Industry Sectors

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements, but some employers may ask for a marketing, business or finance degree.

Other employers will want you to have strong numerical skills and experience in retail, especially an understanding and interest in stock control levels.

The Fashion Retail Academy runs a number of short courses like a 3-day Introduction to Merchandising.

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply also has details of procurement and supply qualifications.

Both graduates and non-graduates need to apply for entry-level posts, usually as an allocator, distributor or merchandise administrative assistant. 

Doing a college course in retail operations or fashion retail could help you prepare for this job.

You could also get into the retail industry through an apprenticeship.

Retail Careers and The Retail Appointment has more information on how to become a retail merchandiser.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

excellent number and data analysis skills, using spreadsheets and computer modelling

good decision-making skills

an understanding of what motivates customers to buy products

confidence when leading negotiations or presenting at board meetings

good interpersonal and communication skills to build useful working relationships

strong leadership skills and ability to influence others

excellent organisational and planning skills with ability to prioritise

3. What you'll do

You’ll use your high levels of product and customer awareness to predict demand. 

You’ll usually specialise in one area like fashion, food or home wares.

Your day-to-day duties might include:

planning product ranges and stock plans with buyers

planning budgets, forecasting sales and profit margins

presenting forecasts to managers

visiting manufacturers with retail buyers to learn about production cycles

negotiating prices and orders with suppliers, and agreeing delivery terms

tracking stock deliveries, making sure goods arrive on time and meet quality standards

setting prices and sales targets for individual stores

helping visual merchandisers to plan store layouts to promote key lines

promoting special offers and marketing initiatives

analysing sales figures and trends

staying aware of how competitors are performing

identifying and sorting out production and supply problems

managing, training and supervising staff

You may be called a product manager in a large retail chain and deal only with one or two product lines. In smaller companies you may be responsible for both buying and merchandising.

4. Salary

Starter: £16,000 to £18,000

Experienced: £22,000 and £25,000

Highly Experienced: £40,000 to £60,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may need to work longer at busy times, like during special sales promotions or the opening of a new store.

You’ll be office-based but will also spend time visiting stores or suppliers, which could be in other parts of the UK or overseas. 

A driving licence and vehicle may be useful.

6. Career path and progression

You could be promoted to senior merchandiser and responsible for sales and budgetary control of a multimillion-pound department and managing a team of people. It’s typical to have reached senior merchandiser level within 7 to 8 years.

You could also become a merchandise manager, head of merchandising, merchandising director, retail business analyst or self-employed retail consultant.

Role Description

You’ll usually specialise in a particular type of environment, like marine or coastal areas. 

You could study a specific animal or plant species. 

Your day-to-day duties could include:

• carrying out fieldwork - surveying and recording information on plants, animals, environmental conditions and biodiversity
• researching the impact of human activity, like housing and intensive agriculture, on the environment
• building computer models to predict the effects of development or climate change
• monitoring pollution
• managing wildlife conservation areas, woodland and meadows
• You might also help assess planning proposals and make recommendations on sustainable land use for local authorities, government departments and companies.

Role Training

You’ll usually need a degree in a relevant subject, like:

conservation biology

ecology

ecology and environmental sustainability

ecological science

environmental science

marine biology

zoology

For some jobs, like higher education teaching, research or in areas like ecology consultancy, you’ll also be expected to have, or be working towards, a relevant postgraduate qualification, like a master’s or PhD. 

You could gain work experience and improve your chances of finding work by volunteering.

The Conservation Volunteers, National Trust and Wildlife Trusts have more information on ecology volunteering.

The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and British Ecological Society have more information on becoming an ecologist.

You’ll usually need a driving licence.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

 You'll usually need a a degree, MSc or postgraduate diploma recognised by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).

 You can also take an approved degree-level qualification through:

• NEBOSH
• British Safety Council
• City& Guilds
• National Compliance and Risk Qualifications (NCRQ)

If you don't have a degree, you'll usually need some relevant work experience and a qualification in health and safety recognised by IOSH.

You could study for a health and safety qualification while you’re working. You could also take a course before looking for a trainee position.

IOSH has more information about courses and careers in health and safety.

The Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register has a list of professional bodies and examining boards.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

• excellent communication and negotiation skills
• organisational skills
• problem solving ability
• excellent IT skills

3. What you'll do

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• developing safety policies and procedures
• advising and training staff on health and safety practices
• making regular inspections
• doing risk assessments
• investigating and recording accidents in the workplace
• working with relevant inspectors and trade unions
• You could work in many different industries including:
• construction and engineering
• mining, quarrying, oil and gas exploration
• manufacturing and services
• chemical processing
• You could also work in public services like hospitals, education and local government.

4. Salary

Starter: £22,000 to £30,000

Experienced: £35,000 to £50,000 (manager)

Highly Experienced: £70,000 or more (senior manager)

Health and safety advisers work in all industries.

Careers in oil, gas, power, construction and IT will usually offer higher salaries. 

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. In some industries, your hours may be irregular and you could work shifts or be expected to be on-call for emergencies.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could move into a management role. 

You could also become a consultant and specialise in a particular area, like environmental safety. With further study you could move into research or lecturing.

Role Description

You might work in a supermarket, a department store, a garden centre, a small independent shop or one that's part of a chain. You'll be:

• serving and advising customers
• arranging goods in displays and on shelves
• rotating and replacing stock
• promoting extra products
• taking cash and card payments and making sure the till balances
• dealing with returns
• meeting sales targets

Role Training

There are no set entry requirements, but it will help if you:

• are confident about selling
• have a positive, helpful attitude
• can get on well with a wide range of customers
• To get experience, you could:
• take a temporary job in a store at Christmas
• take a weekend job
• volunteer in a charity shop

Some stores, like mobile phone or DIY shops, may expect you to have good knowledge of their products before you apply.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements but employers may look for:

IT skills for using spreadsheets

GCSEs in English and maths, or an equivalent level 2 qualification

experience of working in transport or distribution a background in stock control or administration

You could also get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

customer service and communication skills

problem solving skills and the ability to adapt plans

negotiating skills

geographical knowledge

the ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines

3. What you'll do

You’ll make sure freight is moved in the most efficient way around the country’s road network. You’ll need to take into account schedules, costs, and health and safety.

You might work for a road haulage company or other business with their own fleet of vehicles, like a retail chain.

Your day-to-day duties could include:

deciding how many vehicles will be needed to deliver each shipment of goods

working out how much it will cost to make each delivery

planning the safest way to load and unload goods

monitoring each delivery as it makes its journey

reviewing load plans with clients

making backup plans to cover changes in circumstances

You might also use computer software packages to help with some of these tasks, for example, to match the size of loads with the vehicles needed to move them.

4. Salary

Starter: £16,000 to £19,000

Experienced: £20,000 to £28,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll often work shifts on a rota, including early mornings and late nights.

You’ll usually be based in an office within a warehouse or distribution depot.

6. Career path and progression

You could progress to senior or regional load planner, or, with qualifications, you could move into distribution, supply chain or transport management.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements, but many employers will prefer you to have:

• a degree or equivalent qualification in marketing, management, business or a related subject 
• paid or unpaid work experience in a marketing role 
• some knowledge of digital marketing or online advertising

You could study for digital marketing qualifications offered by the Communications Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation (CAM) and awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), like:

• CAM Level 4 Diploma in Digital Marketing 
• CIM Certificate in Professional Marketing (Digital) 
• CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing (Digital)
• You could also get into this job through a digital apprenticeship.

Getin2marketing has more information on becoming a digital marketing officer.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

• the ability to analyse data 
• a creative approach 
• strong organisation and planning skills 
• IT skills 
• the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines 
• the ability to 'sell' your ideas 
• good presentation skills 
• excellent attention to detail

3. What you'll do

You’ll work in-house for an organisation's marketing department, or for a marketing agency that works for several clients.

Your day-to-day duties may include:

• creating digital marketing campaigns for online channels like websites, apps and social media like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter 
• developing market research surveys and working with customers in focus groups 
• working with marketing and PR professionals 
• briefing other professionals like web designers on advertising campaigns 
• writing content for websites, email and social media 
• designing and writing e-communications like e-newsletters and text campaigns 
• making information and advertising more interactive by adding case studies, videos and infographics to websites, apps and social media 
• using data from web tracking tools like Google Analytics to check the effectiveness of marketing campaigns 
• tracking the success of your marketing campaigns and presenting your findings to management 
• using techniques like search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)

4. Salary

Starter: £20,000 to £22,000

Experienced: £30,000 to £38,000 

Highly Experienced: £50,000 or more

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may work longer at busy times like the run-up to a campaign launch. 

You may also need to attend trade fairs, exhibitions and events, where you’ll make industry contacts, in the evening or at the weekend.

You’ll usually work in an office. 

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could specialise in a particular type of digital marketing like mobile or video marketing. 

You could progress to senior digital marketing officer, head of online marketing, become a freelance digital marketing consultant, or move into a related area like advertising, sales or public relations.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements to become a personal assistant (PA), but you’ll need proven experience of administrative work.

Employers will usually look for a good standard of general education, including GCSEs in English and maths. A recognised qualification in office skills or administration, or a business-related foundation degree, HND or degree could all help you find a job.

Foreign language qualifications may also be useful if you plan to work in an organisation that deals with overseas visitors and clients. Having extra skills like shorthand and audio typing can also help you get in. 

Temporary work (temping) can be a good way of getting administration experience and can lead to a permanent job.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

• excellent organisational and time management skills 
• good written and spoken communication skills 
• accuracy and attention to detail 
• a calm and professional manner 
• excellent computer and administration skills 
• a flexible and adaptable approach to work 
• the ability to use your own initiative 
• tact and discretion, for dealing with confidential information

3. What you'll do

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• screening telephone calls and handling enquiries 
• organising your manager’s diary and making appointments
• dealing with letters and emails 
• arranging meetings 
• organising and maintaining office systems 
• taking notes at meetings 
• making travel arrangements 
• looking after visitors

Many managers rely heavily on their PA and give them a high level of responsibility, so in some jobs you may have extra tasks like:

1. standing in for the manager in their absence 
2. acting as office manager and supervising other administrative staff 
3. dealing with accounts and budgets 
4. taking on project work, like research or producing reports and presentations

4. Salary

Starter: £18,000 to £25,000

Experienced: £25,000 to £40,000

Highly Experienced: £40,000 to £50,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 37 to 40 hours a week Monday to Friday, possibly with extra hours to meet deadlines. 

You’ll be based in an office, but may travel to go to meetings and other events.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could take on more responsibility by moving to a larger company or working for a more senior manager. 

Promotion to management may also be possible.

Role Description

Magazine Journalist:

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• going to meetings to plan the content of the magazine 
• suggesting ideas for articles 
• interviewing and researching to collect information for articles 
• writing articles to suit the magazine’s style 
• keeping up-to-date with developments and trends in the magazine's subject area 
• working as a critic, reviewing things like films, food or concerts

Newspaper Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Broadcast Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Role Training

There are no set requirements, but most new magazine journalists have an HND, degree or equivalent qualification. 

Paid or unpaid work experience is a good way to build up your skills and a portfolio of published work to show employers. You could gain this with magazines or other publications, including student papers, fanzines, charity newsletters, websites or blogs.

You’ll usually need knowledge of the subject area your magazine deals with. 

You may be able to get into this job through an apprenticeship.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) run courses and have more information about careers in magazine journalism.