Devoted to purchasing, purchasing agents, and all things related

If promoting from within is not possible (though you know you might have a hard time convincing some of us of that if you read Finding the Best Buyers - Part 1), where next do you look when your Sourcing Department wants to find Buyers?

Start by raiding the competition of course!  Look through your contact list and contact your friends and colleagues at other companies.  Someone is always looking for a better/higher paying opportunity somewhere else.

Another good source is your local chapter of the Institute for Supply Management.  They should have a job seekers/resume posting service as well as networking and social events in which you could meet people informally for consideration when a job is open.  You might also want to meet people who will consider you when a job is open at their corporation.  If you check out the website of the national organization above, you will find a job seekers database and service right online.

If you are willing (or worse, eager) to look through hundreds or even thousands of resumes, you can also post on general job boards such as www.Monster.com which has a Purchasing category.

Finally, I have another slightly unusual idea.  What about looking for people who have decided to further their education in the Procurement field on their own?  You could contact universities that offer programs or private companies such as Next Level Purchasing to see if they will share student contact info with you or at least pass on your contact info to interested students.

I know that Charles Dominick of Next Level Purchasing (also read his Puchasing blog stops by here at PurchaseRealm so I am sure he will leave a comment about the above idea.