Many businesses need to employ cashiers, from stores and supermarkets to cinemas and restaurants. These are the people responsible for processing payments, issuing receipts, and giving the customer the correct change.
These days, many tills are computer operated, so alongside good numeracy skills, a basic level of computer literacy is going to be a bonus.
This is perhaps not the most varied of career choices, nor the highest paid – but it is certainly a safe one. If you are looking for steady reliable work without too much responsibility, then this could be a good choice for you.
The nature of the work does vary slightly, depending on the size of the business, but in general you will be operating a checkout, ensuring that customers have everything they need, helping them to pack their shopping and making sure you have taken the right payment via cash or debit cards.
A vital part of this role is excellent customer service and the ability to build a rapport with the customer; the best cashiers are the ones who are communicative and make the customer feel good, so make sure your resume highlights your ability to offer a great service with plenty of enthusiasm.
You also need good hand/eye coordination, a smart and professional appearance (although many cashiers are provided with uniforms) and the ability to work quickly and accurately.
Median Pay
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median pay for Cashiers at just over $24,000 a year, which is similar to salary aggregator Payscale which puts the figure just under $28,000 a year.
Most Cashiers, however, do not work on salaried pay structures and instead are paid hourly. Here, both the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Payscale are both in agreement that the average hourly pay for Cashiers in 2019 was just over $13.00 an hour.
Given the relatively low barrier to entry in terms of qualifications and training, the constant supply of young people, particularly students, means rates are always held relatively low.
Still, the opportunity to make more arrises in the form of over-time pay which can range from anywhere between $14-$20/hour, depending on the company.
Likewise, the rise of cooperative supermarkets and stores across America means more and more Cashiers have access to profit sharing opportunities, which can greatly increase their total yearly earnings, depending on how well the store does in a particular year.
If seeking to make a career out of Cashier work it is probably best to seek a management position or work for one of these profit-sharing cooperatives.
Industry Forecast
With an average industry growth rate of just around 2% between 2014 and 2024, the Cashier profession is not in the midst of a boom. Retail stores are expected to continue to expand across the country, which will continue to drive demand for more staff (hence the positive 2% growth rate).
At the same time, advances in technology, particularly in checkout processes, are making sole-Cashier positions more and more redundant.
While the thought of automated checkout being everywhere may seem far fetched, just think back to when you first saw the self-checkouts at Wal-Mart. Now they are more or less ubiquitous with many stores having more automated checkouts than human serviced counters.
With the growing popularity of automated payment methods like Apple’s iPay and other NFC technologies, self-checkouts are only going to continue to expand into the future.
Still, job opportunities are plentiful today for a multitude of reasons. First, self-checkout technology can be a bit expensive for small business owners who will still prefer to hire skilled Cashiers who can help perform other shop-keeping responsibilities such as customer service, stocking, ordering and cleaning.
Additionally, there is a high turnover within the industry as a majority of workers are under the age of 25, meaning there are constantly new openings for ambitious job applicants.
Common Types and Professional Titles of Cashiers
Cashier is already a pretty specific job title and is usually differentiated by specifying the industry in which the Cashier works as well as the level of seniority held.
So, for example, in specifying industry you may identify as a Box Office Cashier, Casino Cashier, Convenience Store Cashier, Front Desk Cashier, Money Counter, Supermarket Cashier, etc.
On top of industry specification you can also include your specific seniority level within that industry including, in order of seniority, Trainee, Cashier, Head Shift Cashier, Head Store Cashier, Supervisor.
There are also hybrid roles such as Stockperson/Cashier for grocery stores, Money Counter/Cashier for gambling establishments, Ticketer/Cashier for movie theaters and Sales Associate/Cashier for department stores and other retail outlets.
Try to be as specific as possible about your title when documenting previous training and work experiences on your resume, as the difference between a Head Cashier and regular Cashier can pay dividends in terms of landing a job that is more management-oriented vs a lower paying run-of-the-mill Cashier role. Remember, specificity pays when it comes to resume writing!
Cashier Resume Template Download (MS Word Format)
Below is an example of a professionally written Cashier resume that can be downloaded, printed and saved for reference when writing your own resume.
Keep in mind that this is written as a guide and lists common types of experiences and skills that will differ from your own.
Be sure to include your own unique experiences as that will be what is required to stand out from the other dozens or even hundreds of resumes companies receive on a regular basis.
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How To Write Your Own
Writing a Cashier resume from scratch can be a tricky process as the average age for Cashiers in America is under 25.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with being young (in fact, it is pretty much always a positive!), it CAN be hard to fill up a whole page of experiences when you just do not have that much experience.
Tips for Entry-Level Applicants
Entry-level applicants should not sweat their resumes too much, as most Cashier jobs with chain stores/retailers often have their own application forms for applicants to fill out and which they use as their primary document when screening applicants.
Application forms should be carefully filled out and taken just as seriously as a resume.
You should also still write your own resume to submit with the application and to use as a reference when filling out your application form.
Bringing your resume along when you fill out an application can make things much easier in terms of remembering job titles and dates of previous experiences.
It is important to make sure your application, whether paper or online, matches the information in your resume. If titles and dates do not line up, employers may question the validity of the details you share.
To help fill out a full page for an entry level applicant be sure to focus on your education, as you will probably be either a high-school student or college student when applying. List your GPA if it is above 3.0 on a 4.0 scale as this will be your primary indicator used to communicate how hard-working you are.
To put it bluntly, a student who can complete all of his/her coursework and examinations at a highly proficient level is also a person who can be a very effective Cashier.
Additionally, you will want to include other extracurricular activities and volunteer work or internships you have held.
These experiences, even if they are not paid, indicate to employers that you are trustworthy, dependable and ambitious, all of which are highly desirable qualities sought after in top performing Cashiers.
Entry level applicants should put their education at the top of their resume, after their name/address, of course, and followed with work experience and additional skills.
By choosing very descriptive wording and including your complete educational experience and out-of-school experience you should easily be able to fill up most of one page, which, combined with their own application form, which is all any employer will expect before offering an interview.
Tips for Experienced Cashiers
If you have a track record of solid Cashier or Sales experience, you will have an even easier time fashioning your resume from scratch.
You can stick to the traditional reverse chronological format where you start with your Career Objective, followed by your working experiences, followed by educational experiences and finished with additional skills.
Even if your previous work experiences were not explicitly Cashier-only type roles, you can still include them and write the bullet points in a way that highlight skills that are transferable.
For example, if you worked a few summers operating ride equipment at Valley Fair, you can include how many riders you safely managed on a daily basis, your satisfaction rates, and your solid attendance record.
Customer satisfaction and dependability are two of the most valued skills sought in a good Cashier, so if you have had experiences in other industries where you interacted with customers and had a solid track record, they are definitely worth including on your resume.
Since you are more experienced, you will also be able to expand on your experiences with any awards or recognition you received, ranging from anything from employee of the month to inter-department raises to specific praise from store managers or company supervisors.
Sample Bullet Points
Below is a selection of highly effective, professionally crafted bullet points that are useful when writing Cashier oriented resumes. These bullet points are designed to kick start your own brainstorming processes so that you can write your own unique bullet points.
We do not advise you copy these exactly as they are as they are written in a more generic way and do not represent your individual traits as a professional.
Useful Cashier Bullet Points
| Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits. |
| Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers. |
| Assist customers by providing information and resolving their complaints. |
| Establish or identify prices of goods, services or admission, and tabulate bills using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners. |
| Greet customers entering establishments. |
| Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies. |
| Sell tickets and other items to customers. |
| Process merchandise returns and exchanges. |
| Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas and complete other general cleaning duties, such as mopping floors and emptying trash cans. |
| Stock shelves, and mark prices on shelves and items. |
| Request information or assistance using paging systems. |
| Count money in cash drawers at the beginning of shifts to ensure that amounts are correct and that there is adequate change. |
| Calculate total payments received during a time period, and reconcile this with total sales. |
| Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staffed appropriately. |
| Assist with duties in other areas of the store, such as monitoring fitting rooms or bagging and carrying out customers' items. |
| Sort, count, and wrap currency and coins. |
| Supervise others and provide on-the-job training. |
| Bag, box, wrap, or gift-wrap merchandise, and prepare packages for shipment. |
| Compute and record totals of transactions. |
| Compile and maintain non-monetary reports and records. |
| Post charges against guests' or patients' accounts. |
| Offer customers carry-out service at the completion of transactions. |
| Weigh items sold by weight to determine prices. |
| Issue trading stamps and redeem food stamps and coupons. |
| Keep periodic balance sheets of amounts and numbers of transactions. |
| Cash checks for customers. |
| Pay company bills by cash, vouchers, or checks. |
Career Objective Writing
A carer objective is simply a short introduction to a resume where an applicant states their experience in a given industry, their educational background, or another reason a specific employer should hire them for a specific positions.
Experienced candidates will start off by stating how many years of experience they have in numeric form like “Dependable Cashier with 4+ years of experience seeking…” where as entry-level candidates will start off with a different angle like “Reliable honor-roll student seeking part-time employment as Cashier with ….”.
Likewise, if you are transitioning from another job, you can find a way to make it topically relevant by emphasizing customer service experience.
Both of these objectives state the background of the applicant and the position they are seeking. This is the sole purpose of the career objective. Selling the reader on asking the applicant for an interview is up to the body of the resume and the cover letter. You may think of your own career objective as your tagline with you being the brand being promoted.
Do not sweat this section too much as the job being applied for is already quite specific.
Useful Additional Skills & Certifications
The additional skills section is the best place to show off your unique attributes as a candidate and to get a leg up on the competition by illustrating how many unique qualities you bring to an employer.
At the end of the day, try to choose as many skills that can back up and further verify your dependability and customer service skills as these are the two most critical qualities employers seek.
You can communicate your dependability by highlighting your solid attendance record at school or with previous employers.
You can also talk about your time management skills, organizational skills, and leadership skills. Someone who can lead will show promise for potential future responsibilities expected of Cashier Supervisors.
Communicate that you can proficiently perform the daily responsibilities by mentioning experience with registers and POS systems, even if it was in a different industry.
Mention your money handling and counting skills and your communication skills to show employers you can be trusted with finances and that you will be able to work with customers to resolve problems.
Another way you can really raise your communication skill credibility is by listing any other languages you are proficient in. As the public face of the company, and the last one many see before leaving the store, how you work with customers can have a big impact on the company’s brand.
A Cashier who can work with customers in their native language, like Spanish or even basic Mandarin Chinese, can be a huge asset to companies. In fact, some Sales Associates and Cashiers in tourist-heavy high-price tag industries in big cities can make big bucks by learning Chinese to work with the wealthy hoards of tourists who flock to brand retailers every year.
Finally, do a little research on the company/store you are applying to so that you are familiar with their products and brands.
Knowing where things are located in the store (so that you can go do a price check if necessary) or understanding common problems or concerns clients may have about the products sold (particularly useful in electronics stores or equipment retailers) will show that you not only care enough about getting the job to do some homework but also would hint at you being easy to train and onboard.
