DO WHAT YOU LOVE WITH
A CAREER IN RETAIL
Retail caters to all sorts of interests and passions – whether you love fashion, sport, beauty or technology.
Beyond serving customers, there are creative roles in retail across branding, marketing and visual merchandising as well as positions in buying and supply chains; data and digital roles, sustainability plus plenty more.
To find out more, visit the ARA Retail Institute.
Welcome to your Career in Retail
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is partnering with The Careers Department (TCD) to highlight the benefits of working in retail as part of a National Schools Tour that will reach at least 40,000 students over the next 12 months.
Retail goes well beyond the shop floor – there are creative roles across branding, marketing and visual merchandising. There are roles in buying and supply chains around how goods are procured, quantified, transported and stored; data and digital roles and plenty more.
Read more about our partnership here.
Innovative Program Match-Makes High-Profile Retailers with Interns
Are you a retailer who’d like to become an I WANT TO BE A FASHION BUYER intern partner or have us train your team members?
Are you a graduate who’d like to progress your career in fashion buying and merchandise planning?
Applications are currently open for the next intake.

Did you know?
Key retail roles like managers supervisors and sales assistants the ten fastest growth occupations over the past two years
Only 174 occupations increased their total employment numbers from February 2020 to February 2022. Retail had three occupations in the top ten:
- Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers increased by 45,200.
- Storepersons increased 37,200
- Sales Assistants (General) increased 28,400.
READ MORE
The retail sector is the 7th fastest growing industry in the employment numbers – increasing 32% from before the pandemic
Worth noting that other industries are associated with significant qualifications. They are, in order –
- Health care and social assistance, 216.5%
- Professional services, 104.2%
- Financial services, 87.4%
- Public Administration, 63.5%
- Mining, 38.1%
- Utilities 34.7%
The retail workforce is expected to grow into the future, adding at least 10,000 jobs each year until 2026
Projections state an additional 55,000 jobs by 2026, compared to 2021 levels.
This includes growth in management and supervisory roles, such as “Retail Manager” – although the NSC’s numbers only predict an extra 150 jobs a year in this role.