Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Retail entrepreneur to department store manager

A retail entrepreneur already meets 31% of what the department store manager role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From retail entrepreneur
31 % overlap
Distant match
To department store manager
8 You already bring
12 Still to learn
28 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

67.6/ 100

1 How much of what a department store manager is expected to do is already part of a retail entrepreneur’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the department store manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A department store manager role treats 6 of its required skills as things a retail entrepreneur already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • build business relationships
  • implement marketing strategies
  • implement sales strategies
  • manage staff
  • plan marketing campaigns
  • provide customer follow-up services

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A department store manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a retail entrepreneur background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held plan marketing campaigns management skills
  • already held set up pricing strategies information skills
  • already held implement sales strategies communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held implement marketing strategies communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held provide customer follow-up services assisting and caring
  • already held build business relationships communication, collaboration and creativity

All 8 carried skills, including the 6 the department store manager role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 20 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn manage the store image required
  • still to learn set sales promotions required
  • still to learn create solutions to problems required
  • still to learn train employees required
  • optional, not held coach team on visual merchandising optional
02 management skills 3 required, 3 supplementary
  • still to learn manage budgets required
  • still to learn perform multiple tasks at the same time required
  • still to learn plan marketing strategy required
  • optional, not held define brand identity optional
  • optional, not held evaluate employees optional
  • optional, not held supervise brand management optional
03 business, administration and law 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn company policies required
  • still to learn product comprehension required
  • optional, not held characteristics of services optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
04 handling and moving 1 required
  • still to learn monitor shelves loading required
05 information skills 1 required
  • still to learn monitor proper product handling required
06 working with computers 1 required
  • still to learn have computer literacy required

2 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a department store manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 8 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held build business relationships skill
  • already held implement marketing strategies skill
  • already held implement sales strategies skill
  • already held manage staff skill
  • already held plan marketing campaigns skill
  • already held provide customer follow-up services skill
  • already held recruit employees skill
  • already held set up pricing strategies skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held characteristics of products optional
08 services 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held health, safety and hygiene legislation optional
8 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held characteristics of products optional
  • optional, not held characteristics of services optional
  • optional, not held coach team on visual merchandising optional
  • optional, not held define brand identity optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
  • optional, not held evaluate employees optional
  • optional, not held health, safety and hygiene legislation optional
  • optional, not held supervise brand management optional
33 held skills the department store manager role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role analyse data for policy decisions in trade skill
  • not needed by the target role arrange ordering of products for customers skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out cross merchandising skill
  • not needed by the target role check deliveries on receipt skill
  • not needed by the target role commercial law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role competition law knowledge
  • not needed by the target role comprehend financial business terminology skill
  • not needed by the target role control of expenses skill
  • not needed by the target role create annual marketing budget skill
  • not needed by the target role develop business case skill
  • not needed by the target role e-commerce systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ensure compliance with purchasing and contracting regulations skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure point of sale material availability skill
  • not needed by the target role examine merchandise skill
  • not needed by the target role guarantee customer satisfaction skill
  • not needed by the target role handle financial overviews of the store skill
  • not needed by the target role identify suppliers skill
  • not needed by the target role keep records of merchandise delivery skill
  • not needed by the target role law of obligation knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain financial records skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain relationship with customers skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain relationship with suppliers skill
  • not needed by the target role manage financial risk skill
  • not needed by the target role market pricing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role monitor company policy skill
  • not needed by the target role negotiate sales contracts skill
  • not needed by the target role operate cash register skill
  • not needed by the target role organise product display skill
  • not needed by the target role perform customers’ needs analysis skill
  • not needed by the target role perform project management skill
  • not needed by the target role study sales levels of products skill
  • not needed by the target role supervise sales activities skill
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn company policies required
  • still to learn product comprehension required
  • optional, not held characteristics of products optional
  • optional, not held characteristics of services optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
  • optional, not held health, safety and hygiene legislation optional
Index

Other moves recorded from retail entrepreneur

Full index of moves from retail entrepreneur

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a retail entrepreneur become a department store manager?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A retail entrepreneur already covers 31% of what a department store manager is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 6 of which the department store manager role treats as required.

What skills does a retail entrepreneur need to become a department store manager?

12 required skills are missing, plus 8 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is monitor shelves loading.

How hard is the move from retail entrepreneur to department store manager?

Its learning distance is 67.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.