Valuable Skills You Need on Your Home Retail Resume

Work obligations of retail professionals vary from industry to industry. Still, all of them mean selling goods and services to clients via the most efficient distribution channels. The last ones differ due to the target audience’s preferences.

Laura Grall, a designer from PaperLeaf.ca says “Today, applicants may be required to have expertise in distinct market channels like social media platforms or on-the-phone communication to produce the maximum profit out of sales. Talking about online sales, sometimes having a well-designed advertise visualization generates more sales than advertising products one-by-one.”

Background on working in retail

Throughout the last years, the retail industry has been transformed from traditional land-based shops to the modern malls added by extremely popular online web stores. Digital technologies have also changed the way consumers make purchase decisions, as well as the factors influencing it. To run the competition among other companies in a specific market segment, support services in the industry provide advisory and delivery services, loyalty programs, provision of credits, and many more.

Valuable Retail Skills You Want on Your Resume

Given the multipurposeness of retailer’s work and the fact that sales-related jobs are often the high-pressure ones, companies search for candidates with specific skill sets to maintain he/she will meet their expectations. Commonly, employers require adaptable and dynamic creative-thinkers, so just mentioning that you’ve got exceptional organization skills won’t be enough. To make the employer believe in your experience, provide examples of how you’ve utilized them at your previous position.

While creating your resume, remember that it is an initial step to land an interview. To help you succeed with this task, below we provide a list of important skills and resume qualities you should keep in mind while crafting a job-winning home retail resume:

• Attention to Detail
• Business Awareness
• Communication Skills
• Customer Service Skills
• Basic Computer Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Selling Skills
• Effective Time Management Skills
• The Capacity to Stay Composed in Demanding Circumstances
• Leadership
• Initiative
• Cultural Awareness

Attention to Detail

Since the ability to concentrate on details for a long time is another vital skill for a retailer, use your resume to demonstrate you’ve got one. Having an eye for detail is especially important if you need to attract customers to your product. Other detail-related skills and tasks include:

• Stock checking
• Inventory control
• Window displays
• Other means of visual merchandising

Business Awareness

Having a basic understanding of how business or industry functions also matters. Retail workers who demonstrate that they’re familiar with the business processes of the company they work for, as well as with its vision and business culture, are promised to stand out from other retail employees. Below are some extra business-related proficiencies you might mention:

• Awareness of market trends
• Marketing skills
• Strong Management Skills
• Loss prevention and operations control
• Merchandise control
• Managing orders

Communication Skills

Communication skills are heart and soul for retail businesses. Reasonably, retail workers need to spend most of the time communicating with customers, satisfying their needs, and figuring out their references. It doesn’t matter what type of product you do sell; what really matters is how you represent the product to the customer and whether it will meet his/her tastes.

It does not matter what you are selling, it is essential that you can read both product descriptions and talk about pertinent goods and services. Other skills related to communication include:

• Listening to customer complaints
• Greeting customers and responding to clients’ questions
• Communicating with other buyers and stores
• Explaining products to customers
• Taking orders

Customer Service

Top retail employees understand that communication in sales involves much more perspectives than verbal interchanges. The retail process is also about creating an environment whereby clients would feel welcomed and appreciated.

If you’ve got some trouble with the aforementioned experiences, advance your customer service skills and take your steps, learning some effective frequently-used customer responses. Develop a list of different scenarios common in your industry and craft responses to clients’ questions or complaints you consider to be the most appropriate.

Basic computer skills

Most of the modern retail jobs will incorporate the use of digital aids and social media means of communication; therefore, whenever you apply for a job in retail, it is crucial to demonstrate your proficiency in information technology.

As a retailer, you might already have some background with electronic register or sale systems. Or maybe you’ve already examined purchasing and other client trends via up-to-the-date information systems? Any of that should be mentioned in your home retail resume.

Other experiences in this section include work with cash registers, Point of Sale Systems (POS), analyzing data skills, and assisting customers with online orders.

Selling Skills

A successful retailer’s career will probably demand you to be persuasive with customers while convincing them that particular products worth their money. Retail artists need to know how to explain the product’s advantages so that the customers would buy their product. Skills related to this category cover:

• Arranging product exhibits
• Achieving sales goals
• Promoting customers to consider accessories
• Advising customers
• Highlighting promotional products
• Delivering product features/benefits
• Converting shoppers into loyal customers

Effective Time Management Skills

Have you ever worked o a position with a flexible schedule? If the answer is “no”, then you should be noted that it isn’t as appealing as you might be thinking. Working on a job with ever-changing hours will make you re-arrange your business and personal life arrangements all the time. On the other hand, it will enforce you to learn how to use your time to get everything done.

Having some experience working with time-management systems would also benefit you and make you stand out from other candidates. The reason is that most modern retail owners prefer using current technologies instead of out-of-date excel-sheets to keep track of their employees.

Conclusion

In brief, running in the retail field will equip you with some valuable life experiences and skills you’re unlikely to find anywhere else. Keep them in mind when writing your resume, and during the job interview – they will assist you greatly in your future career.

All of the previously discussed job skills will make it much easier for you to find the best-fitting retail job just for you. At the same time, your resume will probably stand out from the crowd.

Questions and Answers Regarding Your Home Retail Resume

Q: What should you include in your home retail resume?

A: The resume should contain the contact information, which has to be complete and precise, right at the beginning of the resume. Employers don’t have time to look for your cell number of email addresses, so they should always be easy to spot. It’s also important to highlight your performances and experience, the sales goals you’ve obtained and exceed, or the departments you’ve handled.

Classes, coursework, projects connected to the position, or your degrees should be included in the education section. Make sure that your resume fits and highlights the needs of the employer.

Q: Are the keywords significant in your resume?

A: You should always use the keywords carefully. Pay attention to the job listing for the primary skills or qualifications that are stated in the listing. You should use some of them in your resume as well so that the employer finds your resume more attractive. Should the job present the ideal candidate as “detail-oriented,” you should describe in the resume a way that reveals your attention to detail.

Q: What are action words?

A: Whenever you’re depicting your achievements, it’s a great idea to use action words. “stocked,” “managed,” “led,” or “processed” are only some of the action words to use for describing your accomplishments more energetically. You can find complete online lists of action words to use in resumes.

Q: Should you care about edit?

A: Candidates often undermine the power of good edit. Never submit your resume unless you’ve proofread it carefully before. A clean resume without any mistakes looks professional and appealing for any interviewer. It’s not a bad idea to ask a friend to proofread your resume if you want a second opinion.

Q: Is quantifying your skills a good idea for a home retail resume?

A: Regardless of what you may think, you should use numbers for quantifying your performances every time you can. For instance, you can specify how much money you’ve handled in the past. You can also note how many customers you’ve helped throughout a day. You can also mention the regular size of a sale. Numbers are a great way to present your successes, and they give the employer an idea about how you can help the company if hired.

Q: Is working with people a job you like to have?

A: Retail work is collaborative most of the time, and the interviewer is interested to know if you’re able to work efficiently with other colleagues. Some will pay attention to see if the employee is too social at work, so make sure you give the right answer. “Yes,” isn’t enough when answering the question. Be prepared to provide examples and even talk about how your colleagues describe you.

Q: What are the reasons for which you’re applying for the home retail job?

A: The people hiring are interested in candidates that are positive and even passionate about the company and the products. Therefore, you should be specific and reveal your genuine interest in the company and its products.

Q: Can you work at any hours or not?

A: It’s a direct question, and you should provide the interviewers the hours you can work at. Even if it’s fundamental, to be honest, interviewers appreciate the applicants with flexible schedules. You should mention if that’s the case for you.

Q: What do you do when a customer asks to talk to the manager instead of you?

A: You shouldn’t be afraid to talk honestly about how you’re dealing with a stressful situation. It’s essential to be empathetic, to understand, and try to fix the problem. Sometimes, a customer may be in a bad mood, so none of your efforts will satisfy him. If the customer is determined to talk to your manager, you should apologize for your inability to help, reaching for your supervisor.

Q: Do you know for how long you’ll have the retail job?

A: The hiring process and training of the new employee take a lot of time and effort on the company’s  side. Interviewers like candidates that don’t plan on leaving the new post any time soon. If you’re planning only to have the job for a couple of months, it’s only fair to mention it right upfront.

Q: Should you mention your best strength?

A: It’s not about being modest anymore, but about matching the needs of the company. When your biggest asset fits the company’s needs, the chance of getting hired is higher. Always accentuate the qualities that benefit the company if you’re hired.

Q: Is there some way to prepare for the retail job interview?

A: Interviewers appreciate the applicants who fit nicely on the floor of the company. Spending some time in the store before you’re heading to the interview is helpful. Take a look at how the other employees communicate with customers to get an idea about what the company wants.

It’s also essential that you’re familiar with the products sold in the store and know a thing or two about the brands. Check the website and give the “About Me” section a quick read. Don’t forget to take a peek at the company’s social media accounts to get the main idea about the company’s values.

Author Bio:

By Jennifer Broflowski, Content Contributor at Craft Resumes. She has extensive expertise in writing resumes and coaching people for having successful interviews, by the way try the Craft Resumes checker (free) on their online platform.