Everyone has had an encounter with the supervisor that has the personality of an amoeba, or much worse, the sales assistant who won’t stop pestering you! If you believe retail is your speciality and you have a burning desire to sell products and services to customers, then an apprenticeship in retail may be up your street.

Retail covers a whole host of businesses, from small independent shops to nationwide chains and megastores. You could be working in one of a number of different product areas, from clothing and furniture, to markets and mail order. Retail skills are transferable so there’s no limit as to where you can’t work in the trade once you qualify.

The duties required of an apprentice will differ between organisations. You could be assisting customers on the sales floor of a high street store or handling their purchases to organising displays and learning the crucial aspects of management. Alternatively, you could be working in a specialist department, becoming an expert in a specific product, making you a customer’s dream when asking you queries regarding the product. The skills acquired from a retail apprenticeship are transferable to all retail companies, so you’ll never get tied down to one area of products or services.

When you finish an apprenticeship in retail, you will have the chance to move on to an apprenticeship that will be more advanced. Here, you will receive training which concentrates on a specific role; this will develop your skills in your chosen speciality. You will be given more responsibility and develop essential management skills, which can then be used in a whole range of product areas. An advanced apprenticeship could lead to you managing your own store and implementing your own strategies to make the store a success.

In order to succeed in retail Notgoingtouni.co.uk believe that you must be enthusiastic, mature, confident and responsible as you need to be able to deal with a variety of situations. This could entail handling crisis situations such as staff shortages, difficult customers, shop lifters and the daily management of staff. You must also look presentable – retailers want to ensure you fit in with the image they wish to portray to their customers.

Having a youthful work force, the UK’s retail sector is vibrant and career progression will occur at an early stage. A salary of 11K- 15K can be expected, once qualified. The retail arena represents an exciting but testing challenge, so you must be ready to deal with it. If you meet these requirements, then an apprenticeship in retail is made for you.

Notgoingtouni guides young adults with their future by showing jobs and training that exist outside of university. It contains apprenticeships, distance learning, foundation degrees, gap year and voluntary work as well as ways to get a sponsored degree. Go to the site for free career guides and more than 300 videos.