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Retail managers look after stores, motivate staff to achieve sales targets, organise promotional events and monitor industry trends.
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; managing your own hours
As a retail manager you'll:
You could work at a store or in an office.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a degree before applying to join an organisation's management training scheme. Most subjects are accepted but you may have an advantage if you study:
It's useful to get some experience in retail during your studies. You can do this through part-time retail jobs, internships and year placement schemes.
Your university careers service can help you find suitable opportunities.
You'll usually need:
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job.
Relevant subjects include:
You could apply to do an apprenticeship.
Relevant apprenticeships include:
You'll usually need:
You may be able to start as a retail sales assistant and work your way up through promotion to supervisor or department manager.
You could also get into this job by switching from a managerial post in a related industry, like customer service. You would be given training in retail to build on your existing management experience.
Many national retailers run trainee management schemes. Some ask for a degree to apply.
Schemes combine training and mentoring with work placements in different parts of the business to develop your retail knowledge, skills and leadership qualities.
With experience you could:progress into area or regional management; move into more specialist areas, like customer service, training and operations management; use your management skills to work in another industry