The Retail Career Guide

What are Retailers’ Looking for?
While some of the skills sought by retailers are obvious, such as a good personality, friendliness, and honesty, there are some other less obvious qualities retailers say good employees demonstrate. Retail managers value initiative and work ethic. While service orientation is important, retail employees must also know how to find ways to be productive. Employees can greatly increase their value by producing results without needing to be told what to do.

Over the long-term, retail employees who can serve customers effectively, demonstrate a strong work ethic, and also develop leadership skills that match the company’s philosophy, can find great careers with retail companies. Other skills retailers look for include:

• Intelligence – The ability to make decisions quickly in a dynamic setting

• Drive – Retailers do not want what are known as ‘bare minimum’ employees

• Willingness to Learn – Retailers to rely on part time employees, but have interest in employees who can develop into leadership and management positions

• Ability to Teach – Much of what leaders or managers do every day involves teaching

• Decisiveness – The ability to make smart decisions spontaneously

Perhaps the skill most valued by retail companies, and employers in general, is good communication skills. In fact, many studies have shown that communication skills are the most important quality any worker can possess. A strong link has also been found between successful (based on income) people and their ability to communicate effectively.

Iowa and Pennsylvania based Buckle District Manager Denny McDonnell says, “We look for good communication skills. We want people that are articulate and understanding of people and fashion, and have a very positive attitude.” Communication with customers, colleagues, subordinates, and supervisors, using a variety of methods, is vital in business and retail.

Starting Part Time
One of the most interesting notes about retail is that while one of every six Americans is employed in a retail position, very few people consider retail a viable career option while in school. To many high school and college students, retail is a temporary income ‘fix’ to help with tuition, books or bills.

Talking with many of the most successful managers and executives in retail, one can quickly see that many of them had the same thought when they started. In fact, many of today’s district and regional managers with successful retail chains began as part time high school or college employees and simply never left.

McDonnell is a prime example. “I viewed retail as a part time income opportunity when I was in school, but I learned through my development with Buckle, that sales is a very noble profession. The only difference between me and other entrepreneurs is that my business is conducted within a mall.  I have chosen this career because it has been rewarding both personally as well as financially.  This is not the only opportunity I have had over the years, but it’s the one I have selected!”

Management Trainee Programs
A great development in the retail industry has been a sharp increase in the number and scope of management trainee programs available for employees and management prospects. While many companies have had management training for years, there has been much improvement in the detail, planning, and systematic processes that retailers have used with trainees.

Finish Line, a fashion and apparel retailer specializing in footwear and athletic wear, has a two part program it puts management trainees through. The initial program is a basic overview of the store, its processes, and operations. The second stage develops the trainee in the management role, including participation in scheduling, payroll, employee training and development, and other supervisory functions.

Family Video, the largest private video store chain in the US, has a very detailed three to six month training process for its management trainees (MITs). Their goal is to develop managers efficiently and effectively with the plan that they leave their training store to become a store manager of an open store or new store. Trainees begin by learning the company’s philosophies, then move into operations, and prior to an audit at a training store, run the store for a period of time, performing all operational and supervisory roles.

One of the great benefits retail offers to college graduates today is that there are many fast growing companies with more management openings than trainees in their pipelines. Several of these companies routinely have district managers in their mid-to-late twenties, and some companies even have regional managers in their late 20s to mid 30s. Hard working, fast learning, ambitious, flexible, and leadership-oriented managers have great growth potential in these rapid growth retail chains.

Unique Retailing Careers
What is fascinating about the retail industry is that many people employed by it do not even consider themselves retailers. When college students are asked whether they do or have worked in retail, many routinely say no, but when questioned further, actually have or do. Service retailers like airlines, travel, hospitality, and the like are often overlooked as retail based work environments.

Another interesting fact is that a very small percentage of college students indicate interest in a long term retail career, in spite of the fact that statistics suggest one out six will wind up in the industry. Several myths still exist about retail work. First, many believe it is not a lucrative career. However, salary research indicates that most retail professions make more than the national per capita income.

Additionally, many college students are not aware of the vast diversity of retail occupations. Many college students believe retail only takes place on the store sales floor. However, managers, district managers, and regional managers make many important operational and personnel decisions every day that impact their stores. There are great opportunities at the store level, including loss prevention management, and department management.

Behind the front lines, there are a variety of options. Retail buyers can earn great money and have fast-paced, exciting careers in which they get to constantly monitor industry trends, track sales and profit data and buy product for stores. Trend managers and forecast managers assist buyers by researching fashion trends and analyzing the future of their markets.

Retail chains also employ human resources and IT professionals, corporate trainers, and others offer central headquarter opportunities for various support staff positions. Retail is very broad and the job market is wide open.

Planning College for a Retail Career
One of the greatest myths in today’s retail environment is that one does not need college to work in retail. While there certainly are talented individuals who bring the right combination of natural skills without higher education, as business gets more competitive, retailers are begin to seek more educated, knowledgeable, and career-minded employees.

In fact, many large retailers, including Target and Abercrombie and Fitch, now require general or specific types of college degrees for entry into management training or career programs. The US economy continues to involve into a more service oriented economy. Product focus has given way to service orientation in many cases. The battle to deliver what consumers’ demand has driven retailers to seek out higher caliber, focused candidates. As a result, many colleges offer retail diploma or certificate programs, or at least offer retail courses as part of degree programs.

While marketing, management, and business programs produce many retail career candidates, quality managers are coming from a variety of educational backgrounds. Fashion students are finding niche opportunities with apparel or design retailers. Auto programs are producing managers as well as laborers. As retailers look to offer more and more expertise to customers and clients, they need managers with specialized training. College graduates with specific degrees, who possess the combination of skills retailers are looking for, are in high demand by category specialists and niche retailers.

The law of supply and demand suggests that as retailers are demanding more quality, educated managers than many can find, college graduates with skills and the right degree, have great earning potential with top retailers. College students interested in business and management, who plan carefully, can gain a significant competitive advantage over counterparts who do not plan ahead for the great career opportunities in retail.

Approaching Retailers
Getting together with potential employers is generally easier in retail than in many other office or organizational environments. Making contact for initial employment at the store level is as simple is walking into the store and asking for an application, most times. Sometimes, if a manager is present, an in-store visit can result in an on the spot interview. This depends on the size of the company and its policies and procedures.

For higher level positions, most retail stores post job openings on their web sites, including contact information. The best approach to take for a higher level management or office based position is to contact the hiring manager for a give position.

It is important to keep in mind that retailers are often as aggressive at finding candidates, as candidates are at finding them. While there are millions of people working in retail, there are only so many high skilled, well trained, and qualified retail prospects to go around. Retail recruiters get involved at the college level in various recruiting efforts.

Job fairs and college career events are often filled with retailers. Some retailers travel around routinely and set up tables at schools in student centers. Retail employees are regular guests in college classrooms in a mutually beneficial relationship where the retailer provides a real world perspective on various topics, and it gives them a chance for PR and recruiting.

One big sign that retailers are getting more and more aggressive is the dramatic rise in the number of retailers offering tuition programs for college students. Wells Fargo offers very strong tuition reimbursement programs even for employees working half time or more. This is an effort on their part to develop a relationship with student employees before they graduate, in order to attract them to a potential long-term career.

Summary and Conclusion
As the retail environment evolves, consumers become more demanding, and retailers need more educated, knowledgeable, and motivated people running their organizations. This presents a great opportunity for thoughtful and career-minded college students to make themselves marketable with an appropriate degree and good skill development.

While certain qualities come more naturally to individuals, many skills sought by retailers can be learned and developed with education and experience. Contrary to myth, retail can be a very lucrative career with a broad range of great employment settings. There are retailers with a wide range of philosophies and value sets so college graduates can find cultural matches that provide a comfortable career building environment.

Approaching retailers is relatively convenient. Retailers are aggressively looking for skilled and trained management material and are finding creative ways to approach college students with their message.