Cashier / Retail Assistant
🛒Works the till and shop floor: scans purchases, stocks shelves, helps customers and handles returns.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $32.9k a year on average
Cashiers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £24.6k median a year · 13,000 jobs
Retail cashiers and check-out operators — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Self-checkouts and checkout-free stores already cut cashier numbers; by 2035 the job will almost vanish in mass retail.
Who it suits
Interests: 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems, 🗣️ Persuading and negotiating, 🤝 Helping and caring.
Key strengths: organisation.
Where to study
- Course On-the-job training in a couple of days
- Apprenticeship Retail apprenticeship (UK), Ausbildung Kaufmann/-frau im Einzelhandel (DE)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths.
🧗 From 16, trained on the job in a couple of days. A side job rather than a career; to grow into store management, take a retail apprenticeship (3-year Ausbildung in Germany).
Things to know
🌙 Night shifts and on-call📞 Sales targets, cold calls
Similar careers
Not sure what to choose?
A ~100-question quiz builds your interest profile and matches you with careers and universities in Europe, the UK and the US.
Take the quiz →Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.