Is retail for you?

The retail industry has become cool again and graduate jobs in the retail sector continue to grow and it’s not as risky an industry as you might think. Still, ‘shopping for a living’ is a very sought after job and getting a foot in the door can be tricky.

What kind of jobs are there?

The world of retail is a huge one – from independent boutiques to the international supermarket chains – and the roles within it are incredibly varied. Some of the roles could be anything from retail manager to wholesaler. Or if you got an eye for visual display, you might be interested in visual merchandising jobs in London. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

So when you’ve decided what kind of role you’d be interested in, the next step would be to think about what store you want to work in. It could be supermarkets, pharmacists, fashion stores or online. Basically if you can buy something there, you can work there.

Do you have what it takes?

If the retail industry is your dream jobs then you have to be aware that it is also many other people’s dream. When the competition starts, we don’t recommend for you to step on other people to get ahead, just be ready to sell yourself to potential employers. It is a very competitive industry and there is a lot more to it than just shopping for a living. You will have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders as the fate of the business can hinge on you picking the right products, merchandising them correctly and managing the stores or websites well enough to keep customers coming back for more.

Oh the glamour

From Rachel in Friends moving into her dream job as a buyer to Gossip Girls showing you the latest trends, retail has been in the spotlight a lot. And it’s not just on television as Hollywood continues to glamorise the industry on the silver screen.

But what is it like off screen?

The world of retail is very tough at the moment and you’ll be expected to buy in and manage the products and stock levels, maintain your margins and, basically, make the store somewhere where people want to spend their hard-earned money.

If you think you can handle a lot of responsibility and can cope with tight targets and heavy workloads and if you have a genuine passion for the retail industry, then the world of retail is right for you.

Money, money, money

It may surprise you to hear that most of the major retailers in the UK offer retail jobs within graduate training schemes which could offer excellent salaries of £25-£30,000 per year. However, if you opt to work from the bottom-up at a smaller retailer then it’s likely to be significantly lower than this.