#Talent Matters – our procurement graduate's journey
This month, we are focusing on Talent Matters, and how we are supporting the next generation of procurement professionals. Kristie Gill joined the NHS Supply Chain: Facilities and Office Solutions team in September 2023 as a procurement graduate. Now as she marks her one year milestone, we caught up with her to find out more about her career change and what attracted her to healthcare procurement.
I joined NOE CPC in September of 2023 through the Pathways to Procurement graduate scheme. I previously worked in television, which as exciting an industry as it is, and as much as I enjoyed it, I just felt for a long time that something was missing, and I think for me it was a tangible feeling of working on something that was bettering other people’s lives or helping in some way. Most of the women in my life work for the NHS and I was always interested in getting into the NHS in some capacity. But I have no clinical skills, so I was looking for something that fit into those brackets of being in the NHS and being able to help people.
Procurement was a new industry to me but when I looked into it, I saw there was a lot of potential for growth, when I came across this particular scheme even though I had never really heard of it or knew anybody that worked in procurement, it just really appealed to me.
When I went for the interview, I was a little taken aback that a lot of people were a few years younger than me with degrees in procurement, but everyone was in the same boat because procurement in practice is quite different to theory in a textbook. I think not having any preconceived ideas about procurement and having my previous experience of working in a professional environment as well as being open to learning about a whole new industry was a really good springboard.
NHS procurement is a huge entity in its own right, and I think can function quite differently to other procurement teams in other organisations and I joined the team at a time of substantial changes, the new contract had just commenced, and the new Procurement Act coming into force. Its been really good for me starting my role in the midst of all this as a lot of people are in the same position, learning and adapting to new ways of working, its been much more collaborative in terms of sharing information and figuring things out together as a team. When I voice an opinion or have an opinion on something it’s not as nerve wracking to voice because everyone is at the point of looking at the changes and how they are going to have an impact.
I’m lucky to be part of a supportive team, it's been great getting to know and work with everyone, colleagues have been very forthcoming about sharing knowledge and working collaboratively with the procurement team, senior managers, and the wider organisation. A lot of colleagues have been very understanding that fresh eyes can see things and its been great to be able to have those open conversations. There’s a lot of experience within the team, people who have been around NHS procurement for their entire careers, so it has been great to learn from them, and be able to bounce new and fresh ideas off them and get a positive response.
Part of the procurement graduate scheme involves rotating around all the different teams within the organisation, at different points of tendering processes and frameworks which is great as it will enable to have a well-rounded understanding of the process as a whole which is invaluable as I will come away with a much better understanding of procurement and the procurement cycle. Each category may work under the same umbrella; they are hugely different with their own specialist knowledge and areas of expertise. It’s a testament to Sally and Jonathan and the way they have decided to structure things for me as the first graduate into the team, they were incredibly open in asking what I wanted to get from the experience and coming up with the best learning experience for me.
As part of the procurement graduate training, I’m also undertaking CIPS training, and I’ve found it really useful as it ties into what I’m learning on a daily basis. It’s pushed me to work with more people across the team, especially those who have been through the training, so if I have a question, I know I can go to someone and say ’have you got a few minutes to talk me through this’ and everyone has been incredibly supportive, and helping me to link what I’m learning about in CIPS with real scenarios I’m dealing with on the job. I did quite well in my first exam after convincing myself I wasn’t going to pass I somehow got a distinction, so I was really proud of that.