Foreign Trade Manager: characteristics, responsibility, pros and cons

Modern business extends its activities far beyond the borders of the Russian Federation, focusing on the world market. The international exchange of goods, services, information and scientific developments is one of the components of such a capacious concept as foreign economic activity - foreign economic activity. This sector of the economy belongs to the market sphere.

At the legislative level, he has a certain degree of legal and economic independence. The basic principle of foreign economic activity is commercial profits due to the turnover of own financial and material-technical means. Let's see what the FEA manager does.

One of the many areas of management is specialization in foreign economic activity. The foreign trade manager is in demand in commercial structures whose business is associated with foreign partners. The type of activity of the company determines the terms of reference for such a specialist.

• Export abroad of a product. In this case, the employee will have to solve problems associated with finding a buyer, analyzing the competitive environment and market capacity.
• Import of foreign goods. The manager will have to look for suppliers, and also study the price level for the products of interest.

In their work, foreign trade experts are guided by the laws of the Russian Federation, the norms of international trade law, the customs code, laws on currency regulation, as well as the internal regulations of the company and the orders of its management.Regulation of the work of the manager within the organization is carried out using a special document called job description, with which the specialist is introduced during his registration in the state. The manager of the external economic work manager is the department head, commercial director and general director of the company.

Currently, the profession of manager of foreign economic activity is promising and in demand on the labor market. Competition for vacant positions often reaches 6-7 applicants for a place. Salary directly depends on the experience and level of qualification of a specialist. On average, a novice manager can earn from 15 to 30 thousand rubles, and after a few years his cash reward can already vary from 75 to 150 thousand rubles. Of course, a lot depends on the level of the company and the success of an employee's career advancement.

The foreign trade manager always has prospects for development. Having started work as an ordinary specialist and constantly increasing the level of his education, an employee can quickly build a career for himself and take a leadership position or organize his own business from scratch.

The work of a specialist in foreign economic activity implies daily performance of a certain range of duties:

• negotiating and exchanging business correspondence with partners;
• conclusion of contracts and control over their implementation;
• daily monitoring of the exchange rate;
• organization of logistic processes and optimization of freight transportation costs;
• pricing, control of financial flows;
• preparation of customs documents;
• execution or receipt of necessary documents, such as certificates, permits, licenses, quality certificates and the like;
• analysis and monitoring of the market, identifying the correlation of the level of supply and demand;
• work with customer complaints or making complaints when receiving goods of inadequate quality;
• search for new partner suppliers or customers for marketing products;
• participation in specialized exhibitions, seminars, presentations, conferences for the company.

To cope with such an extensive set of responsibilities, a specialist in foreign trade activities needs to fluent in modern computer programs, be prepared to travel on business trips abroad, and also have a good knowledge of the language, customs and cultural traditions of those countries with which he will cooperate. This kind of profession is suitable for both men and women. The best option for employers consider the age of the applicant in the range from 25 to 45 years. Preference is given to candidates who are fluent in English, as well as Chinese or German.

When considering a candidate for the post of manager for foreign economic activity, the main attention is paid to his experience in concluding contracts with foreign partners. It would be nice if the applicant has good communication with business partners in the areas of interest to the employer. Today, such specialists in the labor market are highly valued and are always in demand. The general requirements for foreign trade managers for employers are as follows:

• the candidate was trained at a higher educational institution in one of the programs of international management or economics, customs, logistics or financial management in the field of foreign economic activity;
• excellent knowledge of a foreign language;
• knowledge of international legislation in the field of trade and logistics;
• experience in working with customs authorities and transport companies working with foreign customers;
• the skill of drawing up contracts, complaints, acts of acceptance, specifications, declarations, primary accounting documentation and other business nomenclature;
• the skill of conducting commercial negotiations with foreign partners;
• experience with customs brokers;
• knowledge of the rules of working with currency funds.

To start working as an FEA officer, The candidate must have at least 5 years of work experience. If the applicant has just graduated from a specialized university, he can be taken to the company for a trial period as an intern or assistant manager. Specialists in the field of foreign economic activity must constantly improve their knowledge and be aware of all changes in both domestic and foreign legislation related to their profile.

Work in the field of foreign economy has both its positive and negative sides. The intensity of work and the burden on the manager during the day is quite high, often you have to work in an irregular working day. But such work is well paid and provides an opportunity for self-development.

Positive aspects of the profession:

• fairly rapid career growth and demand in the labor market;
• the possibility of foreign business travel;
• practice for spoken and business foreign language;
• high earnings in the presence of experience;
• work in comfortable office conditions, certain social guarantees from the employer;
• the need for continuous self-improvement.

Disadvantages of work in the field of foreign trade activities:

• frequent fluctuations in the exchange rate, affecting the level of profit and the implementation of the sales plan;
• a relatively small income for people who have just started their career paths;
• work in multitasking mode often creates conflict and stressful situations;
• high risk and responsibility for decisions made;
• the need to build relationships with any partners.

The profession of a manager for foreign economic activity is relatively young, but already quite promising. Work requires fundamental knowledge and good memory, the ability to control many multidirectional processes, manage your time and emotions. Much will depend on personal qualities and the ability to learn, but it's worth it.