A Career in Retail

Date: 5 Oct 2009

Ever thought of a career in retail? Now could be a good time. As Christmas approaches many retailers are looking for extra help, despite the recession. Search all retail jobs.

The retail industry offers a huge range of jobs and, having got your foot in on the shop floor, there is a lot of scope for rising up the career ladder. Many retailers also offer a lot of flexibility, particularly for those working on the shop floor. However, they expect flexibility in return, especially from those who want to climb the career ladder. The retail industry is a fast-moving one, with companies constantly vying with each other to meet changing customer demands and stay ahead of the game.

Things to consider

If you want a long-term career in the industry, you need to do your research beforehand. If you want to rise up the career ladder, it is probably a good idea to focus on the bigger retail organisations where there will be more scope for promotion. It is important too to choose an environment which is right for you. It helps, for instance, to have an interest in and knowledge of the kinds of things that the company sells.

Skills

The main skills needed in the retail industry and particularly on the shop floor, are people skills. You need to be able to interact with people and communicate clearly and effectively. More and more companies are putting an emphasis on customer service to give them the edge over their competitors. Whether it is just directing people around the store, calming down irate customers, building relationships with suppliers or internally, it helps to be able to have strong interpersonal skills and understand how to deal with people in a variety of different situations.
You will also need to be able to work as part of a team, come up with new ideas, be able to resolve potential conflicts whether with other members of staff or members of the public, be well organised and able to prioritise, be reliable and be calm under pressure. It also helps to be able to multitask, so working mums should be well qualified.

Career progression

The retail industry is big business and many companies now trade globally so a career in retail is not limited to working on the shop floor. While it is possible to rise up from a junior post on the shop floor to shop management and other more senior positions in the company, it does help to have a degree. Many stores now offer fast-track management training schemes to graduates, which are both classroom- and store-based. These will cover a range of retail jobs such as buying, merchandising, logistics, human resources, marketing and brand management, IT and business analysis. If you already have specialist knowledge, you may opt to target a certain field from the offset.

Unless you are working in a specialist area such as IT, where you will need a computing or technology-related degree, the type of degree you have is not important, but you will need a 2:2 or above. Some companies also select on the basis of a minimum number of UCAS points.

Many graduates obtain management status within five years. There may also be opportunities to become regional or divisional managers and to work overseas.

These are the kinds of roles a graduate can aspire to within a few years of working in the retail industry:

- Department manager. This involves everything from supervising employees and staff development to strategic planning, reviewing sales performance and coordinating policies with other departments
- Planner. You will be in charge of distributing products and controlling inventories to boost sales.
- Buyer. You will select and order products and may be involved in promoting new or existing products.

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