
What to Put on a Resume: Good Things You Should Include
Find our what you need to put on your resume and what recruiters are looking for. Use these tips and examples to make a perfect resume.
From pop-up stores to e-commerce, you know every aisle of retail. Sell them your experience and skills with the best retail manager resume.
You hold sales forecasts in one hand and employee recognition in the other. The thing is, recruiters don’t know your approach. You must catch their eye with a great retail manager resume that makes you stand out like perfect product placement.
Read a professional retail manager resume example you can adjust and make yours. Learn an easy formula for writing a resume for retail manager jobs that will land you 10x more interviews than any other resume from the past.
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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume samples here.
Crystal T. Lopez
Retail Manager
Phone: +1-317-573-6615
Email: c.t.lopez@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/crystal19lopez
Summary
Sales-oriented retail manager with 2,5+ years of experience. In previous roles exceeded sales forecasts by 10% every quarter and achieved a 20% increase in customer satisfaction. Eager to develop and inspire Finq’s retail team to exceed customer satisfaction levels and sales goals.
Experience
2016–2017
Retail Manager
Stokk Wines
Key Achievement:
2015-2016
Assistant Retail Manager
Unser
Key Achievements:
Education
2014
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
B.Sc., Retail Management
Key Skills
Associations
Certifications
Interests
Languages
On to the showroom!
1
Things won’t sell if you just fling them all into a heap in the middle of the floor. Visual arrangement is key.
This means formatting your retail manager resume correctly before you start adding on those perfect additional accessories.
Here’s how to format a retail resume template:
Now that you know how to format your resume, here’s a short outline of what your resume should contain:
Read more about resume formatting: Professional Resume Format That Gets Jobs
A good writer always leaves the beginning for last unless they want to suffer from writer’s block and sleepless nights.
The same goes for a good resume. Start with what you know—your career experience, education, and skills. Go back to the top when you’re done to write an intro that encompasses your resume in a nutshell.
So roll up those sleeves and let’s get started.
2
According to the BLS, retail management employment shows no signs of stopping any time soon. At the same time, employment in retail sales is predicted to drop.
What does that mean?
A growing number of managers supervising a dwindling workforce means you have to be the best to get the job.
So how do you convince hiring managers that you’re top of the line?
Here’s the best way to create a retail manager resume description of your career experience:
But that’s enough talk. Let’s see these guidelines on display.
Here is a retail manager resume sample of the employment history section:
Right |
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Retail Manager March 2016-February 2018 Florel, Indianapolis, IN Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievements
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Wrong |
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Retail Manager March 2016-February 2018 Florel, Indianapolis, IN Key Responsibilities
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The right example clearly demonstrates that this candidate knows the ins and outs of retail and can navigate them more smoothly than that card being swiped at the register just now.
The wrong example is a little like that retail associate who stands in the middle of the floor, but won’t actually approach customers—“I’m here, but not really.”
Keep in mind, both these examples come from the same candidate! See what a difference specific examples and quantifiable achievements make?
But let’s say this is the first managerial position you’re applying for. What then?
Check out these resume examples for retail managers without managerial experience:
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Sales Associate May 2016-June 2019 Florel, Indianapolis, IN Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievements
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Wrong |
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Sales Associate May 2016-June 2019 Florel, Indianapolis, IN Responsibilities
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You don’t need the word “retail” in your experience to show that you have what it takes to be a retail manager. The right example shows that the right responsibilities and numbered achievements are more effective than any store window in grabbing attention.
The wrong example basically says “yeah, so I can sell stuff.” Not very convincing, is it?
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, our easy resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.
Read more about describing your work experience: How to List Job Responsibilities on Your Resume
3
The right degree definitely opens doors when you look at any retail manager job description. But don’t list your entire education.
Include your most relevant degree and let your experience do the rest of the talking, especially when you have enough experience to sing choruses.
Here’s the way to do that:
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Bachelors of Science in Marketing Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL Completion: 2012 |
Taking into consideration that your management experience will almost always trump your education, keep this section short and sweet like a 12-hour flash sale.
Educate yourself more on listing your education: How to Write Your Resume Education Section
4
Product rollouts, employee management, customer service, sales— for retail managers, this skill list goes on and on like the line outside the door right before Black Friday.
Listing all the skills you have, whether relevant or not, will have hiring managers dropping your resume in a flash and continue their candidate shopping elsewhere.
So how do you hand pick the key skills that make your resume a bestseller?
Follow these tips:
Here are some great retail manager skills to help you compile your list:
Now that you’re well stocked in retail skills, let’s take a look at some that you might want to list on your resume for a particular role.
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Remember to use the requirements from the job ad as a guide for which key skills the employer is looking for.
Pro Tip: Try to be one step ahead and think of what your prospect retail company needs now and in the foreseeable future in terms of skills. With the constant rise of brick and click retail, leave a couple of bullet points for technical skills specific to e-commerce even if they’re not needed right now.
Read more about adding skills to resumes: Key, Professional Job Skills to Add to a Resume
5
There’s growing competition among store managers and the retail salesforce is growing smaller, so employers are looking for proof that you can not only sell your way out of a paper bag, but that you also know how to manage employees, the largest source of controllable costs in the retail sector.
Sometimes, your education and experience aren’t enough to make you stand out in the hundreds of other retail sales manager resumes recruiters get. A well thought out additional resume section will let recruiters know that they’ve just found the perfect manager and say “I’ll take it!”
Retail management certificates show prospective employers that you’re not just a good candidate, you’re an anchor. Here are a few that will really stand out:
In an increasingly global market, the knowledge of a foreign language is more valuable than you may think. Whether it’s handling a customer complaint, negotiating with suppliers, or simply talking to employees, knowledge of a foreign language is definitely an asset.
No one cares about what you’re interested in, right? Wrong. Your interest in e-commerce or passion for green retailing might be the very thing that puts you one step above other candidates applying for the same position.
Demonstrating membership in a retail association shows the hiring manager that you take your career seriously. Here are a few examples:
For more possibilities when it comes to additional parts of a resume, see this guide: What to Include in a Resume
6
Let’s go back to the top of your resume.
You might have the best quality merchandise and unbeatable prices, but without the proper visual merchandising, you might as well be trying to sell sand in the Sahara.
Your resume heading statement is the visual merchandiser of your resume, tempting the hiring manager to take a look and to find exactly what they’re looking for.
A resume heading statement comes in two versions: the resume summary and the resume objective.
Take a gander at what you’ve written in your retail manager resume so far. Find two to three impressive, key points that will wow the recruiter with your knowledge and skill set.
Now, if you find that you have skills and experience in bulk, opt for the resume summary.
The resume summary statement gives a brief, but impressive account of your key accomplishments and experience. This is the go to for those retail managers with experience in the field.
Take a look at these two retail manager resume summary examples:
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Enthusiastic and professional retail manager with over 4 years’ experience in big box store management. Consistently exceeded annual sales forecasts by 10-15% every year. Named “#1 store in the district” four years in a row based both on sales growth as well as employee satisfaction. |
Wrong |
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Experienced retail manager. Regionally recognized manager, winner of several awards for sales and service. Looking for change and new challenges in the retail sector. |
The right example puts the best cards on the table right away. Through the use of tailored concrete examples and numbers, this candidate demonstrates both sales experience and people management knowhow in just three sentences!
The wrong example is vague and the hiring manager isn’t going to waste time trying to figure out what it all means. Deleted.
But what if you’re changing careers or taking the next step up on the career ladder?
Use the resume objective.
The resume objective statement focuses more on your skills and why you would be a great fit for the role. This is perfect when your experience is a little thin, but your skills prove that you can do the job.
Let’s look at two retail manager resume objective examples:
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Effective, energetic, and friendly assistant sales manager looking to leverage 85% customer service satisfaction and 90% employee satisfaction ratings in a managerial position in high speed retail. |
Wrong |
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Assistant Sales Manager looking to find new challenges outside the sales sector. Skilled in customer service and working with others. |
As you can see, the same rules apply here as in the resume summary—tailor your objective to the needs of the employer and impress through numbers.
Still not sold on how to start your resume with impact? Learn more here:How to Start a Resume with Tips and Examples
7
You don’t have to write a cover letter. Especially if the job ad doesn’t specifically ask for one. Even more so if you want your resume to be put on layaway. Forever.
Think of it like a prestige pricing strategy—if a hiring manager sees both a carefully crafted resume and a cover letter, they’re going to know that they’ve got a good, professional candidate on their hands.
Writing a cover letter doesn’t need to be an ordeal and in a few minutes you can write one that will win the recruiter over.
How to write a retail manager cover letter:
That’s it!
Read up on what your cover letter should say to make sure yours is a definite buy.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Learn more on how to quickly write a compelling cover letter: Cover Letter Writing
Let’s boil everything down to the essentials—
Here’s how to write a retail manager resume step by step:
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Find our what you need to put on your resume and what recruiters are looking for. Use these tips and examples to make a perfect resume.
Learn why the resume layout matters as much as the contents. See examples of great resume layouts and use the tips to create a professional layout for a resume all by yourself.
How many years should you go back on a resume? Is it a good idea to list those back-in-the-day jobs? What to add if you're a junior? Read on to get the answer.