Stuck in the Retail Industry

So, you’ve been working retail your entire life, or so it seems. You bounce from one low paying job to another, where your “sales” and “customer service” experience carries you home to being hired. You’ve been stocking shelves, working a cash register, and dealing with angry customer all day for minimal pay. But that’s not what you really want to do, is it? You are tired of working a boring retail job with a random schedule that’s so unpredictable you cannot plan the other aspects of your life. Instead, you want a traditional nine-to-five job position where you can work Monday through Friday and get paid well to do it. Well I’ve got great news for you. You’ve just been looking at your retail experience wrong the whole time in terms of your resume. There’s no reason to be stuck in the retail rut any longer.

That’s right! You just need to look at your customer service and sales experience with a different light in order to convert your retail experience into an entry level nine-to-five job position as a customer service representative. Maybe you want a customer service job in a call center or maybe you want a field representative job where you travel from site to site resolving customer complaints. Whatever your desire, it’s possible but it all starts with your resume.

Your Resume

There are a variety of resumes out there that highlight different aspects of your experience, talents, and skills. For switching industries from retail only experience to a nine-to-five job the functional resume should be used. The functional resume highlights your skillsets, not your chronological experience. The functional resume points out your best talents and skill, such as customer service, sales, complaints resolution, organization, etc. You have the skills; they just need to be put to paper correctly to highlight what you are capable of.

Personal Information - Let’s take a look at the resume sections. First up, your personal information section at the top. This section is just as important as the others. Your name should be bolded and centered at the top of the resume. Below your name should be your address, phone number, and email address in that order and all bolded. This is the first section an employer will see when they look at your resume and in such, your name should be front and center, large, and bold so as to attract the employer to your resume.

Objective – This section is not to be ignored. Many employers only read the objective statement to see how well a candidate can sell themselves. The objective should highlight you as you see yourself. The objective statement should also be specific to the job you are seeking. For example, you may write “self-motivated professional customer service representative seeking a position as a customer service representative within your organization where I can further enhance my skills while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of your operations”.

Skills – This section focuses on your skills and should use creative words to describe your experience. If your resume passes through the initial pile of applicants, this section is what will sell you when combined with your objective statement. Employers will be looking to see if your skills support your objective statement and their current needs. I personally like to review the job opening first to see what skills the employer is seeking and use one or more of those skills in this section. If you’re going from retail to a nine-to-five customer service job, you will want to focus on your expert customer service skills, number of customer you have served in a given day, your multi-tasking ability, and your experience using computer systems, like Microsoft Office. Use words in this section like “superior”, “expert”, “enhanced”, “top-selling”, and/or “high performing”. You can do a simple google search for key words to use on a resume, which will present you with a number of other words that will attract employers. You can also use a thesaurus to find similar words to describe your experience. Do not underestimate any of your tasks that you performed as a customer service retail representative. If you served as a cashier, you then write in your resume that you served as the face of the organization serving more than “X” number of customers daily. If you stocked shelves or were responsible for planograms, you write that you were responsible for organizing the store by using your enhanced organization skills. The goal of this section, as stated, is to sell yourself.

Experience – If you are sticking to the functional resume, designed to focus on your skills and not your retail experience, this section is not necessary; rather it is a nicety for employers looking for candidates with a variety of work environments.

Education – Education is not as important as the other sections because most customer service nine-to-five jobs do not require an education; rather they require years of retail and customer service experience. Still, do not overlook this section. List your education in chronological order, with your most recent education at the top of the list. If you are not complete with your education yet, it's completely acceptable to list an estimate graduation date. Employers like to see that you are pursuing an education and when you will be completed.

References – Finally we reach the end of the resume where most people list their references. However, in my experience I like annotate in this section at the bottom of my resume that “references are available upon request”. I have found that employers generally do initial interviews before contacting references. Many times, an employer contacting one of your references will be the last step on the hiring process if they use references at all. Many entry level jobs do not require references. In anticipation of possibly needing references, make sure to have at least two professional references and two personal references ready on a typed up sheet for a possible employer.

At this point, you have read some good suggestions as to how to re-accomplish your resume to tailor it to a new career in a nine-to-five job as a customer service representative. The good news is that once you are in a customer service nine-to-five position you can easily translate that new found experience into other nine-to-fie jobs, such as working in an office setting as an administrative assistant. The possibilities are endless, but it all starts with your resume. A clean, concise, and descriptive resume will sell you. Remember, you’ve been in customer service for years in the retail industry. You’ve even been in the sales industry for years. Now it's time to sell yourself. Do not be intimidated or afraid. Take the advice in this article and just go for it. You can do it.

JOHN SMITH

44531 State Street • Storytime, Illinois 44563

PHONE (586) – XXX – XXXX • E-MAIL [email protected]

OBJECTIVE

Dedicated, work-oriented, self-motivated and disciplined United States Navy Veteran and full time senior year college student seeking employment as a sales/customer service professional or manager for your team

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

Leadership

• Overseen and managed the direct efforts of 25 military personnel during the Global War on Terrorism for 18 months while continuously maintaining productivity under extreme pressure which ultimately lead to the flawless completion of multiple military missions

• Successfully improved the overall sales and customer service abilities of my co-workers at a major retail store, leading the store to run continuous sales gains and achieve customer service, performance, and business oriented goals

Sales

• Became the top selling and performing commissioned sales professional in the district of Detroit for RadioShack in less than two months of employment, leading sales in all calculated categories

• Currently maintaining the top selling and performing position in the district of Detroit at RadioShack for the second year in a row

• Expert at the selling process

• Served over 8000 customers, each resulting in an excellent customer service experience and return business

• Conflict Resolution

•Highly Experienced and Developed Customer Service Skills

•Excellent Interpersonal Communication

•Superior Multi-Tasking Ability

•Excellent Time and Schedule Management of Employees

•Fast Learning

•Professional Administrative Skills including Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency

EDUCATION

•2008, Anticipated date of graduation

University of Phoenix Online

Bachelor of Science in Psychology Phoenix, AZ

•2008, Anticipated date of graduation

Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL

Bachelor of Science in Workforce Education and Development

REFERENCES – Available upon Request