Have you got the right skills for the job?

'Soft skills' are just as important as qualifications in this industry.  You'll need excellent customer service skills, a helpful nature and be able to stay calm in different situations.

There are a wide range of training opportunities in retail occupations, at many different levels, including apprenticeships for school leavers and graduate training schemes for those leaving university.

Apprenticeships

• Train towards either Level 2 or 3 in Retail Occupations, with an NVQ, Technical Certificate and Key Skills, lasting one to two years.
• At level 2 most roles involve: displaying stock to promote sales; providing information to help customers; processing payments; receiving goods and materials; maintaining care and control of stock.
• At Level 3 most roles involve: demonstrating and promoting products by providing specialist support to help customers make purchases; maintaining the availability of goods for sale; identifying customers' requirements; organising care, control and display of stock.
• Apprentices who show the potential to undertake a wider range of tasks within their job could, with further training, develop a wider range of technical skills and/or continue with other NVQ qualifications at Level 3.
• Some people after time and experience will choose to progress along the vocational route towards Level 4 NVQ, undertake a Foundation Degree, or follow other professional qualifications.
• Apprentices may develop a supervisory role, or move into departmental or store management.

Within the sector there are further opportunities, including buying and merchandising, marketing, information technology and communications, training and personnel functions, and financial services.

To find out more about retail apprenticeships visit the Skillsmart Retail website.

Foundation Degrees

Retail specific foundation degrees are employment-related higher education qualifications set at one level below an honours degree.  Universities offer them in partnership with higher or further education colleges and they are developed alongside employers to ensure they are relevant.

You can achieve a foundation degree via a number of routes including:

• full or part-time study
• work based study
• distance/web-based learning

...all of which ensure that you....

• gain technical and work skills
• gain key skills such as communication and team working
• have previous work experience allowing you to progress
• are able to progress to further professional qualifications or honours degree courses

For more information on Foundation Degrees in general, go to the national Foundation Degree website.

Postgraduate degree courses

There is a very limited range of retail-specific postgraduate degree courses.  The main courses available are: 

• MSc Industrial Logistics
• MSc Logistics
• MSc Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
• MSc Clothing
• Post Graduate Certificate in Food and Grocery Industry Management.

Management development programmes

Most retail organisations offer a management development programme.  At John Lewis, the programme content is similar to that of graduate training schemes, although the course is completed in up to two years rather than one, and the salary offered at the end is initially less and varies from person to person, based on experience and competence.

Graduate training schemes

This is an increasingly popular route to management positions.  For example, each year John Lewis receives around 2,500 trainee applications to fill ten places.  As it is so competitive organisations can afford to recruit from the top and most retail organisations look for graduates with a minimum degree of 2.1 or above.

To find out more about graduate retail opportunities visit the Skillsmart Retail website.