How to Build a Career as a Logistics Coordinator Today

Amy D. Duncan November 17, 2023 | 08:54

In today’s fluctuating economy, one crucial factor you’ll want to consider when choosing your career path is the industry you’re entering.

Logistics Coordinator

Contents
Educate yourself Earn certifications Seek hands-on experiences Pursue job opportunities

You’ll likely want to choose one that’s robust, granting you a stable paycheck and many opportunities to grow. One great choice is manufacturing. Businesses will always need to be able to create goods and deliver them to their customers—and with the e-commerce market booming and forecast to reach an annual $5.47 trillion by 2027, professions related to the manufacturing sector will likely continue to be in high demand for a long while.

You can undertake many positions within this industry, ranging from facilities management to machine operation. If you’re customer service-oriented and value organizational expertise, however, you might want to aim for logistics. The responsibilities of a logistics coordinator involve assessing your company’s warehouses and inventories, optimizing its logistics processes, and ensuring that all its shipping models comply with the relevant regulations. You’ll negotiate with suppliers, retailers, and various stakeholders, align shipments and deliveries, and process freight claims and billing. If this systematic rigor in a job appeals to you, here’s how you can build a career as a logistics coordinator today.

Educate yourself

You can start your logistics coordinator career by granting yourself the education necessary to succeed. Typically, you’ll want to have at least an associate degree in a major related to goods exchange. It’ll also give you an edge if you attend a prestigious university for logistics and supply chain management. Your expertise will benefit from the specialized skills and knowledge high-performance schools offer, and the reputation of your chosen university can be advantageous in the job market. Consider the University of Washington, which has a high recruitment rate thanks to its plethora of networking opportunities, portfolio consulting, and seminars on logistics events, or the University of North Texas, located in the leading area in the US in distribution, transportation, and supply chain services and with plenty of opportunities of employment for aspiring logistic coordinators.

Earn certifications

While logistics coordinator certifications aren’t necessary, they’ll help you gain an edge in standing out from the competition by showing you’re prepared to take that extra step to show your competence. You can get the Association for Supply Chain Management's certification in production and inventory management, which will test both your functional knowledge of production and inventory alignment and your ability to satisfy customers. You can also get a certification in logistics, transportation, and distribution to showcase your understanding of the overarching picture of the supply chain.

Seek hands-on experiences

Being a logistic coordinator means playing a leadership role in the team and comprehending each member’s duties. For this reason, most managers prefer their logistics coordinator candidates to have some work experience, especially within the company. In this case, you may want to apply to your desired employer organization for an entry-level role like being a warehouse worker, where you’ll be responsible for safe handling, moving, storage, and inventory of the company’s expendable and nonexpendable items. From there, you can establish rapport with your team and demonstrate an interest in moving up within the company. All this can help solidify your qualifications for logistics coordination.

Pursue job opportunities

Once you’ve followed the above steps, it’s time for you to apply for your desired position. When a role opens up in your preferred company, craft a job application—following some best practices, like writing an attention-grabbing cover letter and configuring a skimmable résumé—and then follow through with the hiring or job transition process. Even these simple steps can go a long way toward helping you fulfill your career aspirations and land a role as a logistics coordinator.

Becoming a logistics coordinator takes time and effort, but it’s definitely doable. Follow these steps to get started today.

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