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Career Advice
HR Insights
Evan Cave
30 September 2025
Here's what you need to know upfront: supply chain firms are seeing a 128% increase in resume submissions compared to last year, but 59% of job seekers believe less than a quarter of their applications reach a human recruiter.
The problem? Most candidates fundamentally misunderstand what recruiters actually do.
Recruiters don't work for you. They work for companies.
This changes everything about how you should approach them.
The Bottom Line: 57% of supply chain executives struggle with recruiting qualified personnel. Recruiters are hired to solve this specific problem for companies, not to help everyone who needs a job.
DON'T: Send messages like "I've attached my resume. Can you review it to see if you have any open positions I might be a fit for?"
DO: Lead with your specific value. Try: "I'm a Six Sigma Black Belt with 7 years in automotive procurement. I specialize in supplier diversification and delivered $15M in savings last year. If you have procurement leadership roles, I'd love to connect."
DON'T: 71% of candidates apply outside their industry despite only 24% successfully switching. Mass applications dilute your efforts.
DO: Target roles where your specific skills solve specific problems. Research the company's challenges and position yourself as the solution.
DON'T: Set your LinkedIn headline once and forget it.
DO: Update your LinkedIn headline every two weeks with relevant keywords. Each change triggers LinkedIn to rescan your profile, making you more likely to appear in recruiter searches.
DON'T: Take days to respond to recruiter messages or show up unprepared.
DO: Respond within 24 hours, even if just to acknowledge receipt. 68% of employers cite failure to make eye contact as a major interview mistake.
DON'T: Use AI to generate generic cover letters that sound like everyone else's. Career experts are seeing the same AI patterns repeatedly, making candidates blur together.
DO: Use AI as a coach, not a copywriter. Ask it to "identify the three key differentiators this company wants" then craft your own response.
Find out:
Create a 2-sentence summary that includes:
When you see a recruiter posting a job:
RED FLAGS that hurt your chances:
76% of supply chain operations reported workforce shortages in 2024, with 61% calling it extreme. This creates unique opportunities but also specific challenges:
For specialized supply chain roles, working with experienced supply chain recruiters who understand these nuances can significantly accelerate your search timeline.
We asked hiring managers and industry leaders what unconventional approach actually got their attention. Here's what they told us.
I love it when candidates skip the application line and directly email or LinkedIn message the hiring manager for a role. I think this works to get attention because it shows initiative, creativity, and doggedness. It also shows that they're deeply interested in your company specifically, and not just shotgun applying for every job out there (ostensibly, it's hard to imagine someone has time to personally email the hiring managers at dozens of positions).
Colin McIntosh, Founder, Sheets AI Resume Builder
Believe it or not, but once, someone sent us a resume on a line-item invoice. As in, they literally invoiced us for their skills: $8,000 for Excel expertise, $15,000 for team management, $10,500 for compliance cleanup. Line-item costed, justified, and itemized. Completely deadpan. Zero fluff. No corporate jabber. It jumped out at me, because it subverted the typical power dynamic. Instead of groveling for the job, they framed their time/value on equal footing with other vendors. That kind of bravado is unusual, and to be fair, it paid off. It worked, because it changed the terms of the conversation. I wasn't reading a resume, I was going over a scope of work. It forced me to look at cost-benefit rather than credentials. Not to mention, it made the individual feel like a peer, rather than a vassal. That subtle change, even if unconscious, informs how you view their role in the company. Devil is in the details, but the tone was on-point without being over-wrought. In a pile of templated resumes, it was memorable, practical, and ballsy all at once.
Guillermo Triana, Founder and CEO, PEO-Marketplace.com
One candidate completely rewrote the top third of their resume with a pledge specifically naming our organization and the exact role. Not a generic summary full of buzzwords like "results-driven professional" - an actual statement of what they'd deliver to us. It immediately answered the hiring manager's core question: "Will this person solve my problems?" We called them within 48 hours. The reason it worked is embarrassingly simple: NOT A SINGLE other applicant customized their resume for the position. They had relevant experience, but they made us do the work of connecting the dots. The one who made it crystal clear they understood our needs? That's who we interviewed. Most job seekers think AI tools level the playing field, but it's doing the opposite. Generic resumes are now easier to produce, which means strategic, human thinking stands out more than ever. Show them you've already thought like an insider before they hire you.
Margaret Phares, Executive Director, PARWCC
Job seekers reveal the bold moves that turned cold applications into job offers.
After leaving a long stretch in tech sales, I wrote a brutally honest LinkedIn post about recovering from burnout and what that taught me about leadership. It wasn't polished or strategicit was just real. That post ended up catching the eye of a founder looking for someone who valued people as much as performance. Time after time, when authenticity feels risky, it's often the thing that makes the right person notice you. Daniel Hebert, Founder, yourLumira by SalesMVP Lab Inc
I reached out to a franchisor directly through their corporate Instagram DMs after they posted about a new location opening. I wrote two sentences about why their operations model was brilliant based on what I could see publicly, then asked if they'd spare 15 minutes to talk about their expansion strategy. The VP of Development called me the next day. What made it work was that I demonstrated I'd actually studied their business before asking for anything. Most candidates just send generic application - I showed I understood their specific challenges and was genuinely curious about their approach. When we eventually met for a formal interview, she told me I was the only person who had ever contacted them that way with actual insights rather than just asking for a job. From the hiring side now, I can tell you we remember candidates who show they've done real homework on our franchise systems. Last year someone sent me a one-page analysis of our Hawaii ABA therapy franchise's growth trajectory with a simple question about our multi-market coordination--that person is now on our team. It works because it proves you're already thinking like someone who belongs in the role. Monique Pelle Kunkle, VP of Operations, Franchise Genesis
69% of employers are struggling to find qualified candidates, but that doesn't mean they'll lower their standards - it means you need to clearly demonstrate you're the solution they need.
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This Month:
Remember: Recruiters find candidates for jobs, not jobs for candidates. But when you position yourself as the specific solution they need for their clients' problems, you become the candidate they want to find.
According to Gartner's research on supply chain careers, the most successful professionals in 2025 will be those who combine operational expertise with digital fluency - exactly the kind of candidates that procurement recruiters and operations recruiters are actively seeking.
Is your supply chain job AI-proof? We discuss which tactical roles will be automated and which strategic skills will always need humans in our Procurement Pulse podcast. Subscribe to learn how to position yourself for the next 5 years and stay ahead of industry changes that could reshape your career.
SCOPE Recruiting is a boutique supply chain recruiting firm founded by former ABB global category managers, Friddy and Melissa Hoegener. Unlike generalist staffing agencies, every recruiter at SCOPE has hands-on supply chain experience before moving into executive search. That insider perspective allows us to speak the language of procurement, logistics, planning, and operations and deliver smarter matches, stronger retention, and faster hiring results.
If you’re building or scaling a team and want to work with one of the best supply chain recruiters in the U.S., visit scoperecruiting.com
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