How To Become A Co-Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a co-worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Co-workers are the kind of people that think the best type of work is teamwork. They work with a bunch of other associates to fulfill the goals of their employer. Often, a co-worker works in retail for a big store such as Ikea. In fact, Ikea calls many of its employees "co-workers."

The day-to-day tasks of a co-worker depend on their exact position. A sales co-worker helps people check out their purchases, while another co-worker collects shopping carts and puts them back in their place. All the while, a risk and compliance co-worker ensures that their teammates are following all safety regulations.

No matter their exact position, all co-workers need to have great customer service skills to assist customers with whatever they need. They often need to have experience with logistics and sales. While some co-workers have bachelor's degrees, most gain these skills on the job or with previous experience in retail.

ScoreCo-WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,212

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 6.49%

Black or African American 9.64%

Hispanic or Latino 18.63%

Unknown 6.92%

White 57.47%

Gender

female 46.00%

male 54.00%

Age - 21

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 21

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.7

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a co-worker

Explore co-worker education requirements

Most common co-worker degrees

Bachelor's

40.7 %

Associate

23.6 %

High School Diploma

20.2 %

Start to develop specific co-worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Cleanliness	17.33%
Logistics	12.88%
Product Knowledge	12.40%
Math	10.75%
Food Handling	9.25%

Complete relevant co-worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New co-workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a co-worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real co-worker resumes.

Research co-worker duties and responsibilities

Manage petty cash, payroll, inventory, member statements, accounts receivable, and payable.
Encode bank documents on the NCR 7760 and NCR 7766 machines.
Prepare smoothies, frozen blends, ice cream sundaes, espressos, frappes, etc.
Perform by working the drive-thru.

Get co-worker experience

Prepare your co-worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your co-worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a co-worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable co-worker resume templates

Build a professional co-worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your co-worker resume.