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30th August 2023
12:23pm BST
Sales Assistant Roles
Thrive in a busy fast-paced environment? Love working with people? A customer service role could tick all the right boxes for you.
Emma, a HR and operations manager in Centra in Charleville in Cork, started working part-time as a sales assistant while doing a degree in childcare. During holidays she worked full-time and during college, she worked part-time to balance her studies. Throughout this period, she was given the responsibility of opening and closing the store along with other responsibilities. Six months into her experience, she was promoted to supervisor.
When Emma finished college, she went to work in childcare but also continued working in Centra. She took on responsibility for ordering, cash, and rosters, training new people and spending time working in the deli.
To develop her career even further, Emma decided to change from a career in childcare to a career in retail in Centra. She has since completed a degree in retail management at DIT (now Technological University Dublin).
“I gained a lot of knowledge from the degree in retail management; on a personal level it gave me more courage and independence to speak in front of people I don’t know," Emma says. "It also gave me insight into what happens from a different perspective and the impact of the role of the leader within the team and within the store to create a positive culture."
She has progressed from assistant manager to store manager and since early this year, Emma has taken on the role of HR and operations manager with the Lee’s Centra Group.
Management Roles
If you take pride in your organisation skills and have always liked the sound of managing your own team, SuperValu and Centra's management roles could be the perfect opportunity for you. There is a range of management roles available in stores nationwide, such as trainee managers and assistant managers, giving you the chance to learn loads of essential team management skills on the job.
Kevin, a store manager at SuperValu in Togher in the outskirts of Cork City, began his career in retail, working part-time while he was studying at college. After finishing his college diploma in financial management, he started working in a management position in fashion retail. After a period of time, he moved to a trainee manager role with SuperValu in Kildare.
“I realised that my real passion was food retailing and I wanted to return to this," Kevin says.
He received great training and experience and worked with a fantastic team who really supported each other. He spent time working across all departments and had regular reviews and feedback on how he was doing.
“I also learnt about the key performance indicators of a store and how to manage and grow sales, margin, waste and developed my business acumen," Kevin says.
He then moved to join the Ryan’s SuperValu in Togher, in Cork as he wanted to move back to Cork. He worked across different stores in the Ryan’s SuperValu Group, progressing from assistant manager to store manager.
“I continue to learn and develop myself and this is critical for me as a manager and a person - it's so important to keep refreshing my skills and learning new techniques."
Fresh Food Roles
Across their delis, bakeries and butchery counters, both Centra and SuperValu have loads of fresh food roles for anyone interested in a career surrounding food preparation and customer care.
Iga, a deli manager at SuperValu in Navan in Meath has worked in SuperValu Navan for over 15 years. She moved to Ireland when she was 20 years old and it was her first job there.
“I started as a sales assistant in the deli, was mentored by the store manager and Musgrave food advisor and got promoted to deli manager after two years," Iga says.
She is also a food safety champion promoting food safety legislation in the store and encouraging other team members to follow good food safety practices.
Iga’s role involves a lot of interaction with customers and other team members. She enjoys being around people and finds working with customers very rewarding.
“What I also like about working at SuperValu is the flexibility with hours that help me to achieve a good work-life balance," she says. "I am proud to be a part of a team that feels like a family at this stage.”
Ready to kickstart your new career? Apply to work at SuperValu or Centra today at supervalu.ie/careers or centra.ie/careers.
Brought to you by Musgrave Group.