Retail Placements
Want to have a career in retail?
If you’re in your second or first year of university and thinking of doing a retail placement year, we've got you covered. Retail placements are the perfect opportunity to get work experience before you graduate.
DURATION: 5-13 months | FOR: 2nd years | AVG SALARY: £24,000* | AVG RATING: 4.43/5* | WHEN TO APPLY: Sep-May
*according to student-written reviews on Higherin
Let’s go into retail in more detail.
What are retail placements?
Retail placement usually lasts for 12 months but can be anything from 5 months to 13 months long. You apply to a company during your second year of university and complete it before your final year.
A retail placement student tends to work in one business area, whereas an intern may rotate across the business every few weeks.
Business areas could include store operations, management, buying, merchandising, marketing and more. Typical roles advertised on Higherin include food product developer, trainee commercial manager, retail operations assistant and business placement programme.
You’re paid a full salary like any other employee, get to work on real-life projects and gain invaluable work experience on your CV. What’s not to like?
"I am deeply grateful for my placement experience. Being here, I got the chance to understand and learn from a dynamic and constantly evolving industry. I am grateful for all the professional and interpersonal skills that I have developed and to have been surrounded by highly creative individuals and learning from them too." Retail Operations Placement Student, L’Oréal
Why should you do a retail placement?
There are so many reasons why you should do a placement in the retail sector. Here are some of note:
Develop essential skills
Think communication, customer service, teamwork and leadership.
Real business exposure
You’ll be able to learn how the business operates from the ground up and how things like stock management, profit margins and promotions work.
Understand consumer trends
If you want to continue into marketing, sales, UX or business strategy, this insight will be super helpful
Networking
You will meet loads of people in the company at all levels, so you can use this to your advantage later on.
Also, if all goes well during your placement, you might be offered a graduate position to come back to after you have graduated from university.
READ MORE ABOUT PLACEMENTSWhat companies offer retail placements?
There are hundreds of retail companies looking for students like you to work with them for a year. We have opportunities all around the UK as well so regardless of where you want to work, there is a retail placement waiting for you!
Here’s what a placement student said about their time with Lidl:
‘I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year and am very sad to have come to the end of the experience. I am looking forward to applying for Lidl’s graduate scheme as I enjoyed the placement so much. I am looking at staying at Lidl part time in my final year of study which demonstrates how much I love working for the company.’ – Retail Placement Student, Lidl Retail Placement Student, Lidl
How much do retail placements pay?
An amazing bonus to doing a placement year is that you will be earning a wage.
What this wage will be will depend on your location and employer. If you’re based in London, you can expect a little more due to the increased living expenses of living in the capital city.
On average, based on the student-written reviews on Higherin, you can expect between £19,000 and £26,000 per year. However, always best to check the job listing if they have said what salary they will pay you.
How to apply for a retail placement
Placements in the retail sector tend to go live in September, with register your interest roles emerging from as early as August the year before the placement starts. We have this timeline you can download to get a better idea of the timeframe throughout the year.
Do your research. This is so important, if you don’t do your research, you have a high chance of applying to a company you don’t have any interest in. Work out what you would want from a placement and then find what companies can make that happen.
Find your perfect placement. Higherin hosts 100s of roles every single year, so apply for a placement with us
Prepare for the application process. Make sure you have your CV and cover letter sorted, as quite often those are requested near the beginning of the application stage
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