When you are seeking a job as a Retail Assistant, it is essential to first check out a top-notch Retail Assistant resume sample. You want to make sure your resume stands out from the rest by being both informative and compelling to read, without bombarding the recruiter or hiring manager with irrelevant information. A Retail Assistant can also be called a Retail Worker, Retail Associate, or Retail Sales Assistant.
How to create a resume into an interview-winning document, will be easier with our: How to make a Resume Guideline for Retail Assistant Roles
What you can read in this article
(Or download these resume samples in PDF at the bottom of this page for free)
1. Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone Number, Email. Be sure to include alternative contact channels, as well as a possible LinkedIn profile.
2. Profile Summary: This introduction to your resume must make an impact on the reader. Include a broad overview of your background, years of industry experience and the industry sectors of interest. You should be specific and state which job you are applying to (1-3 sentences max).
3. Qualifications Summary: Provide accurate details about the certifications and qualifications you have completed with the institution, qualification name, and dates. Don’t forget to include qualifications you are currently completing too. Usually, no formal qualifications apart from a high school diploma are needed, but the short courses, workshops, and in-house training you have received should then be listed to provide more credibility to your resume.
4. Relevant Retail Assistant Experience: Clearly state your employment history from giving details regarding the last ten years of experience up until your current position. Use punchy sentences with bullet points to list your most important sales activities. Retail Assistants jobs usually exist in industries where you interact with customers, and consumers face-to-face, such as retail products, car part sales, electronics, food products, garments, gear, medicine and another type of consumer products bought over the counter or from a retail outlet or store. You have to be specific. State the nature of the product you are selling to customers. Also include the industry sector for example garden equipment, electronics or boutique clothing to name but a few.
5. Other Employment Experience: This will consist of permanent work history outside of direct customer sales but still in the customer service environment or temporary and vocational jobs where you were actively dealing with clients or customers. Only elaborate on these with job descriptions if you have less than five years of sales experience. Otherwise, just list job title company and duration as to make sure there are no gaps in your employment history.
6. Skills Summary/Key Skills: Incorporates keywords from the job posting and your specific skill set. This adds much-needed credibility to your resume.
7. Education/Licenses/Certifications/Relevant Coursework/Training: Start with your formal degrees if applicable and post-school diplomas or accreditations. List any professional development courses, workshops or programs you completed that better prepared you to work as a Retail Assistant such as direct sales strategies, negotiation tactics, conflict resolution techniques, industry, and product training.
Regardless of your experience as a Retail Assistant, there are a few vital things that recruiters and managers need to know about you to ensure that you are the right fit for their team.
The first aspect to highlight is the scope of your retail tenure in product type or industry area. There are millions of businesses out there with every imaginable product on offer to customers. It would be best if you were specific about the product types you have sold to customers before.
Secondly, a Retail Assistant is the ‘’face of the business or brand’’ and work in outlet stores, department stores, warehouse stores, general merchandise stores, discount stores, specialty stores, supermarkets, farmer’s markets, malls and dollar stores. You need to show them that you are capable of providing excellent customer service, handle multiple client requests at the same time, provide information on products being sold and deal with complaints in an appropriate manner.
Retail Assistants are the link between the store’s products or services and the customer. It is vital that assistants promote a positive, friendly image of the store because their actions determine the impression that customers form of the store and whether they will visit the store again. Retail assistants can be stationed either at the till or on the floor depending on the store size.
Next, a Retail Assistant is also involved in back office support duties as an aid to the store manager. These duties may include tasks like stocktaking, ordering of stock, tracking product returns.
Finally comes the targets, goals and KPI metrics that you need to hit. Be number specific here for example how many incoming customers in a day, split between regulars and new customers, average daily sales generated, average sales per customer and so on.
*Cool Tip for a stellar resume
You can create an excellent first impression by breaking your job description down into the main responsibility areas of a Retail Assistant.
Hiring managers have large numbers of resumes to screen and limited time to read them all in detail. Keep your career summary concise and to the point. Add the most relevant information first to capture their attention while they’re quickly scanning your resume. They want to see that you can sell products and provide excellent customer service!
Start your career summary with your years of experience in the industry and the primary duties you performed. Use the job description as your guide when deciding on which duties to add. The more your resume relates to the job description of keywords, the better fit you will seem.
Next, add a line that showcases any outstanding qualities that will add value to the company. A hiring manager would be interested to know if you have “strong people skills, sound mathematical abilities and a pro at handling difficult customers.” It’s important to note that these qualities should be proven with examples in the professional experience section to re-enforce your message.
‘A proactive, enthusiastic Retail Assistant with four years of experience in warehouse and department stores. Currently completing a diploma in Sales and Marketing. Used to a high-tempo working environment where the customer is king. Excellent multitasker with a proven record of contributing to customer retention and securing sales volumes especially within the clothing and accessory departments.‘
‘Customer-focused Retail Assistant with eight years of experience in upmarket furniture sales environment at various high-end malls. Well-spoken, assertive with strong product knowledge which helped to build a strong recurring customer pool. Often surpasses sales targets, with drive, ambition and determination.‘
‘Highly motivated Retail Assistant with a proven track record of encouraging maximum spending per customer. Ensure that the dollar store delivers against a set margin of daily sales transactions. Keeps a professional demeanor at all times, and does utmost to ensure every customer always leaves the store satisfied with their purchases and service provided.‘
‘A smart, conscientious assistant with extensive experience of selling, stocking and ordering merchandise in a gardening outlet mall. With her present employer, she has not only increased foot flow but also consistently contributed to the store's monthly sales figures.‘
An employer would expect to see the following proven foundational duties and skill sets within an applicant’s resume. Herewith a few examples of primary Retail Assistant duties in various industrial environments.
You may be tempted to copy and paste the list of duties you performed under your accomplishment section. The drawback to doing this though is that you won’t stand out from the other applicants with similar experience.
Your goal is to think about what sets you apart, what you are most proud of, or what you achieved in your previous roles. Now communicate these through action-packed statements that grab the reader’s attention.
When writing your resume, you should be answering questions like “How much?” or “How many?” It would be best if you include numbers which provide a ‘’proof of work’’ element to your resume. For instance:
The education section forms an integral part of your resume. In short, indicate What, Where and When regarding your qualifications, certifications or industry licenses obtained. The name of your qualification, institution, and date of completion is more than sufficient. Unless you are a graduate with limited working experience, there is no need to include major subjects or course curriculum topics.
Completed High School and Post School education must be listed as follows:
Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor degrees. For courses, you can just record the date of completion.
Next comes the full name of the qualification, then the full name of the institution and then the City or abbreviated State name. List your high school diploma details similarly, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.
Herewith an example of qualifications for a Retail Assistant with more than five years’ experience:
2011 – Fundamentals of Effective Retail Sales, Michigan Ross School of Business, MI
2010 – Selling on Value, Not on Price Seminar, Cox School of Business, TX
2009 – Certificate in Marketing and Sales, Iowa Community College, IA
The example below is of a Retail Assistant’s qualification section for a candidate with less than five years’ experience:
Remember to add your majors, minors, GPA scores and accolades, and honors awards.
2019 – Advanced Course in Retail Management, International Career Institute (ICI), Online
Curriculum Outline: Merchandising and Design, Consumer Trends, Products and Inventory, Branding, International Business, Planning
2016-2018 Bachelor Degree in Sales and Marketing, University of Ohio, OH
GPA: 3.8
Majors: Sales Management, Marketing Management
Minors: Communications, Accounting, Economics
Accolades: Deans Honors List
2015 – High School Diploma, Estuate Secondary School, Reston, VA
Although the retail sales field requires specific technical skills, employers also consider soft skills. These are the personality traits or skills that indicate to your fitness as a Retail Assistant who will add value by meeting set out targets, has adequate knowledge, and sufficient experience to engage and attract customers. Incorporate these into your summary, or profile, and into your accomplishment statements.
Educational Attainment: A university degree is not generally required to become a Retail Assistant unless you are in a very specialized industry such as Electronics or Engineering.
Technical Aptitude: Retail Assistants usually work with Customer Information Management (CRM software) often unique to the industry that they are in. Examples are SalesForce, Hubspot, Copper, Freshsales, and Pipedrive. You also need to be familiar with email platforms like Gmail or Outlook (most companies have their in-house email software which should be easy to learn). For cash-ups, sales slips and inventory management applications such as SAP, Accpac, Zoho, TradeGecko, iVend or Sage are most used.
| Advanced Certificate In Marketing and Sales | Short Course in Retail Administration and Display | GED |
| Diploma in Retail Sales Management | Seminar on Value Added Selling | Inventory Management Course |
| Bachelor of Sales & Marketing | High School Diploma | Principles of Customer Service Certificate |
