The logistics industry takes training and qualifications very seriously: executive search specialist BiS Henderson can advise would-be candidates and potential employers on what educational backgrounds will be needed for each category of vacancies. There will always be a limited number of opportunities for very specific tasks, but anyone who has already studied a subject relating to logistics, transport, or the supply chain will have a wider range of vacancy options to follow.
Other subjects that can be readily applied in a logistics career are business with either economics or languages (or both). Likewise, qualifications in management or business studies are relevant to working in the intensely practical world of logistics.
There are plenty of employers whose intake will include diploma-holders and graduates in subjects other than distribution or logistics. Some, however, will insist on tightly-focused vocational training.
The good news for both candidates and employers is that there are some Degree and Higher National Diploma courses that focus exclusively on logistics and transport. The bad news is that there are relatively few of them. Many other college and university degree courses, such as geography, business studies, economics or planning will often make appropriate modules available for the specialist needs of logisticians.
There are two quite distinct classes of logistics recruiter: those who insist on graduates at a particular level and those who assess the personal qualities and take the candidates’ experience into account first, before looking at their academic qualifications. However, it must be said that with the increasing prevalence of further education qualifications among job seekers, there is a risk that the latter category of employer may at some point end up just doing a ‘rough sort’ on the basis of the qualifications listed in the mountain of CVs before making a first interview list.
For those candidates with existing ‘first’ degrees there are a number of postgraduate courses which are listed by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). Potential logistics recruiters will often specify a preference for additional training or qualifications and some may even suggest specific courses, particularly when looking for intake with very specific skill-sets. The list on the CILT website will always be kept up to date by the colleges and universities involved, since it will be the first port of call for potential candidates.
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