Retail Resume Example
Crafting the perfect retail resume can feel like a daunting task. A resume for retail jobs needs to be short and sweet but still include all the key details about your skills, abilities, and experience. The good news is that there are plenty of retail resume examples out there that you can use to draw inspiration and make your application stand out. With that in mind, join us as we do a deep dive into how to build a great retail professional resume.
Key sections to include in resume
So what sections does your retail resume actually need? While it needs to be unique to your profession and the role you are applying for, every great resume includes the following sections:
Header
Start your retail resume with your full name, professional title (e.g., sales representative), and contact information. At a minimum, you should include your phone number and email address. You could also consider providing your LinkedIn profile. Regardless, this section needs to be clear and concise.
Resume objective or summary
Your resume objective is a brief statement showcasing your career goals and most notable achievements. For instance, your objective might read as follows: “Dedicated retail professional with over 5 years of experience in high-volume environments, seeking to leverage exceptional sales skills and customer service expertise at XYZ retail.”
The objective or summary needs to be brief and engaging. The goal is to capture the reader’s attention and summarize your skills in a few sentences. When possible, you could also mention the company you are applying for in the summary, as it builds a connection between your current skills and the hiring process.
Work experience
List your employment history in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position. Include the job title, company name, employment dates, and a description of your responsibilities and achievements. For example, one of your work experience listings may look as follows:
Senior retail associate, XYZ Retail
January 2019- December 2023
Managed a team of 10 sales associates, achieving a 15% increase in overall sales during the holiday season.
As you can see, each section needs to be concise and focused. Whenever possible, provide hard numbers that demonstrate your effectiveness in the position. If you don’t have access to that type of data, it’s okay to be vague.
Education
You should also list your educational experience in reverse order, starting with your highest degree first. Then, provide the name of the institution, degree title, and year of graduation or years of attendance.
For retail roles, you can also highlight any relevant coursework or projects. Here’s how an education entry should appear on your retail resume:
Bachelor Degree
University of Florida
Bachelor of Science in Business Management
Years of Attendance: August 2016-May 2020
Repeat this basic layout for your other educational experience. Ideally, you’ll want at least two entries here. However, if you don’t have any college educational experience, simply include your high school information.
Don’t try to fluff up this section. Instead, make up for it elsewhere by elaborating on your hard and soft skills, hobbies, and certifications.
Hard skills
Hard skills are anything specific to the role you are applying for. Focus on retail-specific abilities like your knowledge of point-of-sale systems, customer service skills, and inventory management knowledge. While it can be tempting to list every hard skill you can think of, try to limit yourself to those that are most relevant to the position you’re applying for.
Most retail resume templates include around three to six spaces here. Stick to that layout whenever possible. However, if the rest of your retail resume is a bit lacking, you can expand this section to between eight and ten points.
That said, continue with the bulleted list format. Avoid complete sentences, and summarize each skill in under five words.
Soft skills
Soft skills include any ability that isn’t directly related to retail but is still important to your success in the position. Some examples include customer service, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities.
Apply the same rules to this section as you did in the previous one. List around three to six soft skills and avoid complete sentences. Bullet points are your friend when writing a retail resume. While complete sentences aren’t necessarily your enemy, you should use them sparingly.
Optional sections
Your retail resume needs to be limited to one page. The same goes for your cover letter. However, you don’t want your retail resume to be less than three-quarters of a page. That said, if you don’t have much work or educational experience, your resume might end up looking a bit empty.
That’s where the optional sections come into play. You can use as many or as few of these sections as you need to fill out your resume. Some options include:
- Relevant certifications, such as a certified Sales Professional (CSP)
- Any languages you speak that might be advantageous in your retail setting
- Hobbies and Interests, especially if they are relevant to the position
- Volunteer Work
Even if your retail resume is robust, consider adding one or two of these segments to make yourself seem like a more well-rounded candidate.
Tips for writing the role-specific resume
Now that we’ve covered the basics of a retail resume, it’s time to get into some tips you can use to make your application stand out.
First and foremost, make sure that you choose the right format for your retail resume. Use reverse chronological order when listing your education and work experience so that you can emphasize the most recent information. This is especially important if you have a long work history, as most hiring teams will be concerned with what you’ve been doing lately.
You should also make sure you tailor the resume to each job opening. Don’t use a cookie-cutter retail resume that could be used to apply for any job. A generic approach will make your application forgettable and decrease your odds of landing an interview.
Instead, adjust your resume objective and skills to align with the job posting. For instance, if one role prioritizes emotional intelligence, you should include this phrasing in your summary and soft skills. This demonstrates that you’ve thoroughly reviewed the job listing and have skills that match what the employer is looking for.
When listing your achievements, strive to quantify them. Instead of saying something like, “I helped my team be more productive during my time as an assistant retail manager,” use hard data. For instance, you could say that you “Reduced call-outs by 15% and boosted sales by 5% over a six-month period.”
Put yourself in the employer’s shoes. Think about phrasing and points that would catch your eye if you were in charge of hiring. This approach can help you create a more engaging retail resume.
Lastly, don’t forget about your retail cover letter. Use a guide that matches your retail resume, and treat the two as complementary documents. You should also check out some of our cover letter examples and see what your document needs to include.
Need more retail resume samples? Check out Jobseeker’s free resources
Creating a great retail resume can be tricky, but it is also a vitally important step in your professional journey. A dynamic retail resume differentiates you from other job seekers and increases your odds of landing your dream role. When writing your resume, make sure it includes all the sections outlined above while also relaying your knowledge in a concise, digestible way.
As you work to create a great resume for retail, make sure to take advantage of Jobseeker’s free resources. From cover letter templates to resume examples, we give you what you need to stand out and land that interview.
