If you want to know more about the day-to-day life of a Demand Planner, Simoné let's us in on her position at a large retailer.

Simoné is a Trainee Demand Planner for one of South Africa’s well-known national retailers. She gave us a sneak peek into her day-to-day life so we could learn more about her career in the retail industry.

Simoné works in planning where she is responsible for forecasting activities associated with Pepstores’s customers and products. “My role is to forecast sales of active products within the company using history as a guide,” she explains.

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Simoné tells us that she landed her role unexpectedly. She tells us more about the journey: “I have a background in finance, and in August 2015, I was retrenched from my previous company. Prior to the retrenchment, one of my closest friends gave my CV to her manager who at the time was looking for trainee demand planners.”

Simoné went through the whole interviewing process, but was unsuccessful. “I did not have the experience or a background in retail,” she explains. Even though Simoné did not get the job she was interviewing for, the company had another position for her. “I must have made a good impression because I was offered a Merchandiser Controller position, and I started on 1 September 2015,” she says, adding that “this position is just under the Trainee Demand Planner.” Eight months later into her new job role, a Trainee Demand Planner position became available. “I applied and got the position.” she says.

 “I think they were just grooming me for it.”

We asked Simoné what she loves most about her job, and she mentioned how it allows her to be creative. “It’s not reparative and allows me to think outside the box.”

Simoné is also a people person. “I love working with people and this position allows me to interact with people from different departments.”

Her advice to those looking to get into a similar line of work is that, “if you want to take on a new challenge, apply for the position, because you never know what might happen.”

Register for a Supply Chain: Demand Planning short online course through Udemy.

If you’d like to be featured in this Instagram series, send a mail to editor@careers24.com, telling us about yourself and your awesome job, and we’ll be in touch!