Quick and easy: what to put on a retail CV

• Core retail skills for your CV
• Key CV skills for a retail assistant
• Key CV skills for a store manager
• Key CV skills for merchandising

Ultimately, the goal in retail is to sell a product. Helping customers over the finish line through your powers of (subtle) persuasion is, therefore, a massive attribute to bring to the table.

Even if you’re not working on the shop floor, you should have this selling objective in mind at all times to ensure your efforts align with company goals. For example, a product designer should consider market trends when brainstorming the next big merchandise update.

There’s no ‘I’ in team, and you’ll need to work collaboratively with your colleagues if you’re going to make it in retail. 

In New Zealand, this sector gets hectic – so you’ll need to build good relationships, and communicate clearly with other staff to get through busy patches.

We’re not talking about Einsteinian maths skills here. But being able to calculate prices, give correct change and take accurate stock counts without resorting to your phone calculator will certainly help your retail career.

No employer will expect you to be familiar with their specific till or stock ordering software before starting. However, experience with computers will help you pick this up faster, and solve problems without asking for help.

Retail staff should expect long hours, and lots of time on the move. This means employers in this sector look for motivated individuals who aren’t afraid to work hard, day after day.

But to be truly effective, you need to work smart as well as hard. This means juggling multiple responsibilities, and managing your time well to make sure nothing is left unfinished.

Going beyond your job description to help a customer, lighten someone else’s workload or stop a problem before it happens will definitely go down well with the boss.

We don’t mean you should re-arrange the shop on their day off or order entirely different stock without their sign-off, but don’t be afraid to use your initiative.

The little things can make a world of difference when it comes to a shopper’s experience in your company’s store. If you give them the wrong change, mix up their sizes or can’t find an item they’ve ordered for click and collect, they’ll likely think twice before shopping with you again.

So being able to stay on top of all of these things, while also moving quickly and responding to an ever changing environment is a key skill that all retail staff need to have.

No matter how good at your job you are, every retail employee comes across unhappy or difficult customers from time to time. While, of course, you should be aiming to change their mood and offer them a great service, you also need to make sure that you don’t carry around this negative experience yourself when things don’t go well.

There’s nothing worse, from a customer’s perspective to dealing with a rude or disengaged staff member who’s still stewing over a poor interaction with a customer that happened earlier in the day. Learn the lessons, move on and bounce back.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re lucky to live in a multicultural country, where it’s common to encounter people from many different cultures and backgrounds. It’s important to understand that a person’s culture could well have an impact on how they interact with you as a retail employee, so being aware that this is the case, and responding appropriately is a key skill to develop.

If you’ve ever been shopping on Black Friday, you’ll know that retail can be a very fast-paced game, where you need to be constantly on the move in order to keep up. Of course, this is an extreme example, but, with the return of tourists following the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s likely that retail businesses in NZ will start to experience more regular rushes.

It might not always be front of mind as you go about your day, but by working for the company, you’re representing its brand. This could impact you in a number of ways. For example, it’s common for those working in phone-based retail jobs to have a script for how to greet people, which is intended to reinforce the customer’s experience of interacting with this brand.

On top of the important attributes already mentioned, a retail assistant CV should include:

• The ability to follow processes: different businesses have different policies, and a good retail assistant will pick these up quickly and follow them every time.
• Attention to detail: from ordering stock to ensuring displays are always on point, being able to focus will stop you making silly mistakes.
• Customer awareness: as well as ensuring customers always get the help they need, watching for shoplifters is a key part of this role.

• Leadership: on top of having the confidence to make decisions, this means knowing your team and delegating tasks to the right staff members. 
• Scheduling: you’ll need to make sure you always have enough staff to cover the work, but not so many that people are standing around. This means planning hours sheets, and recruiting new employees if necessary. 
• Health and safety management: your team should look out for each other, and your customers. However, the buck stops with you.