Retail resumes need a wide swath of skills to succeed. What are the skills you need to show off and how can you make it easier to find a job with your resume?
Retail Resume Example Tips with Ideas
Retail Resume Sample
Retail jobs are everywhere: at the grocery store, at the gas station, and even at your favorite local fast food place. Any time someone is providing a service to you, that’s typically considered a retail job. And because there are so many retail jobs, this means it’s a great position to apply for whether you’re looking for an entry-level resume or a long-lasting career path. Here’s how you can write a professional resume for a retail position.
Which Jobs Can Utilize A Retail Resume?
Retail describes a gigantic umbrella of jobs, not a specific single job. All of these positions could probably benefit from a retail resume:
- Retail sales associate
- Retail manager
- Store manager
- Sales manager
- Inventory manager
- Salesperson
Generally, if you’re providing a service that includes selling products to someone else, there’s a good chance that you’re in the retail industry.
Essentials to Boost Your Career
Didn’t find exactly what you were looking for? No problem! Try our resume builder or explore the examples below.
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Browse our resume examples collection, featuring career-focused tips and resources.
Tips For Creating A Retail Resume
Here are some additional tips to consider when writing your retail resume:
- Higher-level jobs will typically need more certifications and qualifications, while entry-level jobs will need less. Focus more on these components when you apply for a higher-level position.
- Ensure your resume works well with an applicant tracking system (ATS). This may mean including resume keywords, focusing on skills and work experience, or even just reading the job posting carefully to ensure you fit the requirements.
- Use resume action words to talk about your past job duties and achievements. This way, you can turn adjectives into verbs to create a stronger profile.
Finding Retail Resume Examples
Finding lots of retail resume examples allows you to create yours from a mixture of many different resumes rather than just basing your resume around one single example. That’s where resume examples come into play. Use this page to find retail resumes of all types, so you can create a more holistic resume for yourself.
Retail Resume Example
Most Important Components Of A Retail Resume
Before you write your resume, it’s a good idea to decide what resume format you want to use. The chronological resume format is most common, emphasizing your retail experience above all else. If you have less work experience, however, a functional resume format or combination resume format might work best. Regardless of the format you use, retail resume samples will typically include all the same headings.
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Contact information
The resume header is where you put your full name and your contact information, including your phone number and your professional social media links, which is usually your LinkedIn profile. It’s part of the resume design, and any good resume builder should help you create yours.
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Resume summary/Resume objective
The first section of content for a resume is typically the resume summary or resume objective. In the resume summary, highlight your biggest achievements and provide an overview of your experience. This makes it easier for a hiring manager to scan through your retail sales associate resume. A resume objective, in contrast, is best for those with little work experience and will indicate your career goals.
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Skills section
Your resume skills section needs to include a significant variety of retail skills. Customer service skills are by nature varied, and to provide excellent customer service, you need many different skills. Here are a few bullet points that you might want to include:
- Merchandising
- Product knowledge
- Communication skills
- Inventory management
- Working in a retail store
- Meeting sales goals
- Maintaining customer satisfaction
- Interpersonal skills
- Understanding sales metrics
- Working on a POS system(s)
- Problem-solving skills
- Teamwork
You’ll notice a mixture of soft skills and hard skills in this list. Technical skills are important in retail positions because they allow you to do your job, but the ability to talk to people and communicate with them effectively is also crucial in retail positions.
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Work experience
In your work experience section, you can include up to 10 years of experience in the retail industry. You can include both entry-level positions and higher-level job titles. But list anything older than 10 years old on your LinkedIn profile instead of your job application. This will allow the recruiters and hiring managers to quickly review your most relevant retail experience. Remember to list work experience in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent and most relevant first.
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Education
Entry-level retail job ads typically don’t require anything more than a high school diploma. But as you move through the retail industry, you may find that your education section includes college experience as well. Include all college experience, along with any experience you think of as unrelated to the retail field. It can still show a great work ethic.
