Education Required for Entry-level Retail Jobs, Analysts Say
The Friedman Group, a Culver City, Calif.–based retail consulting and training group with 10 offices around the world, recently introduced an online sales education course called Gold Star Selling—and the company is waiving the fee for the first to register for the course.
The 27-module course trains students to become professional salespeople and offers information on sales techniques and strategies. The course is being offered free to the first 1,000 people who register at the company’s website www.thefriedmangroup.com/scholarship.
Once a field with a low barrier to entry, retail sales has become increasingly competitive, employment experts said.
“There’s been a shift in the quality of people,” said independent retail consultant Jamie Novick of The Next Step Retail Solutions, based in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. “There are fewer jobs. The expectations of the consumer are higher. They want someone that is trained.”
For entry-level positions, specialty retailers often seek to hire someone working toward a degree who also is planning a career in retail, Novick said.
Although some may consider retail a low-wage career, that assessment is inaccurate, according to Harry Friedman, founder of The Friedman Group.
Friedman specifically took issue with a study on Gen Y employment released Aug. 21 by PayScale Inc. and the Seattle-based Millennial Branding market-research company.
Based in Boston, PayScale provides information on salaries. The study noted that while more than 63 percent of Gen Y workers—ages 18 to 29— have a bachelor’s degree, most didn’t use them because they were laboring at low-paid retail jobs such as merchandise display or sales representative. Friedman said the survey does not tell the entire story on retail careers.
“It’s funny how many people I know in retail that are making $50,000, $75,000 and $100,000 a year. I think it is time to take a different look at retail,” Friedman said.
—Andrew Asch
