CareerChange #Retail #CareerAdvice
Hey there! 🌟
I totally get where you’re coming from. Making a career change can be a daunting task, especially when you feel stuck in a certain industry. But hey, it’s never too late to pivot and aim for something better.
Here are some tips on getting out of retail at 40:
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Explore Your Interests: Think about what you’re passionate about or what skills you enjoy using. Consider how you can transfer those skills to a new career.
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Online Certifications: Look into online certifications in industries that interest you. Some reputable platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning offer courses that can help you gain relevant skills.
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Networking: Reach out to people in industries you’re interested in. Attend networking events or connect with professionals on LinkedIn. You never know where a new connection could lead you.
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Update Your Resume: Highlight transferable skills from your retail and food service experience. Emphasize your leadership abilities as a shift lead and any customer service skills you’ve developed.
- Consider Entry-Level Positions: Keep an open mind about starting at an entry-level position in a new industry. It can be a great way to gain experience and work your way up.
Remember, it’s all about taking that first step towards a new direction. You got this! 💪Good luck on your career change journey! 🚀
You can make over 60k in sales. That would be a good transition since you have experience in retail. Look for jobs with a base plus commission at large companies, especially telecom companies.
Bartending is a similar skill set and you can make a lot more money
Are you dumb or lazy?
Not to be too rude, but not getting above shift lead when you’re competing with high school kids means something is up.
You can easily make 60k+ as a manager in fast food, 100k as a GM.
Question is why are you not able to advance?
I know what some people keep saying about retail and all, but what is the genuine reason for you to wanting to quit retail now (in 40)?
Is it the position constantly stuck below shift lead?
Is it because staying won’t get you to $60k?
I helped many people around me who is in your similar position, wanna see if I could contribute anything meaningful or positive to this.
Cybersecurity? Figure out where you think you’ll thrive; there’s technical and non technical roles.
But you’ll need to do a lot of studying.
Hope this helps!
try tech sales. You can break well over your desire $60k.
I moved from customer service in a supermarket (no manager or lead position) to customer service in the medical industry and nearly tripled my pay. After 2 years I’m training people and working on huge projects and have a huge networking pool.
Look into insurance roles. Associate underwriter, underwriting associate, underwriting support (company like Beazley or liberty mutual or Admiral insurance company)
Usually requires no degree.
Based on your other comments, I think training is right up your alley. There are a lot of companies looking for trainers and it’s something you can grow in. Also sounds like it would make you happier. If you can tailor a resume to really highlight your experience onboarding or upskilling staff, it might be an opportunity to break into a role. I went from 40k to 109k in 10 years. Got my foot in the door at a small company, then transitioned to a large tech company.
If you DM me your general location I can find a few postings to show you what I mean (or at least try).
Management, sales, purchasing. These skills translate extremely well and are something you can practice in your current job. Be adamant about building your resume and collecting positive feedback from current supervisors. Wherever you currently work, there is an operations and labor deployment manual they use to train people. Start getting familiar with it. Look at how to do their labor calculations (likely software at this point). I know this is going to be slightly unpopular, but toss your phone during your full workday and use any downtime/ breaks to start picking up on the work of whoever manages you. Eat quick and then just go sit there and be curious about other people’s work.
See if the retail store you work for has a corporate office and start networking. Get on LinkedIn, look for roles within the company that are more interesting to you. You know the product line, you know the people, use that to get into purchasing, sourcing, sales, etc…
Don’t pick up certs until you’ve identified a job you like on indeed or linkedIn, and if the company requires certs for the role you’d like to land in, then do the certs. Most certificates are very specific, but something that will go a long way no matter what are presentation skills (PowerPoint), MS office/ Google software (start making spreadsheets on excel, even if it’s just for your own personal things). Use building a good resume to polish your skills with MS word or google docs. These are basic skills that many people claim to have, but they have not even begun to breach the surface of.
Get good at telling your story. Find things about your current job role that you enjoy (even if you dislike it) and think about how those things translate. Retail is customer facing, you have to deal with a lot of strange characters, and you build up some conflict resolution skills. Think about times that you had to calm down a customer, support a coworker, take initiative, etc…
Finally, start looking at jobs now and try to avoid making excuses. The job market is tough for everyone and we all have some idea of what we are worth, it’s very frustrating when your are 50+ applications in and people aren’t responding. Write yourself a couple cover letters, get good at using the key words and phrases that people in your desired industry use by looking at the desired skills in job postings. You don’t have to be an expert, but you need to figure out the things that you don’t know, so that you can start learning. Only way to do that is by looking at job roles, identifying common skills that the role demands regardless of the company, then get on YouTube and start learning. Unsubscribe from brain rot type stuff and commit a couple hours on your days off to enriching yourself in that field.
Good luck!
Consider leveraging the skills you’ve developed as a leader in retail directly for a mission based organization. A lot of nonprofit organizations use retail activities to generate revenue for their cause. They often have a small number of employees, less corporate culture, benefits that prioritize their talent, and opportunities to learn and work in areas you would otherwise be unqualified to access. Imagine making enough to support a modest lifestyle and actually feeling good about the skills you’ve developed and the work you do.
Supply chain. Specifically purchasing, or Buyer. I leveraged my ordering experience at a grocery store to a procurement position at a wholesale produce distributor and instantly doubled my pay. Some college but no degree.
I did this. Left a LONG retail management career at 42. I now facilitate training for a product almost every retailer uses. I never knew my job existed but turns out there are quite a few roles for it out there.
If you like the training and coaching aspect of retail and are even marginally good with numbers and can translate them to action you can do my job. Look for Buy Now Pay Later companies, product insurance companies like Asurion, or product leasing companies like Progressive Leasing and find their field manager roles.
I am 100% remote with some travel and make just over $100k a year. Everyone on my team is former retail and most were not above store manager level.
Getting out of retail seems impossible. I know. It can be done though.
Bank branch managers for any of the bigger bank brands actually do pretty much the exact name thing as retail managers too and the hours are WAY better.
If your experience is down the retail path I would stick to that and just try to move up to leadership. Why are you stuck below a supervisor level and what can you do different. Where do you live too and what are the opportunities. Walmart store managers make over 100k and Buckeys has several positions over 6 figures that are commonly advertised.