If you are looking for your first job or want to make a change, one of the possibilities to consider is to start looking for supermarket cashier jobs. The cashier’s job is a very important position in any supermarket. It is the cashiers who are the employees in contact with customers the most.
Cashiers are often looked upon as doing a fairly mundane job. But if you look at all the responsibilities a cashier has you see that cashiers are important links with customers.
We’ll have a look at supermarket cashier jobs and discuss all there is to know about working as a cashier and how you can find jobs and apply.
- Job Description
- Payment Processing
- Miscellaneous Duties
- Requirements and Salary
- Online Platforms
- Apply At the Supermarket
Job Description
Generally, the job description sets out most of the cashier’s responsibilities.
The first paragraph is often a summary and reads something like this: “As a cashier, you have to manage transactions with customers by using cash registers. You have to scan goods, ensure the pricing is accurate, and collect payments whether in cash or any other accepted way.”
The more comprehensive part of the job description will include the responsibilities in more detail. As a grocery store cashier, you scan each item in a customer’s cart. By scanning, you activate the cash register to calculate how much money the customer owes.
For the heavy items in a customer’s cart, you use a handheld device to scan the items.
Responsibilities
Cashiers also use scales to weigh produce like vegetables and fruit that do not have barcodes. If the scale is not an integral part of the cash register, you have to enter the detail manually into the cash register.
When a customer purchases age-restricted items such as cigarettes, alcohol, or medications, the cashier has to ensure that the person buying it, is old enough but following identification-checking guidelines.
Payment Processing
After you’ve scanned the items, you tell the customer the total amount payable. If the customer pays with cash, the cashier counts out the right change. You must also know how to process debit and credit card payments.
The cashier has to know about all the supermarket’s special offers, gift vouchers and other incentives offered to customers. You must know how to use them as part of the payments. At the end of the transaction, you give the customer a cash register receipt detailing each transaction.
At the end of your work shift, you count the money in the cash register’s drawer, organize all the checks and other vouchers and slips, and hand it over to your supervisor.
Customer Service
Supermarket cashiers are often the ‘front line’ of the shop. Customers come to you with questions regarding specials and general merchandise. You have to be knowledgeable in order to assist them, or at least know to whom to refer them.
Some cashiers also bag groceries. If this is part of your job description, make sure that heavy items do not crush delicate items. Put items like loaves of bread or cartons of eggs on top. It is often required from the cashier to process returns. You must know what is your supermarket’s policy regarding returned items.
You have to complete the documentation needed for the return and then refund the customer out of the register drawer. If the customer wants to exchange the item, you use the cash register to calculate the difference. If the customer returns damaged items or expired food, you have to arrange with other employees to take the items away.
Miscellaneous Duties
When the supermarket is not very busy, you may be asked to assist with other shop duties. These duties include stocktaking and straightening goods on racks at the checkout lines.
The supermarket’s management needs honest cashiers. They must be sure that customers get the correct change, and that the supermarket receives the correct income from sales. You can be fired immediately if you are taking advantage of customers and pocketing the extra change.
Don’t attempt to inaccurately count back change to a customer who is not concentrating on the countback. It can happen that a customer is paying with a debit or credit card and asks for cashback as well. Make sure you hand the cash to the customer.
Supermarket management expects the cashiers to treat customers with honesty and fairness.
Drawer Accounting
You are also accountable for the cash, checks, and other payment items in your register’s drawer. After each shift, the drawer contents are checked. If a drawer is constantly short, you may get fired.
You will have access to your register’s drawer throughout your shift. The supermarket trusts its cashiers not to take advantage of that access. If you prove trustworthy over time, you have a good base for upward mobility.
Requirements and Salary
Work experience as a retail cashier can enhance your chances to fill a cashier’s vacancy. But cashier jobs are often the first job young people have, and supermarkets keep that in mind.
To work with cash registers you should have basic PC knowledge and be familiar with electronic equipment. A high school degree, at minimum, is expected. The supermarket management will be looking for someone with strong communication skills and customer satisfaction-oriented employees.
Cashiers earned a median annual salary of $24,961 in the U.S. That is approximately $12.00 an hour. Studies show that cashiers earn between $19,000 and $29,000 annually.
More than 3 million people are employed in the U.S. as cashiers. The salaries vary from city to city and from supermarket to supermarket. Your previous experience will also be taken into consideration to determine your salary.
How to Apply
You need a well-structured resume when you apply. Even if this is your first job, prepare a resume with details regarding what you’ve done at school/college. Include community projects you’ve been involved with.
In your resume, you have to strike a balance between giving enough information but concisely and organized so the potential employer can learn about you quickly and at a glance. Personal details, relevant experience, skills, and qualifications are essential.
When people are looking for supermarket cashier vacancies, the most popular place to start is online. You use search engines like Google to find online recruiting agencies and job vacancy platforms. The more platforms you use, the more possible positive reactions you can get from employers.
Online Platforms
To find online recruiting agencies you have to search online. It is best to use only trusted and reliable agencies like Indeed, Simplyhired, and Glassdoor. Some agencies require that you register and pay a small registration fee to use their platform. Others offer a free-of-charge service.
If you use online agencies, potential employers will likely contact you via the platform. You have to be ‘reachable.’ If the agency offers an app, download it and check regularly for messages. If an app is not available, visit the platform online more than once a day.
You can utilize two methods of applying on an online recruiting platform. And you can use both methods at once if both the methods are available on the agency’s platform.
The first method is to use recruiting agencies’ platforms to search for supermarket cashier vacancies. Employers in need of supermarket cashiers post the vacancies on these platforms. You then contact them either directly or via the platform and provide them with your CV.
Method 2: Post Your Detail On The Platform
The second method requires that you prepare your resume and post it on the platform. Employers in need of supermarket cashiers search the different agencies’ platforms looking for people interested.
They will look at your resume and those who think you might be a good fit for their vacancy will contact you. Remember that if you are only interested in a job in a specific geographical area, or there are specific aspects an employer must know, you have to mention them in your post.
The more information you provide, the less are the chances that you and interested employers waste time and effort.
Apply At the Supermarket
The more traditional way of applying for a job is to make an appointment with the manager or owner of the supermarket to introduce yourself and hand in your CV. The manager can then contact you when a vacancy becomes available.
You have to make a good first impression with this appointment. Many other job seekers looking for cashier vacancies will most probably also contact the manager. You want him to remember you when vacancies open up.
As most supermarkets nowadays are part of a bigger chain of shops, vacancies are generally filled centrally by the HR division of the bigger company.
But most chain shops consider applications from local people first. The local manager is then consulted and your visit earlier could just make him remember you.
Focus Locally
Even in this technological age, many local supermarkets still advertise their vacancies in the local dailies. Check frequently for advertisements and follow up as soon as you can.
If possible, don’t just send them your resume, but try to get an appointment with the manager to hand in your resume personally.
Conclusion
A job as a supermarket cashier can be your first step into other supermarket jobs and ultimately even a job at the managerial level.
We hope the information in this article helps you to find a vacancy near you and apply to fill it!