Cashier resume examples & templates

So, you want to check out a job as a cashier? It’s a great way to learn the retail business while you earn. Whether you are a high school student looking for your first job or a mid-career professional, we are here to help you craft the perfect cashier resume to impress hiring managers and land an interview with ease!

Having a strong resume is a key component in your job search. To stand out as a desirable cashier, you’ll need to create a resume that showcases your exceptional customer service skills and ability to process transactions with minimal errors. With a well-written and cleanly designed cashier resume, you can find the right cashier job. 

Resume guide for a cashier resume

As a leading resource for job seekers in all fields, Resume.io offers 500+ occupation-specific resume guides and samples, and customizable resume templates. 

Instead of wondering why you put your all into a job application and didn't hear back, you can beat the odds and be on your way to a cashier job. This guide, along with corresponding examples from a cashier resume, will take you through the process of writing your own customized version to impress hiring managers. We'll cover these basics:

This resume guide and corresponding cashier resume example will cover the following:

• How to write a cashier resume
• Picking the best resume format for a cashier
• How to include your contact information
• Crafting an impressive resume summary
• Adding your cashier experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Selecting the right resume design/layout
• An overview of the cashier market and salary trends

How to write a cashier resume

Before crafting your cashier resume, it’s essential to understand the key sections you should include. Here are the essential components to incorporate into your cashier resume

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Just as a customer looks for reliability and efficiency in their purchases, employers seek these qualities in their cashier hires. You’ll need to demonstrate your ability to handle transactions smoothly, provide exceptional customer service, and maintain accuracy—all while keeping a sharp eye on details.

Hiring managers do not have time to read the dozens of resumes they may receive for each cashier position. Instead, they rely on ATS to narrow the field. ATS software searches each resume for keywords related to cashier skills that employers prioritize. These algorithm-based screening tools are designed to eliminate inferior resumes before they ever get into the hands of a human. 

That means it is vital for you to use keywords in your cashier resume. Your first job is to understand the skills employers are looking for on your resume and the requirements for each cashier position. Including those on your resume greatly increases your chances of getting past the ATS. While there is no guarantee, following the advice in this resume guide will increase your odds of success.

Remember, your resume is your golden ticket to standing out in a competitive job market. Here are some key points to consider when writing your cashier resume:

• Highlight your unique attributes, whether it's specialized certifications, unconventional experiences, notable achievements, or a fresh perspective.
• Back up your accomplishments with quantifiable metrics to substantiate your contributions and illustrate your impact on business outcomes.
• Personalize your resume to align with the company's needs and the specific job description. This tailored approach enhances your alignment with the organization.
• Optimize your resume for applicant tracking systems (ATS) by integrating relevant keywords from the job listing. This increases your chances of matching with the desired role and progressing in the hiring process. Begin with an ATS-friendly resume template to streamline this process.

Choosing the right resume format for a cashier

The chronological resume format is likely the best option for structuring your resume, as it’s the most commonly used and straightforward format for job seekers overall. 

But if you are new to the workforce, making a dramatic career change, or your most relevant experience has not been in relevant employee positions, then take a look at alternative resume formats. A functional resume format is sometimes suitable for emphasizing transferable skills or training, or for those who have been self-employed.  

Include your contact information

Just as a shopper browsing the store needs clear guidance to complete a purchase, your cashier resume should provide straightforward instructions for recruiters. Make sure your contact information is prominently displayed. Without these details, hiring managers may struggle to identify you or contact you for further discussions regarding the role or potential interviews.

Include the following information on your cashier resume:

• Full name & title. List your first and last name. Use the title of the role you are pursuing.
• Professional email address. Use a clean format like firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Don’t use an inappropriate or unprofessional email address.
• Phone number. List a number where you can be readily contacted, with a professional
• Location. List only your city and state. Don’t list your street address or zip code. It’s both outdated and unsafe. Note 'Willing to Relocate' here if applicable as well.
• LinkedIn. If your LinkedIn profile is active, relevant, and shows your sales network, include it here.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: Not necessary and could potentially lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details: Marital status, social security number, passport number, etc.
• Headshot photo: This opens the door for liability as your physical appearance should not be a consideration to determine your qualifications.

Create a strong resume summary

Put your skills, qualities and achievements to work in a key component of your cashier resume: the summary. This is your chance to show who you are and why you will make a great cashier. The summary (also known as the resume profile or personal statement) consists of from two to four sentences that explain your biggest work achievements and professional strengths.

Decide which components of your background are most compelling and incorporate them into your resume summary based on the description of the job you are applying for. Each cashier job description is different, so make sure you analyze each job to find the resume keywords you need to beat the ATS.

To distinguish yourself use strong action verbs in the summary and throughout the resume. Just as the term implies, action verbs explain your achievements, successes, and qualities in terms of action.

Make sure you include your most positive personality traits as well. Remember, being a cashier requires a lot of interaction with customers and coworkers.

You can find an example cashier resume summary below:

Outline your cashier work experience: your skills should register

Whether you have been in the cashier workforce before or this is your first job, the employment history section is where you detail your successes and achievements. Think about your jobs as a series of accomplishments. Recall difficult customer problems you solved and explain the results of your positive actions.

Organize this section in reverse chronological order: from most recent to oldest. If you have more than 10 years of experience, list only the most recent 10 years. 

No need to write detailed lists of all your responsibilities, in fact that is exactly what not to do. Instead, tell your potential employer what you have achieved. Mention only the most important aspects of your work experience that tells hiring managers what you can bring to the position they need to fill.

Brainstorm a master list of your accomplishments and successes for your cashier resume. Then, match strong action verbs with them. Pick the accomplishments and successes that best align with each cashier job you are applying for. The more detailed you can be in your job descriptions, the better. If possible, use samples of statistics or data to back up your claim. Focus on the results of your actions.

• “Decreased losses from cash discrepancies by 10% by proposing a new process for register checks.”

How to write a cashier resume with no experience

Don't worry if you haven't had a formal paying job. You can focus on volunteer work and activities which required you to use the skills that employers are looking for. Also include any school or extracurricular position where you had to organize, lead, or schedule meetings or events.

Employers don't expect you to know how their cash register system works before you start working. That means, even if you don't have experience, you can still write an impressive cashier resume and get a good job.

Include the relevant key skills to qualify for cashier roles

What does it take to excel at a cashier's job? When you look at a cashier's responsibilities, think about the soft skills and hard skills necessary to perform the task. You will be handling money. That requires some basic math skills and trustworthiness. In addition, cashiers may have to process returns or exchanges. That means, you need great customer service and problem-solving abilities.

In this role, your schedule may change weekly. That requires organization and flexibility—both are soft skills. You must be able to remember or somehow keep track of your shifts so you always arrive at work on time. You also must be able to arrange your personal schedule around your work schedule, even as it changes. 

You need to know the inventory. If you work at a supermarket, you may need to memorize the register codes for keying in unlabeled produce items. At any store, customers will ask where to find an item or more specific questions about a product. You should know the answers. Some related skills needed here are sharp memory, product knowledge, communication, and again, customer service. 

You must also be able to handle rushes. Retail has both slow times and very busy times. Cashiers must be quick and efficient, and remain calm and friendly even when customers are in a hurry. In downtimes, a cashier should be a team player by offering to lend a hand in another area of the business.

To stand out as a compelling candidate, highlight your experience handling cash, managing transactions, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Showcase how you've contributed to sales growth and operational efficiency in previous roles. Knowledge of retail operations, familiarity with POS systems, and a knack for problem-solving are invaluable assets to emphasize.

For a cashier, soft skills will be more critical than hard skills. That is because you can learn most of the specifics during cashier training once you are hired. These are the skills you will focus on in the first section of your cashier resume.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our cashier resume template. 

Detail your education & relevant cashier certifications

Cashiers typically do not need experience or a college degree. The more experience you have, the less important this section becomes. But if you have not had a job yet, your education is quite important for a cashier resume and can be placed higher on the page, perhaps right after the summary.

The education requirement for a cashier's job is a high school diploma or a GED. Use this opportunity to list examples of math or business classes that prove you have skill in those areas. Here are some additional sample types of education you may want to list:

• On-the-job training
• Business classes
• Post-high school classwork
• Seminars, certifications, or certificates.

Pick the right resume layout and design for your cashier resume

As a cashier, you are expected to look clean, neat and friendly. Your cashier resume should look that way, too. You may want to get creative, but the best cashier resume format is streamlined and simple.

Your resume layout, design and formatting should portray an image of professionalism and efficiency. A touch of color can add personality, but with the possible downside of becoming a distraction. 

Hiring managers prefer simple resume formats because they are easier to skim. If they can't read your cashier resume quickly, they will move on to the next one. Blocks of text crammed together, inadequate margins, irregular formatting, or hard-to-read fonts can doom a perfect resume.  

If you need help selecting the right template for your cashier resume, browse our resume templates to find the perfect layout for showcasing your skills and experience as a cashier.

Resume templates are an easy way to solve these problems while still having the power to customize your format. In our resume builder, you can save your work as a PDF to avoid the formatting inconsistencies that may come from different word processing programs.  

Cashier text-only resume example

Cashier job market and outlook

Largely due to self-checkout kiosks and increasing online sales, the job market for cashiers is expected to decline by 10% from 2020 to 2030, the BLS forecasts. Despite a decline in employment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an average of 577,600 cashier job openings each year over the next decade. These openings are primarily expected to arise from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the workforce, including those who retire.

A cashier position can be the springboard you need for career advancement and a way to make extra cash part time. Most cashiers work in retail. Here are some specific categories within the field:

• Food and beverage
• General merchandise
• Gas stations
• Restaurants, hospitality and catering
• Pharmacies and drugstores

Consider which of these types of retail businesses you find most appealing. Think about advancement opportunities. Also, be aware that you may be expected to help out in another area when the register is slow, so target the type of retail that most appeals to you. 

There are several benefits of being a cashier like the flexible hours, social connections with coworkers and customers, opportunities for advancement, and sometimes, discounts.

But being a cashier can also be tough. You may have to stand for hours at a time. At high-volume retailers, cashiers are expected to move quickly and efficiently while being courteous and helpful even to the most difficult customers. When you start, you probably won't have a say in your schedule and you may have to work holidays, because retailers are especially busy at those times.  

What type of salary you can expect in cashier

According to May 2020 income data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median hourly wage for cashiers is $12.03. Cashiers at pharmacies and drugstores make an average of $12.90 an hour, the highest rate, while restaurants pay the least at $11.44 hourly. 

Key takeaways for a cashier resume

Being a cashier offers flexibility, a chance to make some extra cash or a first step toward a retail career. Your resume summary gives hiring managers a glimpse of your professional achievements. Use the employment history section to detail your successes in previous jobs and tell your employers what you can do as their next cashier. Tailor your resume skills list to fit the job and focus on keywords that will help you get past the ATS. Hiring managers prefer clean, legible templates, especially for cashier resumes.

Our resume builder tool and recruiter-tested resume templates have been created to help you look your best and avoid costly mistakes. Check out the variety of options to find a resume format that highlights your skills and lands you your next job as a cashier.