Effective Retail Resumes

Before we discuss the mechanics of creating a resume we want to briefly describe the most important attributes of a strong retail resume.

  • Our clients are looking for resumes that describe significant achievements. Don't waste too much space explaining your job responsibilities. Instead, jump to your achievements quickly. Use bullet points to outline accomplishments, outcomes, what you did. Include sales increases, shrink results, successful promotions, people you recruited/promoted. Numbers and percentages are great as long as they make sense.
  • Be clear and concise: avoid phrases and acronyms that are unique to your company. Don't try to impress people with wordy sentences; use your accomplishments to impress.
  • Check all dates and make sure they are in order. Include months and year.
  • Demonstrate that your career is going in a positive direction (e.g. show that you went from Store Manager to General Manager to District Manager, to Regional Manager). Account for all time between jobs.
  • Sell yourself. Be bold. Be confident. Use active verbs (increased, reduced, created, executed, designed). Don't be afraid to call yourself talented, resourceful, intelligent, and skillful-but be ready to back up these adjectives with accomplishments.
  • Ask a person that you trust (preferably someone who understands retail) to review your resume and give an honest assessment of it.

And a few practical suggestions...

Save your resume in Microsoft Word (.doc) format. Virtually every recruiter can open a Word document. If you make it difficult for a recruiter to open your resume (e.g. by zipping it), he/she will be more likely to delete it and move on to another resume.

Virtually all recruiters and hiring authorities store resumes electronically and it's much easier to forward a clean copy of your resume via email. Never fax a resume to a company unless requested to do so.

Your resume will not "get" you a job. At best, it will catch an employer's attention and make that person eager to learn more about you. There are many different ways to create an attractive resume, but no matter how you arrange your resume...

Key Resume Tips

Your resume should include the following information:

Contact information. Include phone, mail and e-mail contact information. Your voicemail message should be professional. A message that is too casual can create a negative impression.

Summary statement. Your summary should be brief. First, include your title and years of experience. Second, list pertinent skills. Third, discuss your character traits or work style.

Example: "Financial Accountant with over 10 years' experience with two Fortune 500 companies. Technical skills include P&L, budgeting, forecasting and variance reporting. Bilingual in Spanish and English. Self-starter who approaches every project in a detailed, analytical manner."

Quantifiable Accomplishments - Ones Employers Want To See

  • Increased sales
  • Saved money
  • Effective budgeting
  • Purchasing accomplishments
  • New products/new lines
  • Successful advertising campaign
  • Increased productivity
  • Cut overhead

Professional experience. List each position held in reverse chronological order, dating back through your complete retail career. If you held multiple positions within the same company, list them all to show advancement and growth. The body of each position description should describe your responsibilities and accomplishments. Never leave gaps in your history or begin with your resume at mid-career. Companies want the full picture of your background and experience.

Other components. Include education, professional training, affiliations/appointments, licenses, technical skills and languages.

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