Be a master of perpetual motion
THE logistics sector needs an extra 900,000 staff by 2020.
Logistics professionals — who plan and manage the flow of goods from A to B — are in demand, and students on some logistics courses are offered jobs before they even graduate.
James Fairhurst, a graduate trainee with logistics company Wincanton, works at the site of one of its clients in Leek, Staffordshire, as a transport shift supervisor.
The 23-year-old says: ‘I plan deliveries to ensure that goods arrive on time, so one minute I am talking to a wagon driver and the next to a company director. Not many careers would offer you so much human management experience at my age.’
James, who studied logistics and supply chain management at Huddersfield University, a course that included work placements, was offered a job before graduating. He is soon moving on to a contract manager’s role. James adds: ‘There are lots of opportunities in the sector for both men and women.’
Bethany Fovargue, operations manager at NOVUS, part of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) says: ‘Logistics is a hidden profession that we often only hear about pejoratively.
‘But from the traditional logistics landscape of trucks and sheds, more technical skills are required as technologies like drone deliveries and driverless vehicles emerge.
See novus.uk.com; think-logistics.co.uk; ciltuk.org.uk, careers; wincanton.co.uk.