Retail

Hey,

Just wondering if anyone here has considered a full time career in retail or is it considered too much of a rubbish job?

Matt

Reply 1

beach surf babe

A career in retail covers quite a wide area- Fashion Buying is retail and I think that would quite a cool job. As for being sales staff, I wouldn't want to do it as a career but thats just me.

Reply 2

Scotsman1988

I'm hoping to do something legal related (preferably a solicitor), but if my legal career dosn't work out I'm hoping to use the Management part of my degree and join the Graduate Scheme at Tesco (work PT for them just now and realy enjoy working for them).

Reply 3

*Emily*

i'm working full time in retail atm for part of my gap year, and while it can be okay, and a laugh sometimes, it is really repetitive and i wouldnt recommend being a sales assistant or anything similar, it's really boring most of the time..!

Reply 4

tbm

Personally I could never work full time in retail as a sales assistant, I did that part time and that was bad enough!

Reply 5

Guardian Careers

There are loads more roles and routes in retail than front-of-house sale assistant. Although this is probably an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to progress in the sector.

As mentioned earlier, buying is a really exciting option with lots of progression and possibilities. A colleague of mine used to be a shoe buyer for Topshop and would select the ranges for the coming seasons. She was a real fashionista and was always attending lots of exciting industry events and parties. Her perks were enviable.

The point being, it was far from rubbish.

You can also pursue courses in window dressing now, and professionals who excel at this are in massively high demand. Personal shoppers are popular too - these are both roles where you are essentially a stylist - which is something that appeals to lots of fashion-minded job seekers!

I'd recommend you seek some work experience with a large retailer or department store and be sure to see as much of the business as you can in order to see which area appeals most to you.

If you're interested in finding out the other sorts of jobs you can do in retail, check out our live Q&A tomorrow:

August 6, Retail, 1-4pm: Experts from bodies such as Skillsmart Retail, the Retail Trust and Sainsbury’s will be taking your questions on careers in retail: http://tiny.cc/Jj0F4

Hope this helps and inspires you.

Reply 6

½+½

I work in retail, although mostly based in the office upstairs now so less customer interaction which suits me fine. I think job satisfaction depends on the type of retail you are in... I wouldn't want to work in a purely fashion based retail again... it's vapid and mind numbing.

The shop I'm currently based in sells outdoor kit, I think it's probably one of the best retail sectors to work in... you meet lots of interesting people who are going off travelling, going up Everest, taking part in charity walks, wildlife photographers... the sector can be quite opportunistic as well... some suppliers give you free stuff and train you out on the hills... in four years I have had around 5 pairs of decent walking footwear given to me... lost count of socks and other various freebies... all really good quality pieces of kit. This obviously isn't the only reason to get into it, but if you have an active interest in the outdoors it's a pretty nice deal. We also get a substantial staff discount as well, again good for those interested in the outdoors. Saying all that, we are a small shop and as members of staff, we have a lot more interaction with suppliers etc. than I suppose the staff of bigger companies would get.

I've been working in retail since I was 16. I'm going into my 4th year of employment with my current company and have been actively involved in running it for a year now. I do enjoy my job but this is not it for me. I don't like working in a profit based environment and have began my quest to study medicine now, where I feel I will be making a difference with my work.

There's my contribution, so yeah... if I was to consider continuing my career in retail it would definitely be in outdoor gear. Something to fall back on I suppose if it all goes wrong! :macarena:

Reply 7

$Avatar for /Paranoia\$

/Paranoia\

I am doing an internship at a big retail company at the moment but in the headquarter. I learned a lot and the collegues are nice, too. If you have some specific question I will try to help you. The internship is in management accounting but I can also tell you some staff about marketing and buying if you wanna know