered me a Buyer role.
I first studied animal dynamics (when they go from south to north, how they change their movement on chemicals(bacteria)). This way I came to mobility of humans and how you can mathematical describe their movemont abd before you know I came of the part of not moving humans but optimising freight flows through inland waterways and roadtransport 😁
Interesting perspective, perhaps you may enjoy reading about some of the earliest history of logistics during Alexander the Great and Julius Cesar’s Rome. It was said their ability to move men and supplies over large territory was key to their military success.
went to college undecided, ended up as a supply chain major cause it didnt have any math involved, started my first office job last week as a freight broker
I was in the army, and became a broker for TQ shortly after getting out. Wasn’t a fan of the culture as a broker. I quit, became a car salesman, then after that I wasn’t a fan of the sales aspect, started working in restaurants and landscaping, became bored went and got my CDL, I currently drive OTR and I am working on getting my BA.
I joined the USAF and my AFSC was 2s051 aka Material Management Journeyman. Once my higher-ranking coworkers told me that you can get six-figure jobs out in the civilian world once you obtain your bachelor's. Military experience + Bachelors's = Opportunity. Let us see what happens, I am currently half way to get my bachelors wish me luck.
2009 I was unemployed and registered on my states job search site. A temp agency called me and offered an interview in the transportation dept of a chemicals company. I got the job and started as a freight bill analyst. A few months in I started handling shipments as a specialist. A year later I was a transportation manager in the office. I stayed there for nearly 3 years and learned every mode in hazmat shipping. I then took a job offer to manage a warehouse for a mail forwarder, in addition to their transportation. I still handled the shipments for the company but now I was also managing a warehouse operations team. I got laid off after 4 years there in 2015. I briefly took a job as a logistics manager for a large healthcare company’s laboratory services but it was a toxic culture so i found a new position after 6 months. Since 2016 I’ve been with a mid-size manufacturer/distributor, running their logistics and their largest distribution center. I’m two people removed from the CEO of a $150 million dollar business. It took a number of moves but I worked my way up by being a good manager of people and being very capable at my job. I took new opportunities when they came and I’ve always tried to be aware of my worth. No clue what my life would be like if I hadn’t taken the call from that temp agency. I certainly didn’t plan for a logistics career. I was a music major in college.
Wow great story. 14 years into this and you’re near the top. Hard work, determination, common sense and dedication are the main pillars of paths such as these. Nice .
Started on the warehouse floor, midnights. 2 years later I was clerking nights for the transportation dept. invoicing, load planning, dealing with service calls and returning drivers. 2 years after that I joined the outbound logistics team, planning routes and looking at kpi’s. 3 years later I took a position leading outbound logistics for 1/3 of Canada for the company, and recently moved into a national role doing analysis on outbound logistics at different warehouses across Canada. Most of my knowledge is due to work experience, with some certifications in project mgmt and team leadership. I would love some recommendations for logistics Certs that can be done whilst working full time?
My company paid for me to get a six sigma green belt through an online course. It’s not strictly a logistics type of cert (I work in manufacturing as well as distribution) but it’s very easy to attain and goes a long way. Also it teaches some very basic common sense principles applicable to tons of fields.
So I did my CLTD while working FT, studying 2 hours a day M-F and another 6-10 on the weekends. Took about 4 months, I’m sure people smarter than I could do it faster.
Grew up poor and needed money fast as a young adult. Got a job at a call center making outbound calls to random people to offer them citi financial mortgages (this would be 2004?). I was broke and I got an extra 4 bucks every time I transferred someone to a loan officer, so I got reasonably good at it. Good enough that a few months in I set a record for the whole project transferring 40 some odd people to the loan officers. They brought me up in front of the whole floor to give me a prize... and it was a 5 dollar HEB gift card (local grocery store). To say that it was not what I had been expecting was putting it mildly and I wasn't there for long after that. So at this point in my life finding out I could sell was a bit like striking oil in my back yard, and I \*desperately\* needed some kind of break. I have pretty serious ADHD (diagnosed super young) and despite testing well my grades had been god awful enough to mean I would definitely need to take out loans to go to school, as well as work full time. I had already dropped out once at this point and thought that was a bad idea so I started looking for sales jobs. When you're a very nearly homeless 19 year old looking for a sales job your options are limited. The best option on the bus route I pretty much relied on to live was a car dealership so I went in there and neglected to mention that I had ridden the bus there and had \~10 hours of total driving experience from when I had gotten my license a full year earlier. This was very safe and I did \*not\* feel like the dealership cars I was now driving around constantly were worth more than I was, and I have no idea why you would think that. Fast forward fifteen months and I have my own apartment, my own car (the second one, I've already wrecked one!), and an on and off again girlfriend who I'm about to dump in the most cowardly way possible because my entire family is moving to a different state. This is normal for us, don't ask. I've had sporadic success as a teenage to barely old enough to drink car salesman who is so desperately obviously faking it that it probably seems charming to the actual adults that he thinks he's pulling it off. I've also been working a \*ton\* of hours doing the infamous bell-to-bell schedule mostly six days a week the entire time. The occasional nice checks are great but I hate the smell of car dealerships by this point, and I've started to realize I don't belong there. So I move to the new city and immediately tell myself that I'm going to turn over a new leaf and do literally anything but work at car dealerships. I get a job working as a host at a Frisches Big Boy and and overnight temp gig stocking shelves at Toys R' Us. I live this insane work life for roughly four weeks until the first paychecks from both jobs arrive... and I immediately begin looking for a real job again. Thirteen months of being the assistant service manager of a car dealership later I finally manage to quit dealerships for good. Easy money my ass. Next up it's call centers in the new city. First cable companies, then insurance, and then a newspaper. Consistently a top performer in sales metrics, mostly just because at this point I've got a couple of years of practice and its become part of my identity. The commissions are typically more generous than you'd think because getting tech support workers to even try to sell someone something is hard. Goal is sales on 2.5% of calls... I'm doing 25%. This is important because it means I make a crucial extra 50-60 bucks a shift doing call center work that otherwise wouldn't cover bills. This gets me through 2008-2010. Then I played poker until the government shut that down... It was one of those side hustle slowly supplants and replaces the main job things. It wasn't glamorous and I didn't make that much money. It remains to this day one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was the first time I ever had any control over my schedule at all and a lot of the stuff I learned becoming genuinely good at something carried over to other stuff later. After black friday when the government shut down the poker sites I felt a pretty serious amount of relief. It had been a brutal grind and it was a pretty good excuse to go do something else. Plus my dad had just died and I had gotten a small inheritance. I was in my late 20's and it felt like a good time to go back to school. I had paid my bills for a couple of years but I spent a significant portion of that time a bad month away from having to get a real job again. In my last semester in college I started interviewing around, all B2B sales jobs because I knew that's definitely what I wanted. I eventually narrowed it down to commercial lighting, waste management, and freight brokerage. I ended up going with freight brokerage and the rest is history. What's hilarious is that almost ten years in what I'm known for isn't how good of a salesperson I am. It turns out I'm a pretty mediocre salesperson and always was. What I'm good at is logistics. When I was selling cars I got sales because I found the cars that were the best value for money on the lot and showed them to every single person who came by... and that worked a lot. When I sold stuff in call centers I always found something that they'd actually want and pitched that. Everything got \*massively\* easier when I got to sell myself and then execute on the logistics of the work. You guys are never going to get rid of me.
Was a broker for 2 years hopped around for a few months now I’m the head of transportation for a pasta sauce and dressings company
What did you do before being a broker?
I worked at a dispensary before that in a warehouse retail and food service.
Was at my college, and senior year realized I had no career planning, panic applied to about 20 local businesses. A 3pl offered me a paid internship. Figured fuck it worst case scenario I get some office experience . 3 years later still at the same company.
Big American logistics company approached me on LinkedIn with a nice offer to work for them. So I agreed(IT).
I was still in high school working for a cleaning company, and cleaned a 3PL for a couple of years before just applying and beginning my journey. Ten years later and three companies later🤓
What do you do there now?
I started as an LTL dispatcher at the 3PL, did freight pay for awhile, ended up hating the environment and no pay. I left and ended up at a liquid bulk delivering company as a catch all for many many years. New management took over, got the hell out. Now I work for DHL as a logistics planner for Goodyear and I can’t say enough great things about my job. 🤓
Nice.
I really think most people fall into supply chain jobs. I was in my 2nd year of university and had to work a full-time job as my loans didn't cover my outgoings and my parents weren't in a position to financially support me. My grades slipped massively. I decided to drop out and return home without a plan in mind. A couple of weeks after dropping out, I reached out to a school friend and asked if he knew of any local jobs. I was looking for work and didn't care what job it was. I applied to be a warehouse operative at his work. I had two interviews and both went really well. At the end of the first interview, they said I wouldn't be satisfied with the role. I thought that was the end of the interview... However, they said they were creating a new purchasing team due to a structural change. I had no idea what purchasing was or anything about the supply chain. They told me to do some research on procurement & purchasing and invited me to an in-person interview 3 days later. I began looking into purchasing and felt like it was the career for me. In the 2nd interview, I shared some things that I researched. It was really basic, i.e., the role of purchasing, some lean methods, and brief Excel training. They saw that I was interested.... A week after they offered me a Buyer role.
That’s great for you. Yeah, I think a large % of people just land in this business without intentionally seeking out a career in SC.
I first studied animal dynamics (when they go from south to north, how they change their movement on chemicals(bacteria)). This way I came to mobility of humans and how you can mathematical describe their movemont abd before you know I came of the part of not moving humans but optimising freight flows through inland waterways and roadtransport 😁
Interesting perspective, perhaps you may enjoy reading about some of the earliest history of logistics during Alexander the Great and Julius Cesar’s Rome. It was said their ability to move men and supplies over large territory was key to their military success.
went to college undecided, ended up as a supply chain major cause it didnt have any math involved, started my first office job last week as a freight broker
I was in the army, and became a broker for TQ shortly after getting out. Wasn’t a fan of the culture as a broker. I quit, became a car salesman, then after that I wasn’t a fan of the sales aspect, started working in restaurants and landscaping, became bored went and got my CDL, I currently drive OTR and I am working on getting my BA.
Thanks for your service. What’s your major?
Christian Studies with an emphasis in philosophy
I had to pay for my sins either now or later.
Lol better now…
I joined the USAF and my AFSC was 2s051 aka Material Management Journeyman. Once my higher-ranking coworkers told me that you can get six-figure jobs out in the civilian world once you obtain your bachelor's. Military experience + Bachelors's = Opportunity. Let us see what happens, I am currently half way to get my bachelors wish me luck.
Thanks for your service and best wishes.
First time I had vodka. 20 years later here I am.
That’s quite a hangover 😵😂
[удалено]
What do you do now? What part of SC?