What is a Key Holder?

Holding a key can be an extremely important job, depending on the key that you're holding. But that's not exactly your only duty as key holder. In fact, the position requires much more than just holding onto a key.

AS a key holder, you take on a lot of responsibility for making sure the office or store stays organized and clean. But you also have other administrative duties that require your focus. You're also in charge of making sure everyone shows up to work on time. (And then calling for backup when that person can't make their shift.)

Key holders are sometimes known as shift supervisors, so they have a bit more responsibility than an associate. Typically, they're the ones in charge. From making sure the opening of the store goes well and that the closing of the store is done correctly, you've got a lot riding on your shoulders. Good luck!

What Does a Key Holder Do

There are certain skills that many key holders have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed physical strength, customer-service skills and interpersonal skills.

Learn more about what a Key Holder does

How To Become a Key Holder

If you're interested in becoming a key holder, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 31.8% of key holders have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.7% of key holders have master's degrees. Even though some key holders have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Key Holder

Key Holder Job Description

A key holder is an employee responsible for opening and/or closing a store or similar location. Their duties include the safeguarding of the keys to the store as well as locking and unlocking the store at appropriate times.

Learn more about Key Holder Job Description
Top Key Holder Jobs Near You

Key Holder Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of teller you might progress to a role such as specialist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title operations manager.

Key Holder

Average Salary for a Key Holder

Key Holders in America make an average salary of $31,779 per year or $15 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $39,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $25,000 per year.
Average Key Holder Salary
$31,779 Yearly
$15.28 hourly
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What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Key Holder

The role of a key holder includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general key holder responsibilities:

  • Meeting and exceeding personal and store sales goals, cleaning up the register stations, merchandising products, cash register operations (pos)
  • Achieve and exceed the personal sales
  • Wow the customer consistently deliver exceptional customer service to salon professionals deliver results sell the finest professional beauty brands

There are several types of key holder, including:

Sales Clerk

Role:

Ever been into a store with no idea of what you're getting (phew, what a hassle!)? Or have you a hard time picking between two beautiful-colored sneakers (why not get both anyway)? Worry no more! A sales clerk might be who you need to get your shopping spree done.

Sales clerks are usually those employees walking around the store to assist customers with their store experience. They know a lot about certain products, so you can trust them to give you advice on which is the best one for you. They even demonstrate the features of these items and recommend alternatives, if you're on a tight budget. Pretty cool, right? They interact with people for over eight hours, as needed, probably even during weekends, as their job requires. But really, being a sales clerk can be an awesome job. I mean, believe me, if it wasn't for sales clerks, it would be hard to look for your favorite baseball cap or fashion tee.

Being a sales clerk gives you so much exposure interacting with different people and gaining your self-confidence. If you're into customer service, this might be a good stepping stone for gaining professional expertise!

  • Average Salary: $25,739
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Manager Trainee

Role:

A manager trainee is mentored and supervised by the manager or executives in a company. The goal is to acquire all the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to become a manager. You might find yourself interning in different departments at different points in time in order to learn about all the different parts of the company and how they come together to function as one.

Your responsibilities would usually involve all managerial and administrative roles but under supervision and guidance. Plus, you will get the opportunity to be present when important decisions are taken, and you might be given a chance to contribute.

No one becomes a manager by accident, and this is why a lot is expected of manager trainees. You are expected to exhibit strong leadership and communication skills, a good knowledge of your products, and excellent customer service. Of course, it is highly essential that you are a good human resources manager. Manager trainees are paid $20 an hour, which amounts to $42,000 a year. You are required to hold at least a bachelor's degree in business, finance, and other related fields.

  • Average Salary: $49,193
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Key Carrier

Role:

Key carriers are responsible for handling the keys to the store. Their duties may include handling operational procedures, providing customer service, and keeping the entry area clean and organized. Also, they may benefit from having good management skills.

Candidates can apply for this job with a high school or college degree. However, they may need to have scheduling flexibility, the right level of physical fitness, and supervisory skills.

As a key carrier, with an hourly income of $15.85, they can earn a total of $32,972 per year. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon the organizational setting, store, or qualification.

  • Average Salary: $32,262
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Key Holder Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active key holder jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where key holders earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Key Holder Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California9,246$33,333
2Texas8,626$26,664
3Florida6,669$29,364
4Pennsylvania5,314$31,370
5New York4,857$39,786
6North Carolina4,679$27,307
7Ohio4,486$30,827
8Illinois4,377$33,011
9Georgia4,106$35,803
10Michigan4,072$32,301
11Virginia3,723$31,281
12New Jersey3,095$35,786
13Tennessee3,086$29,001
14Massachusetts2,798$39,110
15Indiana2,626$32,554
16South Carolina2,399$28,501
17Missouri2,338$28,072
18Maryland2,334$29,956
19Wisconsin2,233$40,607
20Minnesota2,029$36,306
21Washington1,936$36,269
22Arizona1,889$29,031
23Alabama1,851$27,620
24Kentucky1,823$24,623
25Colorado1,804$33,996
26Louisiana1,646$27,163
27Oklahoma1,221$27,674
28Mississippi1,204$25,348
29Oregon1,198$32,695
30Connecticut1,133$36,142
31Iowa1,092$31,246
32Utah1,040$31,549
33Kansas1,037$31,942
34New Hampshire919$36,995
35Arkansas900$28,675
36Nevada651$29,089
37Maine649$32,212
38West Virginia636$22,870
39New Mexico548$25,446
40Nebraska533$32,407
41Idaho446$31,335
42Delaware441$33,237
43Rhode Island421$36,508
44North Dakota318$32,023
45Montana287$32,889
46Hawaii272$37,730
47South Dakota243$33,433
48Vermont218$34,774
49Wyoming135$27,808
50Alaska111$31,457

Key Holder Education

Key Holder Majors

Business
21.2 %
Psychology
8.6 %
General Studies
8.0 %

Key Holder Degrees

High School Diploma

35.2 %

Bachelors

31.8 %

Associate

20.7 %

Top Colleges for Key Holders

1. SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Delhi, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,360

Enrollment

3,142

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

4. University of Georgia

Athens, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,830

Enrollment

29,474

5. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

6. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

7. Baylor University

Waco, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$45,542

Enrollment

14,159

8. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Alfred, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,570

Enrollment

3,721

9. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,853

Enrollment

14,759

10. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

Top Skills For a Key Holder

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 18.1% of key holders listed sales floor on their resume, but soft skills such as physical strength and customer-service skills are important as well.

  • Sales Floor, 18.1%
  • Product Knowledge, 10.7%
  • Visual Standards, 9.1%
  • Bank Deposits, 6.9%
  • Loss Prevention, 6.5%
  • Other Skills, 48.7%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Key Holder Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Key Holder templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Key Holder resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Key Holder diversity

Key Holder Gender Distribution

Female
Female
72%
Male
Male
28%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among key holders, 71.9% of them are women, while 28.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among key holders is White, which makes up 61.4% of all key holders.

  • The most common foreign language among key holders is Spanish at 72.5%.

Online Courses For Key Holder That You May Like

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Best States For a Key Holder

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a key holder. The best states for people in this position are Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii. Key holders make the most in Wisconsin with an average salary of $40,607. Whereas in New York and Massachusetts, they would average $39,786 and $39,110, respectively. While key holders would only make an average of $37,730 in Hawaii, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New Hampshire

Total Key Holder Jobs: 919
Highest 10% Earn:
$46,000
Location Quotient:
1.37

$36,995

Avg. Salary

View 919 Key Holder Jobs In NH

2. Wisconsin

Total Key Holder Jobs: 2,233
Highest 10% Earn:
$51,000
Location Quotient:
1.05

$40,607

Avg. Salary

View 2,233 Key Holder Jobs In WI

3. New York

Total Key Holder Jobs: 4,857
Highest 10% Earn:
$50,000
Location Quotient:
0.98

$39,786

Avg. Salary

View 4,857 Key Holder Jobs In NY
Full List Of Best States For Key Holders

How Do Key Holders Rate Their Jobs?

4/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Key Holder Reviews

4.0
Aug 2020
Pros

Customer interactions, stocking shelves and recovering

Cons

The amount of stolen items and items simply put on any shelf.

Working as a Key Holder? Share your experience anonymously.
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Career Growth
Work/Life balance
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Top Key Holder Employers

Most Common Employers For Key Holder

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1T-Mobile$33,298$16.01277
2Advance Auto Parts$31,651$15.22366
3GameStop$29,836$14.34258
4Payless ShoeSource$29,667$14.261,035
5Bath & Body Works$29,512$14.19576
6Five Below$29,215$14.05277
7Vitamin Shoppe$29,107$13.99366
8Dollar General$29,047$13.965,326
9RadioShack$28,928$13.91569
10Charlotte Russe$28,852$13.87435
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Becoming a Key Holder FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become A Key Holder?

It takes 2 years of professional experience to become a key holder. That is the time it takes to learn specific key holder skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 5 to 7 years years to become a key holder.

Have more questions? See all answers to common sales questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023