How To Become A Purchaser: What It Is and Career Path

What is a purchaser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A purchaser is also referred to as a purchasing agent. Purchasers work in office environments and are responsible for the purchase of needed supplies, tools, and equipment from suppliers. As a purchaser, you work with the requisitioning department. You are to purchase orders, shop, and verify that their specifications, price, and quality of items to be purchased are accurate. The purchaser forwards orders to suppliers and makes price negotiations. A purchaser should look for means to accelerate the purchase process. You also have to manage the inventory of items in your company.

A bachelor's degree in business management or a related field is a basic requirement for this role. Some companies employ purchasers with a high school diploma with many years of work experience. You must possess good leadership, communication, and organizational skills. A purchaser must be detail-oriented and be able to perform multiple tasks at the same time. A purchaser earns an average of $132,000 yearly.

ScorePurchaserUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $50,031

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.78%

Asian 7.66%

Black or African American 8.85%

Hispanic or Latino 12.19%

Unknown 4.39%

White 66.13%

Gender

female 50.77%

male 49.23%

Age - 49

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 49

Stress Level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.9

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.1

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a purchaser

Explore purchaser education requirements

Most common purchaser degrees

Bachelor's

54.4 %

Associate

19.6 %

High School Diploma

13.2 %

Start to develop specific purchaser skills

Skills	Percentages
Purchase Orders	37.88%
FDA	7.44%
POS	6.49%
Commodities	4.86%
Logistics	4.49%

Complete relevant purchaser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New purchasers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a purchaser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real purchaser resumes.

Research purchaser duties and responsibilities

Purchase components for production; run daily production schedule; manage inventory of items; source alternative items for production
Work extensively with customers to identify business and project requirements through RFI's, RFP's, and RFQ's.
Handle RFQ (request for quotation) and the RFB (request for bid).
Insure day to day operations run smoothly.

Prepare your purchaser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your purchaser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a purchaser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Purchaser Resume templates

Build a professional Purchaser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Purchaser resume.

Apply for purchaser jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a purchaser job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do purchasers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Purchaser reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019

Pros

I learned all that I knew by doing. I had no college just hands on by day to day interaction with vendors and co workers.

Cons

In most cases I'm finding you need a college degree to do what I did without it. I know there is a company out there that would train me. I could be an asset if given a chance.