How to find jobs in retail

Retail consists of the sale of goods or merchandise, typically from stores/shops. The UK retail industry is worth around $272.04 billion (in 2007, approximately, according to food and grocery industry experts IGN). To maintain and grow this huge market, there are needless to say, many different careers and jobs available in retail which will be detailed in this article.

Sales assistant jobs and where to find them

Sales assistant jobs
Perhaps, the most numerous retail vacancies are for sales assistants/associates. These are jobs in which the worker will typically do jobs, such as giving information on products to customers, house-keeping tasks, such as cleaning, giving demonstrations of products, re-stocking, helping customers choose goods and working on the tills processing customer purchases.
Where to find these jobs To get these jobs in retail, which do not normally require a university education, one can look in-store for job vacancies. Many companies in the retail business also/instead advertise their vacancies online on their own website or through the websites of retail recruiters. Sometimes, these have the job-seeker apply online, sometimes in-store or sometimes either. Alternatively, one can try one’s luck by handing in/emailing resumes/CVs to the companies in question.

Managerial and executive jobs and where to find them

Managerial/administrative jobs There are many logistical, planning, administrative ‘behind the scenes’ work, if you will work, in the retail industry, especially in the very big companies. In fact, a good way people can get such jobs, is by working in sales assistants jobs initially, to gain experience and a good reputation within the company, and then going for promotions within the company. Nearly, all retail jobs will demand management staff and bigger companies will also employ administrative staff, PR people, technical staff for their online operations, telephone sales teams and people for their buying departments. Different roles Those in the merchandising jobs of the latter category, typically order goods from wholesalers and smaller manufacturers for their sale in the company’s store. As such, they need both a good grasp of business/finance and of the latest vogues in their companies area of commerce. Managers need to ensure the smooth running of the stores, through overseeing budgets, recruitment, work patterns and marketing. Where to find these vacancies As aforementioned, one way to find managerial and executive careers is by working in the stores and learning and applying for them in-house. Companies, especially bigger ones, will also recruit many university graduates for their significant theoretical knowledge (and possibly practical experience too). Notably, this is done through graduate recruitment schemes, which can be found in graduate schemes listing books, such as The Times’ and/or company websites.