Annual Salary
£13,000 to £26,000
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
Swap to Design or Fashion & textiles or go back to all job sectors
Swap to Design or Fashion & textiles or go back to all job sectors
Sales assistants sell products and help customers.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: evenings / weekends / bank holidays; on a rota
There will be
1.5% fewer Sales assistant jobs in 2027.
As a sales assistant you could:
You may need to wear a uniform.
You could work at a store, in a stock room or at a garden centre.
Your working environment may be physically demanding and crowded.
You can get into this job through:
You could do a college course to learn some of the skills you'll need as a sales assistant.
You could do a Level 2 Certificate or Diploma in Retail Skills or a Level 3 Diploma in Retail Skills Sales Professional.
You'll usually need:
You could do a Retailer Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship.
You'll usually need:
You could start as a temporary sales assistant and work at the weekend or in a busy season like Christmas.
You could then apply for a permanent role after getting some experience.
You could volunteer in a charity shop to get some retail skills. This experience could help you to get paid work.
You could apply directly for sales assistant jobs. You might find it useful to have retail or customer service experience.
Some employers might want you to have some GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English and maths.
You'll need to:
When applying for sales assistant jobs, it might help if you:are confident about selling; have a positive and helpful attitude; get on well with a range of customers
Some shops, like mobile phone or DIY shops, might expect you to have good knowledge of their products before you apply.
With experience you could:become a retail supervisor, manager or department manager; gain further qualifications through a Retail Leadership Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship; train to work in a specialised area of retail like an opticians through an Optical Assistant Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship; specialise in customer services, visual merchandising or buying; start your own independent shop or stall
You can work as an Optical Retailer with employers such as Specsavers
You'll need: