How do I write a CV for a part-time retail job with no experience?

Was walking around my town center and noticed quite a few letters in windows saying that they were hiring for part-time work. They also mentioned that "experience is not required but is preferable" or something, and to apply to just hand a CV in to a member of staff.

Now I've got a CV already, it's pretty, very, moderately, barely decent - but it's for applying for IT apprenticeships, not a part-time retail job. A lot of the CV is just talking about my experience with IT (and I don't mean good experience in a job, I just mean literally "I've used a computer before" and stuff like that. So how can i edit my CV to better serve the purpose of applying for a retail job? I don't imagine they're looking for "critical thinking skills" or care that about how many GCSEs or A-Levels I have. Any advice? Any sample part-time work CVs I could have a look at to get a picture of what I should be going for? Thank you in advance.

Reply 1

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

Original post by PurpleOctopi

Post your CV on TSR's CV forum. They may be able to help you out!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

ikhan94

Im in exactly the same problem, all these bloody vacancies that say people needed, and yet when you apply you get rejected but bloody 16 year olds get accepted....makes you pissed af :angry:

Reply 3

Nirvana1989-1994

You need a Cover Letter too maybe; just write about when you've been part of a team ex. group work at school. Also, that you've got great communications skills etc.

Reply 4

PurpleOctopi

Original post by Edminzodo

Post your CV on TSR's CV forum. They may be able to help you out!

Posted from TSR Mobile

I'll do that as well thanks, first time really using this website or a forum in general, so I still don't really understand the layout. I should probably remove my name/address and stuff from the CV right?

Reply 5

1010marina

Teamwork in sports you've participated in, have you ever been a leader (think sports leader, reading mentors, etc.), have you been a long running member of a club (loyalty), did you do DofE, NCS or anything else? Volunteering? Any roles at school?

Then do a good cover letter - I was a Christmas temp at boots last year and there's loads to talk about - makeup, shampoos, Christmas gifts, etc. Worth mentioning something like 'i choose this store over rivals because of the customer service & the brand suits me better'

Good luck!

Reply 6

PurpleOctopi

Original post by 1010marina

I've not done anything like that though. No sports, no clubs, no Duke of Edinburgh... like I said, experienceless. I've never worked at a job before, so there's nothing for me to draw from on that front, not even a temp job or anything. Is there anything I could include, or is it like, hopeless or something?

Regardless, thank you for the advice and pointers.

Reply 7

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by PurpleOctopi

Look at the top under Careers and Jobs and you can find the CV Help forum. The forum will look empty because it's a private forum, which means you can only see posts that you have started, only the CV Helpers and the Moderators can see all the posts.

Start a thread and upload your CV as a Word document saying what job you are writing it for and someone will be along to check it. Of course, as a matter of good personal internet security, you should remove your personal details, but if you don't, it won't be a problem with the Helpers or Moderators.

Reply 8

PurpleOctopi

Original post by threeportdrift

Thank you very much, I'll be sure to check that out.

Reply 9

KingJamesIII

Original post by PurpleOctopi

Let's think about what retail jobs desire in their employees. Essentially they're looking for decent communicators and people who can work as a team.

Try to think of when you have communicated something, anything. It could be a speech in English, it could be a group project at school, for example a presentation. Stuff like interform you can draw on for evidence as working in a team.

It's all about thinking about what skills they want, and where you have evidence for those skills, no matter how abstract you think it may be.

Reply 10

PurpleOctopi

Original post by KingJamesIII

Try to think of when you have communicated something, anything. It could be a speech in English, it could be a group project at school, for example a presentation. Stuff like interform you can draw on for evidence as working in a team.

It's all about thinking about what skills they want, and where you have evidence for those skills, no matter how abstract you think it may be.

I have done like, presentations before - but they were one-off things that lasted 5 minutes and I didn't really excel with them or anything, is it really right to list stuff like that as examples of communication skills?

Reply 11

KingJamesIII

Original post by PurpleOctopi

It's certainly viable to put it on there, particularly if you are young and have little/no work experience to include in your CV. Even if you didn't excel at the presentation, it demonstrates that you have and can communicate to your peers/others in a more formal setting. It also shows that you have conveyed a message to others under the constraints that the teacher has given you.

It does sound quite abstract at first, but the ability to recognise that you have used these skills is a plus, most people might not have even thought about these things, that alone demonstrates that you possess a certain level of intelligence and way of thinking that other applicants don't. :smile:

Reply 12

#ChaosKass

The majority of applicants will have 5+ years of retail experience so having none whatsoever will send you straight to the bottom of the pile. You need to get yourself down to a charity shop and volunteer there to get some experience to put on your CV.