How To Become A Shift Leader/Cashier: What It Is and Career Path

What is a shift leader/cashier and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Shift leaders are responsible for overseeing employees on shifts. As a shift leader, you will manage all activities of employees on shifts. This includes ensuring that they carry out their job adequately, ensuring the company goals are met, and ensuring they comply with the company's rules. A cashier, on the other hand, is responsible for processing sales transactions in a retail environment. They are also in charge of balancing the cash register and managing customer's transactions. As you will be attending to customers directly, you are expected to help them through any issue and provide necessary information to them.

As a shift leader, you must have leadership skills, communication skills, and decision-making skills. And as a cashier, you must have math skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, and management skills. To be a shift leader or a cashier, you should have at least a high school diploma degree or an associate degree. Shift leaders earn an average of $29,553 per year, and cashiers earn an average of $24,655 per year.

ScoreShift Leader/CashierUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,409

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.3

Growth rate -10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.90%

Asian 7.33%

Black or African American 10.47%

Hispanic or Latino 21.11%

Unknown 5.12%

White 55.07%

Gender

female 73.75%

male 26.25%

Age - 28

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 - 28

Stress level

5.3

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

3.7

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a shift leader/cashier

Explore shift leader/cashier education requirements

Most common shift leader/cashier degrees

High School Diploma

49.3 %

Bachelor's

17.3 %

Associate

16.6 %

Start to develop specific shift leader/cashier skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Safety	12.43%
Customer Complaints	9.89%
POS	8.76%
Customer Service	8.68%
Customer Orders	6.39%

Complete relevant shift leader/cashier training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New shift leader/cashiers 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 shift leader/cashier based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real shift leader/cashier resumes.

Research shift leader/cashier duties and responsibilities

Manage employees by making schedules, doing payroll, and maintain an all around comfortable working environment.
Assist customers, maintain friendly work environment, delegate and oversee tasks during shifts, operate POS system, drive sales
Utilize basic computation and mathematics, and maintain electronic registers for all payment transactions including cash and credit cards.
Strengthen the Walmart brand by interacting positively and professionally with a highly diverse customer base.

Get shift leader/cashier experience

Prepare your shift leader/cashier resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your shift leader/cashier resume.

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Choose from 10+ customizable shift leader/cashier resume templates

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