Retail Manager Resume Examples to Help You This Year

Updated July 26, 20221.2k

Before sending out your retail manager resume, take a look at some retail manager resume examples to help you understand how to better structure the document.

What To Highlight in a Retail Manager Resume

A retail manager is the head of many store operations. If you want to impress recruiters with your resume, you need to focus on your ability to take the lead, manage and organize staff members. Store managers are typically in charge of employee productivity, reaching sales goals, employee retention and inventory management. It’s a position where leadership skills are highly important. Too many job seekers miss the chance to highlight their experience and management skills properly in a retail manager resume. Let’s take a look at how you can write the most effective, professional resume for this role.

Structure of a Retail Manager Resume

There are a few ways you can go about structuring a resume. You can write a chronological resume and focus on your work experience. If you lack relevant work experience, you can write a functional resume that focuses on your skills. The combination resume equally focuses on experience and skills.

The overall structure and information will depend on the resume format. However, regardless of the format you choose, there are five important elements you should always include.

Header/contact information

The best place to include your contact information is at the very top of the resume because it helps hiring managers easily see it in order to get in touch with you to schedule an interview. If you place your contact information elsewhere, it will get lost in the text. Include your name, phone number, email address, location and any links to job networking profiles such as LinkedIn.
Resume summary or objective

The resume summary is a short paragraph detailing the best parts of your skills and experience. It should be no longer than 2-3 sentences. It’s simply an introduction with a hook to get hiring managers interested in you. For a retail manager resume summary, you’ll want to highlight your experience in the retail industry. If you lack work experience, you can write a resume objective that focuses on your skills and career goals.
Skills

In the skills section, you’ll want to talk about the skills you have that make you qualified for the job. These skills can either be soft skills or hard skills. Soft skills are abilities that are your personality traits or character attributes Hard skills are clear abilities that can be measured, those learned through education or on-the-job training. For example, knowing how to use software programs is a hard skill while knowing how to motivate others is a soft skill. Here are some examples of hard and soft skills you can include in your resume:
- Motivating
- Managing a sales team
- Teamwork and team building
- Active listening
- Works well under pressure
- Financial
- Visual merchandising
- Forecasting
- Loss prevention
- Meeting sales targets
- Pricing
- Operating point-of-sale (POS) equipment
- Problem-solver
- Communication
- Time management
- Project management
Work experience

In the work experience section or work history section, you will summarize your years of experience in your professional field. List the most relevant jobs you’ve had in the last 10 years in reverse-chronological order. Any kind of work in retail stores is valuable even if you weren’t in charge of anything. A sales manager or sales associate positions should be included since many of the skills you acquire in retail sales are needed in retail manager roles.
Education

The education section is where you’ll list your certifications, degrees and other relevant academic achievements. Business administration degrees and a background in finance can be very valuable in retail management positions, but they are not required. Depending on the store you are applying to, a high school GED may be all that’s needed.

Do’s and Don'ts for a Retail Manager Resume

Keep these additional tips in mind when writing your retail manager resume:

Do:

Use bullet points. Bullet points will help the resume look cleaner. It makes the information easier to read and helps the hiring managers retain the information better. Don’t use bullet points in every single section of the resume. Bullet point formatting works well when describing skills, work experience and education, but avoid bullet points in the contact information or resume summary sections.
Look up resume templates and resume samples for reference. Resume templates help you create the perfect resume by providing you with a guide so that you can build your resume correctly. A retail manager resume sample can help you understand what you need to write to keep the resume relevant and professional.
Use action verbs, such as “Created,” “Managed” or “Operated.” Action verbs help your resume sound more engaging and dynamic. Action verbs are especially important for retail store manager resumes because it’s a role where you need to take action every day.

Don’t:

Include irrelevant information. Keep things concise and simple. Only include information related to the job posting. A resume for a retail manager position does not need to mention skills or experience that will not show that you are the right candidate for the job you are applying for.
Use unprofessional language. Don’t use slang wording and don’t include contact information with an email address featuring unprofessional or misleading words.
Send your resume without proofreading it. If you fail to proofread and accidentally send in the document with grammatical errors, it will look very unprofessional. Grammar and spelling mistakes also break the flow of the text. They can make the recruiter focus on the mistake instead of reading the important information on the resume.

FAQ: Retail Manager Resume Examples

Do I need to include a cover letter for a retail manager application?

Yes. By including a cover letter with your job application and resume, you can talk in-depth about your qualifications. Certain points, like your experience in customer satisfaction, can be explained in detail in a way you can’t explain in the resume. The cover letter is where you vouch for your abilities as a management professional and you can request an interview.

How can I write a retail manager resume without a lot of experience?

If you have little experience being in a manager position, you could still apply for a retail manager position. You just need to focus on your skills in the resume instead of your experience. Read the job description well to find out what responsibilities the recruiters want the hiring manager to take on.
If the manager is expected to interact with customers, highlight your excellent customer service skills. If the manager is expected to oversee merchandising, talk about your organizational skills.

How do I change my retail manager job resume to apply to different jobs?

If you’re applying to different retail manager jobs, you need to read the job application and tailor your resume to what the recruiters require for the job role. You can do this by identifying keywords related to the skills and attributes of the position and then include those phrases in your resume. You want to highlight that you are a qualified candidate.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.