SELL YOURSELF TO GET AN INTERVIEW
If you’re aiming to land yourself a sales assistant job you first have sell yourself, via a CV, to show potential employers your sales skills. Your first step is to create a memorable cover letter and standout sales assistant CV to ensure you get an interview.
The structure of a CV is a fairly straightforward but it is vital that you don’t make any errors or try too hard to make your CV too weird and wacky!
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- Top tips on how to write a Sales Assistant CV
- Retail CV Skills
- Sales Assistant CV examples
HOW TO WRITE A SALES ASSISTANT CV
It should be the content of your CV that is unique NOT the structure.
This is how your CV format should be structured.
The Structure
- Contact details at the top – your name, address, email address & telephone number.
- A sales assistant Personal Statement should be your first paragraph. This should be a concise ‘sales pitch’ including your skills, experience, and the industries you worked in.
- Follow this with a set of Core Skills which relate to the job description.
- Next is your Work Experience, include the name of the company, title of the role, and the dates of employment. Under this list your responsibilities and what positive contributions and key achievements you made to the business. Start with your most recent job.
- Education and Qualifications should be the next section. This can be a brief list of name of school or college, dates of attendance, & qualifications earned. If you have a University degree, there is no need to include details of your primary school. Again, start with your most recent qualifications.
- Interests section is optional, but it is a good idea to include information that adds to your personality. This is especially the case in retail where companies are looking for vibrant and energetic staff.
Sales Assistant Personal Statement
This is a very important part of your CV, even more relevant if you are creating a sales assistant CV with no experience. If you don’t have a work history, a personal statement enables you to highlight your skills, education, and suitability for the role.
It should be no more than 4-5 lines of your CV, but it tells the reader who you are, what you can offer to their business, and outlines your career goals. For example if you have recently left school, you can highlight the fact you have 8 GCSEs & 2 A levels , and are looking to use your existing skills and knowledge, develop them further, and pick up new skills mentioned in the job advert.
HOW TO WIRTE A SALES ASSISTANT WORK EXPERIENCE IN A CV
If you already have lots of retail experience the work experience section is probably the most important section of your CV.
Here are 4 top tips on how to highlight your previous experience:
- Add your most recent work experience first, including company name, your job title, dates of employment.
- List about 6 bullet points beginning with an action verb to highlight your responsibilities and/or achievements
- Quantify your achievements actual data – eg Achieved a 10% increase in sales
- Tailor this information to the job you are applying for as much as you can.
HOW TO WRITE WORK EXPERIENCE AS A SALES ASSISTANT WHEN YOU HAVE NO EXPERIENCE
Even if you have no experience, you should not ignore this section. Think about any volunteering or internships you’ve done via school or helping out friends or family that are in any way linked to retail or sales e.g. have you raised money for charity or are you a top depop seller? Consider your educational achievements, interests or hobbies and see if you can find any relevant information to add to your work experience section.
HOW TO WRITE A SALES ASSISTANT EDUCATION SECTION IN A CV
If you have little work experience your education section is important. You need to fall back on any qualifications you’ve attained to make a case for your suitability. Include bullet points focusing on relevant coursework and extracurricular activities relevant to the position of sales assistant.
As an experienced sales assistant, the names of the schools you attended, dates of entry, and qualifications are all you will need.
WRITING SALES ASSISTANT KEY SKILLS
Look at the job advert or job spec and list the skills outlined in it. Then compare what hard and soft skills you have. Cross-reference your skills with those included in the job description. It is good to include 6-10 relevant skills. If you have little or no work experience, you should expand on the skills you have including when and how you have used these skills.
WHAT TO PUT ON YOUR CV FOR RETAIL?
Stick to this tried and trusted CV structure below. However, if you have little experience in retail you should emphasise your skills and education and place them before your work experience.
- Personal Statement
- Work Experience
- Education
- Key Skills
- Additional Sections
PERSONAL SUMMARY FOR CV RETAIL
It is best to leave this until you have finished the rest of your CV. Then you can summarise what you have written. As the section heading suggests, it summarises your experience, achievements, skills, and education that are relevant to retail.
A personal summary is better when you have some experience. You can provide an overview of everything you’ve achieved quickly and easily. Here are some CV personal statement examples.
Example of a personal Statement for CV in Retail
“Enthusiastic & friendly sales assistant with 4 years experience. Aiming to increase the sales figures of Passion for Fashion by using proven skills in customer loyalty and sales. Improved overall customer review level by 3% and possess vast experience in handling complicated EPOS systems. Eager to implement sales techniques learned in my career to date to add to the high-quality service provided at Passion For Fashion.”
PERSONAL STATEMENT FOR RETAIL JOB WITH NO EXPERIENCE
A personal statement for applicants with minimal experience should include your transferrable skills and competencies. The aim is to convince the reader that the education and personal attributes you have will make you useful to their business.
Example of a personal Statement for CV in Retail with no experience
“Dedicated, energetic sales assistant with a keen work ethic. Skilled in inventory management and merchandising. Looking to increase customer loyalty scores and overall revenue at Passion for Fashion. Built experience in retail by volunteering at Hospice Charity Shop accepting donations and merchandising stock, received praise for innovative window displays.”
RETAIL SKILLS FOR CV
In retail, you will be customer facing so will require a mix of hard and soft skills. For example:
- Communication and customer service skills to deal with client queries and make sure they receive good service.
- Attention to detail – ensure the products are displayed correctly and shop is always clean and tidy
- Technical skills for operating point of sales systems and stock checking systems
- Numeracy skills for customer transactions
- Business knowledge – in-depth product knowledge.
The top skills tip is: Read the job description very carefully and match your skills against it.
There are 3 main categories of key skills:
- Transferable: Skills gained in one situation that can be used in other jobs or situations
- Job-Related: Skills that are specific to a particular job or industry that require training.
- Adaptive: Skills such as creativity, team working, positivity, speed of learning and flexibility.
When you are writing your CV for a retail sales assistant, there are many relevant skills in each category:
- Transferable: Commercial, numeracy, computer, management, and reading or writing skills.
- Job-Related: Customer service, technical, and product knowledge skills.
- Adaptive: Communication, tenacity, team working, flexibility.
RETAIL SALES ASSISTANT CV TEMPLATE
You will be able to find many CV templates or CV examples online but here is a example CV layout you can use as a guide when writing your résumé.
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Email]
[Your Phone Number]
Personal Statement
With seven years’ experience in the retail sector, I have provided high-quality personal service to all customers. I quickly learned all aspects of the roles and made sure I gained in-depth stock knowledge to ensure I could handle all customer queries sucessfully. I am happy to work as part of a team, but also use my initiative when necessary. I work well under pressure and won Sales Assistant of the month 4 times in 2021.
Key Skills
- Motivated and driven to achieve goals and targets.
- Show initiative with an emphasis on customer satisfaction.
- Pay attention to detail, especially with visual merchandising & promotions.
- Complete transactions at the checkout with confidence due to good numeracy skills.
- Organised with good time management skills.
- Skilled in resolving conflict.
- Ability to work under extreme pressure.
Employment History
Sales Assistant at New Look
May 2017 – Present
Oakfield Road
Provided a personalised service to all customers who entered the store. It was here that I was truly able to showcase my love of customer service by ensuring they received knowledge of all store promotions and special offers.
Key Skills & Achievements
- Ensuring an exceedingly high level of customer service.
- Handling customer queries patiently and efficiently while dealing with any complaints. When the need arose, I escalated the situation to a manager.
- Ensured that the visual standards of the store met the company’s high standards.
- Strong organisational and planning skills with close attention to detail.
- Completing transactions at the checkout.
- Gained valuable experience in using effective sales techniques.
- Won awards for providing the best customer service on five occasions and was top salesperson on seven occasions.
- Building great relationships with customers, colleagues, and suppliers.
Customer Assistant at Lidl
May 2015 – April 2017
Holywood Road
Key Skills & Achievements
- Processed sales, exchanges, and refunds on a daily basis.
- Ensured shelves were fully stocked and matched visual merchandising guidelines.
- Tidied and made sure the shop floor was free of obstacles.
- Followed company guidelines on retail and security procedures.
- Helped customers to make purchasing decisions answering queries.
- Worked well under pressure; especially during weekend shifts when the store was busiest.
Education & Qualifications
August 2014
NVQ Qualification: City & Guilds; Retail Level 2
August 2012
7 GSCEs including English and Mathematics
Additional Information
- I enjoy going to the gym particularly Crossfit.
- I like to crochet and make of my own clothes.
- I keep up to date with the latest innovations in the world of retail.
SALES ASSISTANT CV TEMPLATE FREE
Download your Sales Assistant free CV Template UK and modify it accordingly.
WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?
- View and apply for Sales Assistant Jobs
- Set up a Sales Assistant Job Alert
- Write a Sales Assistant Cover Letter to go with your CV
- Prepare for a successful interview with these top interview questions
- For more info on CV writing check out our How to write a CV – The Complete Guide
In need of some more advice? Head on over to nijobfinder’s career advice area where you’ll find everything from tips on preparing for an interview to advice on starting your new job.
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