I went applying for jobs today and last night because jobless#yolo. Anyway, most places I applied to were retail jobs, and of course they ask for RETAIL EXPERIENCE. I'm not asking the general "how does one get retail experience", but rather, how did/do YOU get retail experience? What were/are the easiest ways for YOU to get it?
How Do You Get Retail Experience?
- Thread starter Ventus
- Start date
sailorgirl221
What a fearsome beast!!
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2011
- Location
- Oklahoma city, OK
walmart! as bad as that sounds walmart is a great foundation for retail experience. what kind of retail job is it? is it a fine retail job? or is it something like Walgreens? when I say fine retail i mean mall department stores. those are also great beginning job for retail.
I work in retail lol! so I saw this thread and I was all like:
RETAIL!!!!! I KNOW THIS!!! I KNOW THIS!!!!!
Is this a temporary job? though any small sales store or walmart should hire you with no experience. I applied to them with no experience at all and they hired me. though you do need some people skills lol i learned that the hard way after i got the job.
I work in retail lol! so I saw this thread and I was all like:
RETAIL!!!!! I KNOW THIS!!! I KNOW THIS!!!!!
Is this a temporary job? though any small sales store or walmart should hire you with no experience. I applied to them with no experience at all and they hired me. though you do need some people skills lol i learned that the hard way after i got the job.
Mellow Ezlo
Spoony Bard
I worked at my local A&W for a year and a half (I quit because my boss was a complete ***hole... Now I'm also jobless 
). Not sure if that counts as retail, as it is a restaurant, but it is better than nothing.
The way I got the job at A&W is, when they asked if I had retail experience, I said that I help my dad sell beef jerky at the local Farmer's Market, as well as several other fairs/festivals around the province. Not a store, but that was acceptable, and did get me the job. Conclusion? Anything works. Had a garage sale? Helped people out at the market? Worked at your school's cafeteria? Most of those are efficient to get you a job (but not always)
). Not sure if that counts as retail, as it is a restaurant, but it is better than nothing.The way I got the job at A&W is, when they asked if I had retail experience, I said that I help my dad sell beef jerky at the local Farmer's Market, as well as several other fairs/festivals around the province. Not a store, but that was acceptable, and did get me the job. Conclusion? Anything works. Had a garage sale? Helped people out at the market? Worked at your school's cafeteria? Most of those are efficient to get you a job (but not always)
Find an easy job to get experience. Big chains usually don't give a **** about experience. McDonalds, whatever other big supermarkets you have (we have ASDA and Tesco over here), so get land a job there and that'll build up some experience to put on the ol' CV, and a put of pocket money in your pocket. But, you don't give up the search from that! Keep applying to nicer places. You might hit lucky, you never know. Just make sure your CV is top-notch, even if it looks a bit empty, and tell them why they want you!
Is what I did. I got a job at ASDA stacking shelves which I had for like, a few weeks before landing a job at a bar in town, thanks to a friend getting me in.
Is what I did. I got a job at ASDA stacking shelves which I had for like, a few weeks before landing a job at a bar in town, thanks to a friend getting me in.
misskitten
Hello Sweetie!
My first job was selling roses on the street for charity, then I sold pins for another charity a couple of years later, by the time I applied for a job at an actual store I used those references to get a foot into the door, was thankfully called into an interview and the interviewer liked me enough to even rearrange the schedule so that I could work there (cause by then I had already gotten another weekend job, lol)
sailorgirl221
What a fearsome beast!!
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2011
- Location
- Oklahoma city, OK
I want to get a job at a place like World Market because the cakes are absolutely delicious there <3
But I will do what I must! ^^ Thank you very much, sailorgirl221!
no problem!!
just let me know if you have anymore questions like that. I would be more than happy to help!
Coming from someone who works in retail currently (nearly 3 years now!), I can say that back when I was heavily into job searching I was told this many times: that you needed retail experience whenever one of those said jobs was for retail. They also added in that it's not really necessary to have any, but that it's really just recommended because it increases your chances of getting hired.
One good way to get yourself hired if you don't have the necessary experience is first get some good references. That way regardless of what previous field of work you were in, your references will be able to put in a good word for you and say that your a good worker. Another thing would be to basically bug the crap out of them quite frankly (don't bug them too much though! lol ). And what I mean by this is by calling them to check on your application. This shows that you're really interested in the job and that to the employer you're probably a good investment for them to hire. Another good pointer I would add to the calling thing is that the best time to call would usually be early Monday morning shortly after said businesses have opened. Monday is usually the "blah" day of the week so if you called them that early to check on your app it would show them that you're willing to get up early and work. Not to mention this would probably be the best day to call since for most places the head manager will be working that day.
And if you do get a job in retail at least you can say that for future reference that you have retail experience.
Anyway, good luck with the job hunting!
One good way to get yourself hired if you don't have the necessary experience is first get some good references. That way regardless of what previous field of work you were in, your references will be able to put in a good word for you and say that your a good worker. Another thing would be to basically bug the crap out of them quite frankly (don't bug them too much though! lol ). And what I mean by this is by calling them to check on your application. This shows that you're really interested in the job and that to the employer you're probably a good investment for them to hire. Another good pointer I would add to the calling thing is that the best time to call would usually be early Monday morning shortly after said businesses have opened. Monday is usually the "blah" day of the week so if you called them that early to check on your app it would show them that you're willing to get up early and work. Not to mention this would probably be the best day to call since for most places the head manager will be working that day.
And if you do get a job in retail at least you can say that for future reference that you have retail experience.
Anyway, good luck with the job hunting!