Retails Therapy: How to Get a rewarding Career

There are so many different types of retail environment in which to work, such as marketing, phone sales, visual merchandising and purchasing. If you’ve decided that you want to pursue a career in retail, it’s important that you’ve done your research and that you choose an environment which is going to suit you. Claire O’Reilly from the Department for Employment and Learning’s (DEL) Careers Service offers the following advice.
“There are many different routes into a career in retail and there is a wide variety of retailing roles from retail man-agers to stock control and sales. All these roles require different traits but all normally require staff to deal with colleagues, customers and suppliers.
“Over the course of any day’s trading, you could encounter many different types of people which could include store staff, senior management and customers. So you’ll need to be able to communicate at all levels, be well-organised and comfortable making decisions as no two days will be the same. You’ll most likely need to be flexible as you may have to work shift patterns which can include evenings and weekends. A smart appearance is also essential.
“Employers in retail look for certain personal qualities and skills. These include a willing-ness to work long hours, the ability to meet deadlines, reliability, efficiency and the ability to meet targets and handle pressure. “Certain jobs within retail will call for more specific skills than others. In general terms, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that you’re comfortable working with computers as they’ll be part of your day to day working life, no matter which aspect of retail you want to work in. If you’re not comfortable with ICT, you should consider a free essential skills course, funded by DEL — find out more on www.nidirect.gov. uk/skills or call 0300 200 7876.
“Help for employers in the retail sector with fewer than 250 employees is also available from DEL. WorldHost for retail follows in the wake of the highly successful WorldHost tourism programme, and local retail businesses can avail of WorldHost training for £20 per person. Details can be found at www.worldhostni.com.”
If you need further information, please go to: http://www. nidirect.gov.uk/careers where you will find the contact details for your nearest Careers Office and careers adviser.
You can also contact the Careers Service by phone on 0300 200 7820.