What does a Procurement Clerk do?

Compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services. Day to day that includes work like track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders and Perform buying duties when necessary.

What skills should a Procurement Clerk put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Procurement Clerk list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Autotask, Electronic data interchange EDI software, Enterprise resource planning ERP software, IBM Maximo Asset Management, and Intuit QuickBooks. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Procurement Clerk work?

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Clerk, and Purchasing Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Procurement Clerk need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 48% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Procurement Clerk role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Procurement Clerk resume example

A resume for a Procurement Clerk needs to show the work itself: compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services. Day to day that means work like this: track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders; perform buying duties when necessary. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Buyer
Procurement Specialist
Purchasing Clerk
Purchasing Specialist
Procurement Assistant
Procurement Officer
Purchasing Assistant
Purchasing Associate
Purchasing Coordinator
Warehouse Clerk
Departmental Buyer
Expeditor
Film Replacement Orderer
Procurement Agent
Procurement Analyst
Procurement Coordinator
Procurement Representative
Procurement Technician

O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders.
Perform buying duties when necessary.
Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.
Approve and pay bills.
Maintain knowledge of all organizational and governmental rules affecting purchases, and provide information about these rules to organization staff members and to vendors.
Determine if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary.
Check shipments when they arrive to ensure that orders have been filled correctly and that goods meet specifications.
Contact suppliers to schedule or expedite deliveries and to resolve shortages, missed or late deliveries, and other problems.
Prepare, maintain, and review purchasing files, reports and price lists.
Review requisition orders to verify accuracy, terminology, and specifications.

19 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Perform buying duties when necessary, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Autotask
Electronic data interchange EDI software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
IBM Maximo Asset Management
Intuit QuickBooks
Inventory tracking software
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word

23 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Copy machines
Document scanners
Electronic cash registers
Laser facsimile machines
Multiline telephone systems
Personal computers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

SAP
train personnel

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Speaking
03Active Listening
04Critical Thinking
05Monitoring
06Social Perceptiveness
07Writing
08Complex Problem Solving
09Judgment and Decision Making
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

English Language
Administrative
Customer and Personal Service
Economics and Accounting
Administration and Management
Mathematics
Computers and Electronics
Transportation

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

48%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
33%Bachelor's Degree
17%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Procurement Clerk do?: Compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services. Day to day that includes work like track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders and Perform buying duties when necessary.
What skills should a Procurement Clerk put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, and Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Procurement Clerk list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Autotask, Electronic data interchange EDI software, Enterprise resource planning ERP software, IBM Maximo Asset Management, and Intuit QuickBooks. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Procurement Clerk work?: O*NET records 24 titles for this occupation, including Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Clerk, and Purchasing Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Procurement Clerk need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 48% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Procurement Clerk role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.