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Your sales assistant CV can be the gateway to a new work environment—one with great pay, benefits, and respectful customers.
In this article, you'll see a sales assistant CV example that’s better than four out of five in the window display. You'll also receive a retail assistant CV example to draw inspiration from. Follow the instructions to create a UK-specific sales assistant CV template and use our advice to make sure your dream job chooses you.
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We created the sample on the right using our builder. See other good CV examples like this one.
John Elliott
Sales Assistant
Phone: 077 2457 6577
Email: john.elliott@lcmail.co.uk
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnelliott
Personal statement
Dedicated and entrepreneurial Sales Assistant with over 5 years’ experience in retail, including both fashion and consumer electronics. Retained approximately £25,000 of business for Oak & Fire by carefully monitoring and anticipating trends and adjusting inventory flow accordingly. Looking to put proven sales skills and entrepreneurial attitude to good use in helping Weiss & Weiss continue to expand into the UK market.
Work experience
Retail Sales Assistant
Oak & Fire Menswear, Southam
June 2018–Present
Sales Assistant
Alf’s Electrical, Southam
November 2016–May 2018
Education
NVQ 2 in Retail Operations, 2017
Kane Ward College, Southam
A-levels: English, Geography, Mathematics, 2013–2015
Dellaster High School, Southam
8 GCSEs (including Mathematics and English), 2011–2013
Dellaster High School, Southam
Skills
Languages
Awards
Sophie Morgan
Fashion Retail Sales Assistant
Phone: 077 5555 5555
Email: sophie.morgan@email.co.uj
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sophiemorgan
Personal statement
Passionate and customer-focused Fashion Retail Sales Assistant with over 4 years’ experience working in high-street and boutique environments. Consistently exceeded sales targets by delivering tailored styling advice and building strong customer relationships. Skilled at stock management and visual merchandising to create appealing store layouts that boost sales. Seeking to leverage my expertise and enthusiasm to contribute to the continued success of Style & Co.
Work experience
Fashion Retail Sales Assistant
Style & Co, London
March 2020–Present
Sales Assistant
TrendLine Boutique, Manchester
June 2018–February 2020
Education
NVQ Level 2 in Retail Operations, 2019
Manchester College, Manchester
A-levels: Business Studies, Art, English Literature, 2016–2018
Manchester High School, Manchester
9 GCSEs (including Mathematics and English), 2014–2016
Manchester High School, Manchester
Skills
Languages
Awards
Amelia Hart
Jewellery Sales Assistant
Phone: 077 5555 5555
Email: amelia.hart@email.co.uj
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ameliahart
Personal statement
Detail-oriented and customer-focused Jewellery Sales Assistant with 4+ years of retail experience, including high-street and boutique settings. Proven track record in exceeding sales targets through tailored styling and expert product knowledge, including precious metals and gemstones. Skilled in creating luxurious yet approachable customer experiences, maintaining visual standards, and managing stock of high-value items. Now looking to bring my passion for fine jewellery and customer excellence to a team like Bijou & Co, where quality and service are paramount.
Work experience
Jewellery Sales Assistant
Style & Co, London
March 2020–Present
Fashion Sales Assistant
TrendLine Boutique, Manchester
June 2018–February 2020
Education
NVQ Level 2 in Retail Operations, 2019
Manchester College, Manchester
A-levels: Business Studies, Art, English Literature, 2016–2018
Manchester High School, Manchester
9 GCSEs (including Mathematics and English), 2014–2016
Manchester High School, Manchester
Skills
Languages
Awards
Liam Bennett
Technology Sales Specialist
Phone: 078 1234 5678
Email: liam.bennett@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/liambennett
Personal statement
Results-driven Technology Sales Specialist with 6+ years of B2B and B2C experience in SaaS and hardware solutions. Skilled in identifying client needs, presenting tailored solutions, and closing high-value deals. Known for exceeding quotas, building lasting relationships, and translating complex technical products into accessible value propositions. Eager to bring my consultative approach and passion for innovation to a forward-thinking tech firm like NexusSoft.
Work experience
Senior Sales Specialist – B2B SaaS
NexusSoft Technologies, London
April 2021–Present
Sales Executive – Enterprise Hardware Solutions
TechStore Solutions, Manchester
June 2017–March 2021
Education
BSc in Business and Information Technology, 2017
University of Leeds
Skills
Certifications
Oliver Grant
Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist
Phone: 079 8765 4321
Email: oliver.grant@email.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/olivergrant
Personal statement
Motivated and knowledgeable Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist with 5 years of experience promoting prescription medicines and medical devices to healthcare professionals. Adept at building strong client relationships, understanding clinical needs, and delivering persuasive product presentations backed by scientific data. Skilled in exceeding sales targets and contributing to improved patient outcomes. Seeking to leverage my expertise in a dynamic pharmaceutical company focused on innovation and patient care.
Work experience
Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist
MediPharma Ltd, London
May 2019–Present
Sales Representative
HealthCorp Pharmaceuticals, Manchester
January 2016–April 2019
Education
BSc in Biomedical Science, 2015
University of Birmingham
Skills
Certifications
If you’re looking for more examples, check these articles:
A sales assistant CV summarises a candidate’s skills, experience, and qualifications in retail or customer service. It highlights excellent communication, product knowledge, teamwork, and sales abilities. Typically, it includes personal details, a summary, work history, education, and certifications, aiming to show why the applicant is fit to support customers and boost sales, helping secure an interview.
Now that you know what makes a perfect CV for a sales assistant, it's time to write your own document. Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your sales assistant CV at least as impressive:
First impressions last. They’re important, that’s why the personal statement on your sales assistant CV has to make recruiters sit up and take notice from the get-go. A good CV personal statement will do three things well:
You’ll be writing a new personal statement (CV summary) for each new job application, so it’s a good idea to make the whole process as simple and reproducible as possible. You can generate a new personal statement for a sales assistant CV simply by answering the following questions in a total of 3–4 sentences or about 50–150 words:
Your whole application, including your sales assistant personal statement, is likely to be processed by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before a human being even lays eyes on its contents. There are some things you can do to grease the ATS wheels on a sales assistant CV:
Although your personal statement appears at the top of your sales assistant CV, it’s often best to write it last. It functions as a CV summary, after all. Once you've outlined your work history and achievements, crafting a compelling overview becomes much easier. Keep this in mind as you proceed, but consider saving it for the final step.
Sales assistant CV example: personal statement
Dedicated and entrepreneurial sales assistant with over 5 years’ experience in retail, including both fashion and consumer electronics. Retained approximately £25,000 of business for Oak & Fire by carefully monitoring and anticipating trends and adjusting inventory flow accordingly. Looking to put proven sales skills and entrepreneurial attitude to good use in helping Weiss & Weiss continue to expand onto the UK market.
A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.
It’s challenging to describe all the subtle aspects that contribute to making a good sales assistant. There are many people skills involved that are difficult to pin down, to start with. So, rather than even trying to describe these things on a sales assistant CV or a retail assistant CV, show them in action. Use your sales assistant job description to do this.
First, though, you need to decide on a CV format. The chronological CV format is easily the best option for a sales assistant CV, although you may want to look at other options if you’re changing careers, transitioning from military service or have long gaps in your employment.
Order your sales assistant CV job descriptions from most recent to least recent. This is what hiring managers expect to see and what ATS can parse most readily. Use the following sales assistant CV template to create a subheading for each job description:
[Job Title]
[Company Name, Location]
[Dates of Employment]
Now fill each job description with up to six bullet points. However, do not put your sales assistant duties on a CV. Instead, fill these bullet points with your achievements. Put simply, an achievement is the description of an action you took and the benefits your employer got from that action.
Start each achievement with a strong verb, like ‘negotiated’, ‘led’ or ‘expanded’. Be sure to quantify the benefits you brought to your employer. Use accomplishment statements to help structure your achievements.
If you’re writing a sales assistant CV with no experience, you can focus on any internships, placement work, and volunteer work you’ve done and put this section after your education section. If you have zero experience at all, then a student CV might be a more effective approach for you to take to get the ball rolling.
Sales assistant CV example: job description
Retail Sales Assistant
Oak & Fire Menswear, Southam
June 2018—Present
There are many ways to become a sales assistant, and academic qualifications aren’t always required (beyond the usual GCSEs in English and Maths). Still, you need a clear education section in your sales assistant CV, no matter what road you’re on. Work from most recent to least, and don’t mention grades.
If you have a university degree or an NVQ level 3 and some work experience under your belt, then you can leave your high-school education off the list entirely. Use the following sales assistant CV template for both university degrees and other tertiary qualifications when writing a school leaver CV:
[Degree Type] [Degree Name](Degree Class), [Years Attended]
[Institution Name], [Institution Location]
If you’re still studying (and writing your first CV), then include an expected graduation date. If you don’t have a university degree, then use the following templates to detail your high school education:
A-levels: [Subject Name 1], [Subject Name 2], [Subject Name 3]
[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]
[n] GCSEs (including Mathematics and English)
[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]
where n is the number of GCSEs you completed.
You may want to add bullet points to this section to highlight your achievements or areas of excellence while studying if you don’t have much experience. Otherwise, keep it brief and concise, focusing on what’s listed above.
Sales assistant CV example: education
NVQ 2 in Retail Operations, 2017
Kane Ward College, Southam
A-levels: English, Geography, Mathematics, 2013–2015
Dellaster High School, Southam
8 GCSEs (including Mathematics and English), 2011–2013
Dellaster High School, Southam
This probably won’t be the only sales assistant CV you send out this week, or maybe even today. That’s just the nature of job hunting. Your sales assistant skills on a CV have to be written to match the employer’s requirements, as they appear in the job advert every time.
But if you invest a little time in building up a master list of sales assistant CV skills now, this section becomes a matter of copying and pasting different skills into future CVs. To create a master list, simply open a new document and start listing as many of your sales assistant skills as possible (including hard, soft,and IT skills).
Now go back and add a sentence to each skill that describes how you’ve demonstrated that skill at work. Be as specific and concrete as you can. Quantify what you can, but it’s fine if you can’t put numbers to any of your sales assistant skills. If you can’t add a sentence like this to a skill, then remove it from your list.
Now that you have your personalised sales assistant skills master list, go back to the job advert and see what skills they mention there. Copy 5–10 skills from your master list that at least cover what the advert is asking for. Finally, experiment with keywords to match those used in the advertisement.
Sales assistant skills for a CV
Let's say that you and your competition all have two years of experience in retail and a high-school education on a sales assistant CV. According to your job descriptions and education sections, you’re the same. But what if you speak three languages and volunteer in a charity shop on weekends? Add extra sections to your CV to fill in the grid.
You can add sections that list any additional certificates, achievements, awards, even hobbies and interests to enhance your retail assistant CV. Not many people do this, and that’s precisely why it can make such a huge difference. Just keep it professional and 100% relevant to the job at hand, and you can hardly go wrong.
Definitely include any foreign languages you speak. This is still a relatively rare trait in the UK and can really set your sales assistant/retail assistant CV apart.
Sales assistant CV example: extra sections
Languages
Awards
Curious about your competitors? We’ve analysed over 6 million CVs created in our builder to find out what’s in a typical sales assistant CV*:
*The data comes from a period of the last 12 months (August 2023–August 2024).
As a sales assistant, you know that there are things that just go together. Handing over purchased goods with a receipt, for example. It’s one and the other, not one or the other. It’s the same with job applications. A job application typically consists of two parts: a CV and a cover letter.
So don’t leave your sales assistant CV to go alone—be sure to write a crisp, new sales assistant cover letter to complete every application. It should follow the standard UK business letter format and include:
Where the main body paragraphs are made up of:
How long can a cover letter be? Aim for around 250–400 words in total, about half an A4 page to a single A4 page.
Include a cover letter, unless it’s been made clear to you that one’s not required. Writing an effective cover letter can be daunting at first, but you might be surprised at how straightforward it can be. Even a simple one can make all the difference.
There’s window-dressing, and then there’s making sure the aisles aren’t cluttered with disused pallets and boxes. Poor attention to detail reflects poorly on a candidate and can make your CV template for sales assistants just tricky enough to read that it gets rejected before it has a chance to dazzle with its brilliance.
Basic CV formatting rules to keep in mind:
Have someone review your sales assistant CV and cover letter. They’ll find mistakes you overlooked; that’s just how it works. It’s why writers have editors and editors have proofreaders. Use any built-in spellcheckers, apps, or web apps that can help you get your spelling and grammar perfect.
It’s been a week or two, and you haven’t heard back? Follow up with a quick email or phone call. This will send all the right messages, and you might even get an update on how your application’s going.
You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.
Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.
About the author
Marta is a certified career expert with a marketing edge, offering strategic guidance to job seekers at every stage. She creates standout CVs and cover letters that help them land opportunities with confidence.
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