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take note:

  • Extra earning potential
  • Flexible hours
  • Previous experience may be required

Industry: 
Sales & marketing

Expected wage:
Average $8 - $9 an hour

Extra perks:

  • Be your own boss and set your own schedule
  • Fun environment: Many merchandisers work in teams
  • Get paid for travel time

Celebrity sighting:
Cheers to this Cinderella story: NFL Pro Bowl kick returner and wide receiver Michael Lewis was better known as "Beer Man" when he played for the New Orleans Saints from 2002 to 2006. That's because the speedy athlete but unlikely star – a 29-year-old rookie who never attended college – had previously worked as a beer truck driver, delivering product and looking after accounts. Sure, Lewis might not have technically been a "Merchandiser," but he pretty much performed the same duties.

Similar positions: 
Reset Merchandiser, Inventory Taker and Coupon Merchandiser

Examples of employers with this position:

Merchandiser

jb merch

Job in about 50 words:
Ever throw a hissy fit when a poster wasn't centered on your wall? Always good about returning calls, emails and IMs? Then you might just have what it take to be a Merchandiser, a position tasked with selling and servicing retail accounts in various stores. Duties include stocking products, setting up displays and managing paperwork.

Job skills/requirements:
The good news is that your training will teach you everything you need to know to succeed on the job. But there are a few skills you should have from the get-go, as well as requirements and suggested experience:

  • Organization: Do students ask to borrow your class notes? (If so, we hope you're charging them lunch money.) You'll have a lot of products, clients and territory to manage in this job, and you'll need a careful eye for detail.
  • Communication skills: No slang, no mumbling and no lame excuses. You'll be talking to a lot of different people in a lot of different places, and you'll need to build a confident rapport with these clients and customers.
  • Motivated: You don't have to read Lance Armstrong's book before showing up to work, but a positive attitude and a little ambition will surely help.
  • Retail experience: Familiarity with how stores function from the inside out is recommended but not required.
  • Reliable transportation: If you're banking on borrowing your uncle's two-tone '87 Toyota Tercel once a week and hitchhiking the rest of the time, this is probably not the right job for you. You'll need a dependable vehicle to make rounds from store to store.

Expected hours:
These general part-time positions range from about 20-30 hours a week, although this can vary.

Dress the part:
There is usually no set uniform, except for a badge or vest from your company. This doesn't give you the green light to suit up in denim overalls or biking shorts; the employer will probably provide you with some basic guidelines on what to wear. Occasionally merchandising companies provide a polo shirt with their logo and colors. Please don't pop the collar.

Job myth:
Merchandiser is just a fancy name for stock boy.
First of all, some of our best friends are stock boys. And second, Merchandisers do a lot more than restock shelves, such as travelling around to brand name stores to manage their accounts. Come on, it sounds adventurous, doesn't it?

Expert advice: 
Here is a description of "the perfect Merchandiser candidate," according to Recruiter Holly Tucker of United Retail Services, LLC:

"Candidates who have some work experience with either a retail environment or in retail merchandising. We seek individuals who are self-motivated, possess the ability to work both independently and as part of a team, and have basic computer knowledge. Some of our positions require the use of a handheld computer, while others require more labor intensive work."

Career path:
Those who start out as successful merchandisers lay the groundwork for the following possible career moves:

  • Area Merchandiser (averages $7-12/hour; more for specialty services)
  • Merchandising Manager (averages $30,000 or more/year)
  • Regional Merchandising Coordinator (averages $40,000 - $60,000/year)