Procurement for the unenlightened: my experience as a Summer Intern with 7 Step Solutions

On my first morning at 7 Steps, I walked out of Waterloo Station with only a hazy idea of what procurement actually involved. I had searched for a definition of the industry beforehand, but the explanations I found were rather broad and unhelpful: full of vague jargon like ‘sourcing’ and ‘supplier management’ that told me nothing about what I would actually be doing or observing within the firm. Now, as my time here ends, procurement is no longer an abstract term but something I realise can only be truly understood by being a part of the process itself - it is an essential strategic function that shapes how businesses spend, source, and manage risk.

I was struck in those first few days by just how human the industry was compared to what I expected. On paper, procurement seemed to be highly numerical and analytical, entailing trawling through spreadsheets and evaluating the minutiae of how a firm spends its money on even the most basic of supplies. Of course this is a core aspect of what procurement is, but it rapidly became clear to me that the real heart of 7 Steps lies in relationship management, in facilitating conversations with suppliers and firms that require effective communication and a willingness to negotiate and compromise. I was fortunate enough to be able to shadow senior members of the team in various situations that demonstrated the necessity of such soft skills, whether at team meetings, site visits and even simply sitting down for a chat over a drink with a supplier.

Indeed, the latter instance was an experience that served as an effective microcosm of the procurement industry. The senior consultant I shadowed that day invited me to come along to a meeting with a supplier in the City, innocuously for a ‘drink and a chat’. It transpired instead to be an all-encompassing exercise in networking and relationship management - conversation bounced from amicable small talk to an evaluation of the supplier’s methods (they had recently been unsuccessful as part of an RFP process), before then turning to where there could be future business between the two parties after reflecting on the outcome of the previous tender. It was fascinating to see the importance of face-to-face meetings and building rapport as part of the wider process, and even to contribute some (rather basic) observations of my own to the conversation, based on what I’d learned during my time with the firm.

Thus, my time with 7 Steps has proven valuable in exposing me to the variety inherent to day-to-day procurement work, whilst also providing a window into the exacting standards and attention-to-detail expected of a consultancy firm coming into differing corporate environments. This has been a greatly enriching experience that I will carry with me in whatever future career I eventually pursue, and I’m particularly thankful to Alex, a senior consultant at the firm who designed the intern program for me and made sure it exposed me to every facet of procurement, giving me a comprehensive experience of how 7 Step Solutions operates.

Article by Patrick Corbett