How to hire a retail management internship

How to hire a retail management internship, step by step

Here's a step-by-step retail management internship hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a retail management internship job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new retail management internship
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a retail management internship do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a retail management internship, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A retail management internship's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, retail management interns from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of retail management internship salaries for various roles:

   Type of Retail Management Internship	Description	Hourly rate
   Retail Management Internship		$11-29
   Sales Leader	A Sales Leader's responsibility is more than just leading. Most of the tasks involve monitoring the progress of sales, creating strategies to attain financial gains, managing the workforce, and as well as suggesting and enforcing particular options that would be beneficial for the sales and the company... Show more	$15-66
   Key Holder	A keyholder is responsible for ensuring the store's daily security before and after the operation. Keyholders' duties include assisting with administrative tasks, handling customers' inquiries, managing and escalating customers' complaints, monitoring the alarm system, keeping track of the deliveries, supporting staff training, cooperating in company's events, and recommending operational strategies to meet business goals and objectives... Show more	$12-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Retail Management
   • Sales Floor
   • First Hand
   • Retail Operations
   • Internship Program
   • Management Meetings
   • Human Resources
   • Store Operations
   • Customer Service
   • Loss Prevention
   • PowerPoint
   • Store Management
   • POS
   • Inventory Management

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage internal marketing programs including telemarketing and email campaigns to increase customer activity.
   • Shadow department manager to develop leadership and management skill sets.
   • Attend meetings with regional leadership and training seminars focuse on various management topics.
   • Used POS and handle money on a regular basis.
   • Expose to a variety of management responsibilities including talent management and interviewing, scheduling, reporting, and business writing.
   • Perform all the daily duties of a Walgreens manager which include daily and weekly projects.

   More retail management internship duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your retail management internship job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A retail management internship salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, retail management interns' average salary in maine is 47% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level retail management interns earn 61% less than senior-level retail management interns.
   • Certifications. A retail management internship with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a retail management internship's salary.

   Average retail management internship salary

   $38,368yearly

   $18.45 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level retail management internship salary

   $24,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average retail management internship salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$65,410	$31
   2	California	$55,199	$27
   3	New York	$47,309	$23
   4	Virginia	$46,984	$23
   5	Colorado	$45,925	$22
   6	Minnesota	$45,405	$22
   7	Wyoming	$45,047	$22
   8	Pennsylvania	$45,028	$22
   9	North Dakota	$43,577	$21
   10	Arizona	$43,415	$21
   11	Illinois	$43,073	$21
   12	Nevada	$43,061	$21
   13	Utah	$42,969	$21
   14	Texas	$42,532	$20
   15	Nebraska	$42,350	$20
   16	Kansas	$41,532	$20
   17	New Mexico	$41,184	$20
   18	Ohio	$39,913	$19
   19	North Carolina	$39,312	$19
   20	Oklahoma	$38,860	$19

   Average retail management internship salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Capgemini	$92,565	$44.50	67
   2	Chicago Public Schools	$57,839	$27.81	1
   3	Student Conservation Association	$55,043	$26.46	2
   4	Boeing	$51,177	$24.60	110
   5	Legends Hospitality	$47,157	$22.67
   6	CVS Health	$46,029	$22.13	610
   7	BDO USA	$45,748	$21.99	4
   8	La-Z-Boy	$44,940	$21.61
   9	Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts	$43,998	$21.15	1
   10	The St. Joe Company	$43,680	$21.00
   11	L3Harris	$41,108	$19.76	80
   12	Amazon	$39,912	$19.19	83
   13	Legend Holdings	$39,547	$19.01	2
   14	Kwik Trip	$39,264	$18.88	1
   15	Hy-Vee	$38,375	$18.45	40
   16	Talbots	$38,111	$18.32
   17	P&G	$36,919	$17.75	5
   18	Delaware North	$36,893	$17.74	27
   19	The Bulletin	$36,011	$17.31
   20	JLL	$35,712	$17.17	122

4. Writing a retail management internship job description

   A job description for a retail management internship role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a retail management internship job description:

   Retail management internship job description example

   Experience firsthand what it's like to lead a retail team within a healthcare company. In this 9-week paid internship, interns learn how to successfully manage and motivate a store team. Interns will build sales and business plans, learn about staffing and colleague development, and understand how to run a purposeful business. Interns will participate in field travel days, attend career spotlights, and complete a Capstone Project. These internship activities are centered around topics such as management and leadership, exposure to support partners within the organization like human resources and asset protection, and make a direct impact on the communities that our stores serve. This internship is designed for participants to learn how to lead a retail store team while growing their network within the organization.
   Required Qualifications
   
   • Candidates must be enrolled as a full time or part time undergraduate student in a college or university. Students must be of Junior or Senior standing status and pursuing a degree in a Business or Liberal Arts curriculum. Candidates who have 2-year community college equivalent credit hours in Business or Liberal Arts curriculum plus 2+ years of previous retail experience will also be considered.• Candidates must be available to work 35 hours per week for the duration of the program on a flexible schedule including days, nights, and weekends.
   
   Preferred Qualifications
   
   • 2-5 years of retail experience or equivalent experience in a fast-paced work environment• Candidates with previous leadership experience and be interested in a potential career in retail management.
   
   Education
   
   Candidates must be enrolled as a full time or part time undergraduate student in a college or university. Students must be of Junior or Senior standing status and pursuing a degree in a Business or Liberal Arts curriculum. Candidates who have 2-year community college equivalent credit hours in Business or Liberal Arts curriculum plus 2+ years of previous retail experience will also be considered.
   
   Business Overview
   
   Bring your heart to CVS HealthEvery one of us at CVS Health shares a single, clear purpose: Bringing our heart to every moment of your health. This purpose guides our commitment to deliver enhanced human-centric health care for a rapidly changing world. Anchored in our brand - with heart at its center - our purpose sends a personal message that how we deliver our services is just as important as what we deliver.Our Heart At Work Behaviors™ support this purpose. We want everyone who works at CVS Health to feel empowered by the role they play in transforming our culture and accelerating our ability to innovate and deliver solutions to make health care more personal, convenient and affordable. We strive to promote and sustain a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging every day. CVS Health is an affirmative action employer, and is an equal opportunity employer, as are the physician-owned businesses for which CVS Health provides management services. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, promotion, or any other personnel action based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right retail management internship for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your retail management internship job on Zippia to find and recruit retail management internship candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with retail management internship candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new retail management internship

   Once you've decided on a perfect retail management internship candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new retail management internship. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a retail management internship?