How Do I Become a Retail Manager?

As a retail manager, you can enjoy all sorts of perks with the job. From sales discounts to the opportunity to move up in a corporation, being a retail manager can be a highly attractive career for motivated people. Being a retail manager can give a person the opportunity to interact with customers on a daily basis and learn what it takes to run a company. When you become a retail manager, you will need to study accounting, budgeting and all of the other important aspects of running a company. Maybe you have wondered, “How do I become a retail manager?” When you want to become a retail manager, it is important for you to establish yourself within a corporation.

What’s it like to be a retail manager?

As a retail manager, you will typically work a normal 40-hour work week. You will be responsible for greeting customers and helping to ring up their purchases during busy times. You may also need to do all of the accounting for your store. This means that you will need to make sure that your store is meeting its sales quotas every month. You will also need to ensure that your store is becoming more profitable every month. One of the other major responsibilities of a retail manager is to ensure that people do not steal items from a store. A retail manager needs to also have a knack for the sales profession. He or she should know when the appropriate time for a sale is.

Education Requirements

One of the benefits of desiring to become a retail manager is that no education is required. One does not need a college degree in order to become a retail manager. Instead, he or she should simply have experience in the retail profession. The most important thing for companies is to see that a person has worked in a retail store previously in his or her life. Experience is the name of the game in the retail profession. Experience is what will provide a person with that one line that stands out on a resume. If a person does want to obtain a college degree, then he or she should take courses in the fields of accounting, finance and marketing. Knowing these special fields will help a person run a very successful store operation.

Salary & How to Get a Job

The starting salary for a retail manager is about $40,000 a year. Retail managers can have varying salaries depending on the type of company that they work for. If a retail manager works for a small retail chain, then he or she may earn a lower salary. If a retail manager works for a national chain, then his or her salary may increase. To obtain a position as a retail manager, a person should try to apply for as many positions as possible at retail stores. One can find these positions listed on the Internet or in newspaper ads. One may also want to simply go to retail stores and inquire about any openings that the retail store has. Networking can also be very valuable when a person wants to obtain a position as a retail manager. Networking will provide a person with the connections that he or she needs to get a foot in the door.

References:
1. http://www.ehow.com/how_2120589_be-retail-manager.html
2. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes411011.htm