Career Area
RETAIL
The retail sector is very diverse and ranges from the smallest corner store and market trader to the largest department stores and supermarkets. Over three million people work in nearly 300,000 retail businesses in the UK.The retail sector also includes catalogue sales and internet based stores.
Career options in the retail sector can be broken down into eight areas:
- Store Operations
- Human Resources/Training
- Finance and Administration
- Buying
- Customer Contact Centres (Customer Service)
- Marketing
- Logistics (moving, handling and storing goods)
- Information Technology (IT)
A lot of the larger retail companies have graduate recruitment schemes with in house training.
Source: jobs4u/Skillsmart retail
This area looks at just four different job areas in the Retail sector, with three possible career routes for each:
Click above to go to the Diplomas
You can get your qualifications by taking vocational courses or studying while in employment as well as by the more traditional full time education route. The important thing is to choose a route that suits you.
Remember these are career pathways, and you can get on or off the pathway at any point!
Mature students without formal qualifications are advised to talk to their local nextstep provider www.nextstep.org.uk One year Access to Higher Education courses give adults without formal qualifications the chance to study at degree level. Contact individual colleges and universities to discuss their entry requirements.
Additional sources of information
The Sector Skills Council for Retail is Skillsmart Retail www.skillsmart.org.uk
www.retailpassport.co.uk RetailPassport provides a record of your skills, qualifications and achievements and improves your employability.
Skills for Logistics www.skillsforlogistics.org is the Sector skills Council for Logistics - including warehousing and distribution.
Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) for Retail in the South East are:
- Retail Links (Basingstoke College of Technology, Eastleigh College and the Training and Learning Company) www.retaillinks.co.uk in Hampshire
- Touchstone Learning & Skills www.touchstonelearning.co.uk based in Brighton
- Weir Training www.weirtraining.co.uk
What else should I be doing?
There’s a lot you can do to help your retail career outside formal learning:
- find part time work/holiday jobs/work experience in a shop or where you will get experience of customer service
- take part in Aimhigher activities, such as summer schools and taster days
- improve your teamwork and personal skills – especially communication and presentation
- develop your problem solving and thinking skills
- develop your IT skills
- take a look around you when you next go shopping!