Retail Assistant CV Example

You’re already accustomed to providing high-quality customer service, but now you need to write an equally winning retail assistant CV.

Below are three tips to help you write a retail assistant CV that successfully shows why you’re a sales and shopping expert.

1. Write a compelling CV personal statement

Store managers seek retail assistants who know how to make a positive first impression when customers first enter a shop. And because they have dozens of retail assistant applications to sift through during busy hiring seasons, make sure your retail CV stands out by including a 2–4 sentence CV personal statement.

A retail assistant CV personal statement sits at the top of your CV and displays your:

• years of volunteer or work experience
• educational background
• key skills related to retail or sales
• interest in fashion or specific company-related products
• reasons for applying to a retail assistant role

If managers see you’ve written a detailed retail assistant CV personal statement and are impressed with your qualifications, they’re more likely to continue reading the rest of your CV.

Here’s an example of a young retail assistant’s personal statement:

2. List your top retail assistant skills

Whether you’re helping customers at a small boutique or a large department store, you need to include several key skills for your CV to prove you’re capable of handling the work.

First, mention your hard skills. You’ve likely gained hard skills from practical experience working in previous retail or volunteer roles. For instance, counting change and using a till are common tasks for retail assistants, so add your point of sale (POS) skills and maths skills to your CV.

You also have to stand for long periods of time and move merchandise around the store, so list physical fitness as another hard skill.

These are other hard skills for your retail assistant CV:

Next, store managers look for soft skills (also called transferable skills) that show you relate well to customers and colleagues in a busy store environment. Even if you’ve never worked in retail before, you can still list several soft skills that show you’d be a good fit in sales teams.

For example, customers like approachable and patient retail assistants, so include these adjectives on your retail assistant CV.

Creating positive customer shopping experiences and being persuasive (but not pushy) are essential for boosting sales, so don’t forget to list your interpersonal skills and ability to interact with people of different cultures and backgrounds.

Here are other retail assistant CV soft skills:

3. Use powerful action verbs and hard numbers

Besides greeting customers and giving product recommendations, retail managers also want their retail assistants to achieve daily sales targets and enhance the store’s brand image.

So remember to include hard numbers within the work experience section for your CV. Hard numbers like percentages, time worked, sales targets, and pounds earned:

• give retail managers context about what you’ve previously achieved
• present you as a strong candidate
• show that you pay attention to details (like reaching sales goals and modifying customer retention strategies)

Additionally, use a CV action verb to begin each bullet point in your work experience section. Action verbs for your CV such as ‘Sold’, ‘Provided’, and ‘Organised’ show employers the scope of your previous accomplishments and your potential to improve a store’s conditions.

This retail assistant candidate uses specific details, action verbs, and hard numbers to enhance their bullet points:

Example of a retail assistant's work experience section

• Sold £500+ worth of books and stationary every week in May 2021, resulting in exceeding sales targets and receiving praise from my supervisor
• Provided knowledgeable and friendly service regarding new arrivals and book recommendations to 35+ customers a day
• Organised 50+ product shelves and ensured the floors and main area were neat and orderly before opening the shop each morning

And if you’re looking for retail management opportunities, try using action verbs like ‘Trained’, ‘Supervised’, and ‘Led’ so you can further demonstrate your leadership qualities and ability to train other staff to successfully exceed their sales goals.

Here’s an example of a retail assistant’s leadership abilities (with hard numbers and action verbs highlighted in bold):

An experienced retail assistant's work experience bullet points

• Trained 12 seasonal staff members in December 2021 on loss prevention, visual merchandising, dealing tactfully with customer complaints, and handling refunds and exchanges
• Supervised the entire team of 28 sales associates when manager was on holiday or unavailable from January 2021 until April 2021
• Led monthly testing of emergency equipment and safety procedures including fire alarms and robberies for 5–10 floor staff