Applying in retail and sales: find jobs, prepare your documents

Qualifications in retail: from certificate to branch manager

In retail, many jobs are open even without an apprenticeship in sales, but shops still look closely at the qualification you bring. It shows whether you can only work at the till or also advise customers, place orders and look after a department. State your qualification together with the sector you trained in: groceries, fashion, sport, electronics or DIY are completely different worlds.

• Retail assistant EBA (Detailhandelsassistentin or Detailhandelsassistent EBA, federal VET certificate): two-year basic training covering customer advice, the till, packing and restocking. After that, a shortened apprenticeship to the EFZ is usually possible.
• Retail specialist EFZ (Detailhandelsfachfrau or Detailhandelsfachmann EFZ, Swiss federal VET diploma): a three-year apprenticeship in a specific sector, with the focus “creating shopping experiences” in the shop or “managing online shops”.
• Professional examinations with a federal diploma of higher education, such as retail specialist (Detailhandelsspezialistin or Detailhandelsspezialist), sales specialist or purchasing specialist.
• Advanced federal professional examinations with a federal diploma, for example retail manager (Detailhandelsmanagerin or Detailhandelsmanager), for managing larger branches or departments.
• In-house courses at the big chains for deputy and branch management. If you have attended such a course, it belongs in your CV.

Where sales jobs are advertised

The big retailers often advertise their jobs first on their own career page, often with a filter by branch and workload. On top of that come the big job portals, the Job-Room of arbeit.swiss and regional job boards. Smaller specialist shops, boutiques and bakeries often look for staff with a notice in the shop window or on their website. For temporary help over Christmas, at stocktaking or on promotion days, some chains also work with temp agencies.

Search with several terms, because every chain names its jobs differently: “Verkäuferin”, “Verkaufsberater”, “Detailhandelsfachfrau”, “Mitarbeiterin Kasse”, “Kundenberaterin Filiale” or “Aushilfe Verkauf”. And also search directly for the branch near you. A short commute counts more in sales, with its early and late shifts, than in many other jobs.

What belongs in your application file in sales

In sales, the file is usually shorter than for an office job, but it has to be complete. Many chains now only accept applications through an online form. So keep all your documents ready as PDFs, and uploading takes just a few minutes.

• Cover letter, short and tailored to the branch or shop.
• CV with your tasks in sales: customer advice, the till, stock management, orders, visual merchandising.
• Certificate of proficiency or federal VET certificate with the sector; for further training, the federal diploma.
• Arbeitszeugnis (Swiss reference letter) and employment confirmations, including from temporary and part-time jobs.
• Your availability, stated clearly: workload, possible days of the week, evening and Saturday shifts, earliest start date.
• Proof of courses, for example on till systems, product knowledge or customer advice.

The cover letter in sales: four points that count

Branch managers read many letters that say “I enjoy working with customers”. They only believe it when you give an example. These four points make your letter concrete:

• Qualification or experience and sector in the first sentence, for example “retail specialist EFZ with experience in a specialist sports shop”.
• Your availability: workload, Saturdays, late-night shopping and how flexible you are with rotas. For planning a branch, this is often decisive.
• An example from advising customers: a customer you found the right product for, or a complaint you resolved calmly.
• Why exactly this shop: the product range you know and use yourself, or the way customers are advised there.

Saturdays, late-night shopping and product knowledge: what shops really want to know

In retail, you often work irregular hours, including evenings and weekends. Shops plan their shifts around opening hours and customer traffic, and that is exactly why they need people they can rely on. So say openly when you can work and when you cannot. A clear statement like “Saturdays any time, evenings twice a week” is more helpful than “flexible” that later turns out to be limited.

The sales conversation is the heart of the job. Good salespeople ask first before they recommend: What do you need it for? What have you used so far? If you can describe this way of advising, you show more than with any adjective. Product knowledge counts just as much. If you work in a bike shop, you should be able to explain frame sizes; in a perfumery, fragrance notes; in a grocery store, freshness and storage. Say which product range you know, and if you have a personal connection to the sector, feel free to mention it.

Today, till systems, scanners and online orders are part of everyday life in a shop. Experience with click and collect, returns from the online shop or stock management on a handheld device is a plus that many people do not mention.

Interview and trial day

In sales, the interview is often followed by a trial day or a taster shift in the branch. What counts most there is how you approach customers, how you work with the team and whether you stay friendly when it gets busy. Dress the way the team in the shop looks, be on time and ask if there is something you do not know.

In the interview itself, small role plays often come up: Sell me this item. Or situational questions: What do you do if a long queue forms at the till and a customer complains? What do you do if an item is missing that a customer urgently needs? Think of real examples from your previous jobs. And ask about the rota, the induction and further training yourself.