Cashiers held 3.55 million jobs in 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 24 percent of cashiers work in grocery stores. The rest are employed in gasoline stations, department stores and other retail establishments. About 47 percent of them worked part-time in 2008.
The Nature of Work
A cashier handles the register and attends to customers who need help. Most cashiers work in a booth or behind the register. This is a dangerous job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The risk from robberies and homicides is much higher for cashiers than for other workers. You have to take security precautions such as not keeping too much cash in the register. When there is a robbery, a cashier must not resist or fight the criminals. Instead, the cashier must surrender the money to the robber. When the robber is gone, the cashier can call 911.
Responsibilities
At the end of the shift, a cashier counts the money in the drawer and compares it with sales data from a printed journal to ensure all the money is accounted for. Small shortages are usually overlooked, but repeated shortages can lead to a dismissal. In some small retail stores, a cashier has to participate in taking inventory.
Entry Requirements
Entry-level jobs require little or no previous work experience. What is important are good social skills, which you use for customer service. There are also no education requirements, although employers prefer someone with a high school diploma. You also need basic mathematics skills to be able to count the money.
Training
Most cashiers are trained on the job by someone experienced in the job. The trainee starts training by observing the store operations and acquainting with the store's equipment, policies and procedures before being assigned to the register. In bigger retail businesses, the trainee spends several days in class before starting to train on the register. Class lessons focus on the description of the industry and the company, store policies and procedures, equipment and security.
Read more: The Skills to Help Qualify for a Cashier | eHow.com
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