Job Trend Report 2022 - How to Prep for the Retail Crash
Retail workers have been enduring unpredictability in their jobs for years. Sales are happening mostly online these days, making brick-and-mortar locations more obsolete by the day. The year 2020 saw over 12,000 stores closed across the US, with another 80,000 expected to close by 2025.
The jobs current retailers know are drying up and they have no way to prepare for the changing job landscape.
The Future of Retail Jobs
Logistics, delivery, fulfillment, omni-channel. All of these are disciplines positioned to skyrocket but with most store locations are struggling to keep afloat, there’s no time or resources to cross-train anyone.
Instead, companies are choosing to not prepare their existing workforces with the skills they need for what Retail of the near future will be — one of the biggest opportunities I see in the Industry right now.
The reality is that retailers are overworked, exhausted, and are not being set up for success long-term.
5 Ways to Prep for the Retail Crash
Start Developing Transferrable Skills
If your goal is to transition into a new industry (or even upskill for to transition to a new store), you already have some highly marketable skills already.
First of all, don’t sell yourself short. Bosses sometimes like to highlight all your “opportunities” (that is what they can it when you suck at something), but they often overlook your successes or contributions to wins.
It’s your job to take inventory of your own successes and useful attributes. If you need help mining these or need help getting started with a self-assessment, download Move On or Move Up, a free workbook guide that helps you through that process.
The act of simply writing down your skills with examples puts focus on your marketable skills in a way you probably haven’t before. From there, you can dig deeper into those skill sets to continue developing them.
Explore Another Industry
Some people didn’t mean to end up in Retail, but one day they look up and they’ve been in it for years. This is the perfect time to explore other interests. Chances are that you don’t have a lot of time to devote, but any time spent here is worthwhile and can be illuminating.
You can brain dump all jobs or fields you’re interested in.
Go to YouTube, Reddit, GlassDoor, or LinkedIn to research what the role is like.
Ask for short 15-minute interviews from LinkedIn connections that have that role.
Explore Certificates
This is a pretty common one — when co-workers would talk about getting out of Retail, getting some kind of certificate would always come up.
Of course, anything in the Tech scene is valuable right now, so those are great options to explore. Google has courses through Coursera in UX Design, Project Management, Data Analytics, and IT Support for example. I took a few of the UX Design classes and they are great.
Other areas talked about were HR, coding, and SDR. This is far from an exhaustive list, but the idea is to start exploring what else you might like to do and figuring out how to break into the field.
Some jobs may need a certificate, some say it’s a “nice to have”, while other jobs might not need one at all.
Update Your Resume and Portfolio
Retail jobs can be here today, gone tomorrow, so if you don’t already have your resume up to date, it’s time to polish it up.
Especially consider Step 1 where you mined and edited your transferable skills - there are probably statistics and numbers you can include to support your claims and make your resume stand out from the rest.
If you need help with this part, download Move On or Move Up, the free workbook that breaks down a career transition or promotion — including the part where you’ve got to update that resume.
Depending on your goals, a portfolio may be necessary. I have written for years, mostly for my and clients’ websites. Because I wanted to do something with writing I created a Writing Samples Portfolio to showcase my work. If you’d like to peek at the thing that got me hired for my first full-time writing gig, click here.
Warm Up Your Network
The final thing to do is to warm up your network. If you don’t make it a habit to keep in touch with former supervisors or colleagues, it’s a good thing to be more aware of. No one wants to be your reference if you haven’t spoken to them in 2 years.
Having said that, sending a quick “hey, how’s life” and rekindling that relationship before you make that ask, makes things so much smoother when the time comes.
You can also put out feelers discretely ahead of time through private messages. Be cautious of changing your status on LinkedIn or talking about potentially looking around on other social media because word will probably get back to your boss. I’ve witnessed peers and staff losing jobs because they were openly looking for something else.
Conclusion
Retail is redefining itself, positioning the industry for acceleration in ecommerce. Jobs that are and will continue to boom are Logistics, Delivery/Shipping, Fulfillment, and Omni-channel.
If your goal is to stay in retail, it may be worth exploring these roles to figure out where you will be happiest. On the other hand, if you’re ready to transition to something else entirely, then revamping your resume, checking out certificates and job requirements should be in your future.
Since retail brands are not going to cross-train their field employees for transition, it is up to the individual to be proactive about their own development. Be sure to check out Move On or Move Up for a jumpstart in your new, up-leveled job.
