Career roadmap
How to become Wholesale and Retail Buyers
Median annual wage for Buyers and Purchasing Agents (13-1020) — BLS OEWS, May 2023. This is the broader SOC group, covering more jobs than this one career.
What you would actually do
The tasks that make up the work of Wholesale and Retail Buyers, weighted by how central each one is to the job.
- Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies.
- Negotiate contracts with clients or service providers.
- Discuss business strategies, practices, or policies with managers.
- Purchase products or services.
- Provide information to coworkers.
- Advise others on business or operational matters.
- Authorize financial actions.
- Disburse funds from clients accounts to creditors.
The skills that actually carry the job
Scored on how much the work depends on each one — not a wishlist, a measurement.
- Negotiation4.0/5
- Active Listening3.8/5
- Speaking3.8/5
- Critical Thinking3.8/5
- Persuasion3.8/5
- Active Learning3.4/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.4/5
- Reading Comprehension3.3/5
- Social Perceptiveness3.3/5
- Complex Problem Solving3.3/5
Would this suit you?
Every occupation leans on a particular mix of interests. Here is the mix measured for Wholesale and Retail Buyers — and our free 2-minute Career Match scores you on the same six.
- Enterprising5.2/7
Persuading, leading, selling, taking commercial risk
- Conventional5.2/7
Ordering, checking, following a precise procedure accurately
- Realistic3.4/7
Hands-on, practical, working with tools, machines or the body
- Social2.4/7
Helping, teaching, caring for and working directly with people
- Investigative1.9/7
Investigating, diagnosing, reasoning through problems with evidence
- Artistic1.6/7
Creating, expressing, working without a fixed procedure
Interest profiles from the O*NET 29.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Used under CC BY 4.0.
