Career Profile:

Job Summary:

This role is all about helping people to choose the right product for them and making sure they go away happy, with suitable products that they’re happy with. You will work in a shop, advising customers, keeping stock tidy, taking payments and working in a team to maximise sales.

Job Tasks:

Common tasks in this role include:

• Helping update stock
• Helping solve customer problems
• Dealing with dissatisfied customers
• Managing returns
• Answering the phone
• Dealing with customer queries
• Dealing with web orders
• Handling cash & card transactions
• Keeping the shop tidy
• Stock checking

You will use your knowledge of outdoor clothing and equipment to support customers to make the best choices in their purchases.

Skills Needed for this Job:

Talking to customers and being interested in their needs are key to this role. You will be able to communicate well verbally and listen well to what the customer wants.  You will be able to solve problems, especially when a customer has a problem or is unhappy with something. Having a friendly and approachable manner is important in this job.

Being able to use initiative is something that employers value. An employee who can do things without having to be asked makes things much easier for a retail business and are more likely to move up into more senior positions, such as key holder, supervisor, assistant manager or manager.

A good knowledge of the equipment being sold in the shop and the uses of equipment are useful in this job. Having used some of the equipment yourself in the outdoors and having an active interest in a related outdoor pursuit will be an asset.

Working Hours:

Common retail opening hours in smaller towns are 9am-5.30pm, but increasingly, in larger towns and cities, opening hours are being extended until 9pm or even later, especially during busy periods, for example in the lead up to Christmas. This means that you may work shifts starting after lunchtime or mid afternoon.  You are likely to work weekends, as this is the time when retailers are busiest – especially Saturdays.  You will then get time off during the week. This flexibility can offer the opportunity to get out climbing during daytimes. In some retail environments you will be work on a zero hours contract, which means you will be told your work rota a week or two in advance.  Although full time permanent positions are available in the industry, these are becoming increasingly rare, as companies try to reduce staffing costs during quiet periods.

Income:

Pay ranges from the national minimum wage to around £12 per hour. This translates to £10,000-£15,000 per annum. in 2015, the national average wage in the UK was £27,500. Although pay as a shop assistant is low, there are some perks to this type of work, discussed in the last paragraph.

Training & Qualifications:

No formal qualifications are needed for this job.  Having reasonable written and verbal skills is desirable, so some shops may ask for you to have a C grade in GCSE maths and English. Past experience of working in a shop or within a job in the outdoors, such as being an instructor, will be seen as an asset, but isn’t usually essential.

You will receive on the job training relevant to the store and till systems you’re working in.

Industry information:

The Outdoor Industries Association

Cotswolds

Ellis Brigham

Other Relevant Information: Perks

Despite the low pay, there are a number of perks to jobs in retail.

1. Working in a outdoor shop you’ll often be working with like minded people who can be keen to get out climbing after work or on days off.
2. Working in a shop can be fun and relatively carefree.
3. You may also get to know distributors and contacts in the industry which can come in handing for your future career, depending on the path you take.  Learning the skills of networking can be invaluable in any industry
4. Having time off during the week means that you can get out to usually busy crags or hills when everyone else is out at work.
5. You can often get gear at trade price or less and you may benefit from freebies in the form of kit to test. Companies offer up kit to test at they will want you to know about their kit and have a positive outlook on their company, helping you to sell their kit.
6. It’s rarely busy 100% of the time.  It’s worth having a book to read for time when the shop is quiet! (check first with your employer that this is ok!)