If you have been successful in getting an interview for a Buyer position then you will already have plenty of experience as a Buyer or Assistant Buyer and have worked in a retail position previously doing this role. Although no formal buying qualifications you will have a background in the area eg: fashion footwear or clothing that you are going to be buying for.
As a buyer you will spend a great deal of your role travelling, meeting with suppliers, looking at samples and making the ultimate decision as to whether or not to buy the products and assessing if they will sell in the company you work for. You will need a keen eye and be able to keep on top of the latest trends.
If you are preparing for your interview, you will need to think carefully about how your experience matches with that of the job description and what you know about the company already. Go through your CV in detail highlighting the areas you are not so comfortable with and make a plan about how you could change that and how you are going to learn these areas?
Depending on the products you are going to be buying will depend on what kind of portfolio you have built up over the years but it may be an idea to take with you to an interview some examples of what you have been responsible for buying and an idea of how this has sold and why you made the decision.
Buyer Interview Questions
During your interview you could be asked questions such as:
How do you assess your customers?How do you get to know what they like to buy and whether this is seasonal?Convince me that a particular sample is what we should be buying and why?Why do you think you are a good buyer?What skills make a good buyer?There will be various questions which will be asked specifically related to the industry you are hoping to be a buyer for which makes it more important to research your company well before an interview. Go and pretend to be a mystery shopper, see how the store operates, what the footfall is like etc, target customer, all these areas that you can comment on during an interview is valuable.
Good luck with your interview.
