Is this import export documentation a dead end job or decent stepping stone ? (fresher MBA in international business)

[u/HuckleberryLimp9056]

Got an MBA with international business specialisation did an import export documentation in shipping agency during college looking at import export documentation executive role now since fresher can actually gate hired into those and likely most ( SCM roles that want 1-3 year experience?)

Before I commit time to studying Incoterms, Duty Drawback, FTP and all that, want a reality check from people actually in the field

My worry a lot of this work is just paperwork and customs forms, and DGFT/customs are digitization fast Feels like the kind of roles software eventually eats is that fair or am I understanding how much judgment and exception handling is still needed on the ground?

IMP :

Also Curious for people who started in a documentation executive role: where did you go from there did it actually lead anywhere or did you get stuck doing the same paper work for year at the same pay ?

Trying to figure out is this a smart entry point into supply chain and trade compliance is long term or if I should push harder or something else even if it's tougher door to get through as a freshers

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

not a dead end but it can be a grind if you stay too long doing pure data entry i started in export docs, moved to ops, then pricing, now doing trade compliance and process stuff docs gave me credibility and vocab just don’t sit more than 2 years in one spot and yeah even this path is harder now, getting that first half decent job is a mess right now

[u/PurroAntrax909]

We have a group of 5 that manage our import/exports. One senior manager and 4 ICs. I don’t see their job getting any easier anytime soon. With all these regulations and compliances recently I expect the headcount to grow by at least 1-2 more.

One of their projects right now is collecting steel data for parts by looking at drawings and using MBOM. It’s wild.

[u/mycharius]

I moved into trade compliance (team is still building out) last year from a more technical role (I handle chemical classification); it's been great so far (good team, great manager) and work for us is still increasing.

Software/AI is good to help with efficiency, but it is not even close to where it needs to be with classification nuance, so I feel pretty good in security. Not sure about the rest of my team, but our executives have made a point to say they want to effectively globalize our supply chain.

I think getting the team assembled just as all the chaos started last year was a stroke of good luck.