What does a shop assistant do?
A shop assistant is primarily responsible for handling customers and maintaining the upkeep of a sales floor in a retail store. They are in charge of greeting customers, answering inquiries, offering assistance, recommending products, and handling complaints. A shop assistant also has duties that involve receiving, verifying, processing, and sorting shipments from suppliers, managing inventory, and re-stocking shelves while keeping them presentable. To maintain the sales floor's cleanliness, a shop assistant may also perform light chores and keep all equipment organized. Furthermore, it is essential to accomplish tasks while adhering to the policies and regulations of the company.
Shop assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real shop assistant resumes:
- Provide GHIN handicap services for the members
- General shop maintenance Mig welding repairs and projects
- Prepare envelopes and run address/post-mark mail machine.
- Maintain GHIN handicap system for the golf course.
- Shop support in embroidery, screen printing, and DTG printing.
- Help other staff with printing, collating, binding and distribution of materials.
- Create jigs, design products and manufacture first run products for potential future production.
- Establish processes and jigs to decrease production time and make better use of materials.
- Screen printing, make layouts for flyers and brochures, and teach youth graphic desgns
- Hire to build custom wood fireplace mantel cabinets, shelves and risers from auto cad drawings.
- Used metal lathes, mig welders, saws, presses, and hand tools as required to complete repairs.
- Operate a variety of other equipment such as paper cutting, binding, folding, preserving and collating machines.
- Maintain tools, equipment, and materials.o Training in woodworking, metal working, tools, and CNC router setup.
- Perform multiple job operations on a variety of machines including manual lathes, manual milling machines, CNC milling, etc.
- Maintain shop's cleanliness and organization
Shop assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Shop Assistants are proficient in Customer Vehicles, CNC, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Dexterity.
We break down the percentage of Shop Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Vehicles, 10%
Trusted to handle customer payments and company money accurately while entrusted to return customer vehicles better than received.
- CNC, 7%
Performed multiple job operations on a variety of machines including manual lathes, manual milling machines, CNC milling, etc.
- Customer Service, 7%
Stock take-Cleaning-Register work-Customer Service-Shelf stocking-Delivery handling-Sales
- Sales Floor, 6%
Establish presence on sales floor and develop relationships with new clients in order to generate repeat business for the department.
- Machine Shop, 6%
Performed various functions including equipment operation for machine shop production support.
- Shop Equipment, 6%
Clean and maintain shop equipment, general maintenance throughout the store and shop, and stock store with new merchandise.
Common skills that a shop assistant uses to do their job include "customer vehicles," "cnc," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important shop assistant responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a shop assistant to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "diesel technicians frequently discuss automotive problems and necessary repairs with their customers." Shop assistants often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "managed dress shop; duties included customer assistance and shop organization"
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform shop assistant duties is detail oriented. Shop assistants responsibilities require that "diesel technicians must be aware of small details when inspecting or repairing engines and components, because mechanical and electronic malfunctions are often due to misalignments and other easy-to-miss causes." Shop assistants also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "handle customer details including answering phones, suggesting solutions, scheduling appointments and negotiating with customers for total satisfaction. "
Dexterity. This is an important skill for shop assistants to perform their duties. For an example of how shop assistant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "mechanics need a steady hand and good hand–eye coordination for many tasks, such as disassembling engine parts, connecting or attaching components, and using hand tools." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a shop assistant: "shop organization shop cleaning assistant in maintenance forklift experience".
Mechanical skills. For certain shop assistant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "mechanical skills." The day-to-day duties of a shop assistant rely on this skill, as "diesel technicians must be familiar with engine components and systems and know how they interact with each other." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what shop assistants do: "coordinate with body shop manager and mechanical supervisor to correct rejected claims. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for shop assistant responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of shop assistants all the time, as "diesel technicians must keep workspaces clean and organized in order to maintain safety and accountability for parts." An excerpt from a real shop assistant resume shows how this skill is central to what a shop assistant does: "learned organizational and customer service skills. "
Physical strength. Lastly, "physical strength" is an important element of what a shop assistant does. Shop assistant responsibilities require this skill because "diesel technicians often lift heavy parts and tools, such as exhaust system components and pneumatic wrenches." This resume example highlights how shop assistant duties rely on this skill: "advised the executive team on trends and opportunities to improve golf shop performance and strengthen member relationships. "
The three companies that hire the most shop assistants are:
- CEM
113 shop assistants jobs
- APi Group13 shop assistants jobs
- CoxHealth8 shop assistants jobs
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Compare different shop assistants
Shop assistant vs. Wet-end helper
If someone has prior training in HVAC systems, but does not have an advanced degree, then they may do well working as an HVAC helper. HVAC helpers are required to carry out installation, troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of both commercial and residential HVAC systems. They are also required to operate a variety of power and hand tools. This position requires someone who is physically fit, dexterous, and ready to follow instructions.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, shop assistant responsibilities require skills like "customer vehicles," "cnc," "machine shop," and "shop equipment." Meanwhile a typical wet-end helper has skills in areas such as "front end," "check equipment," "groceries," and "food service." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, wet-end helpers reach similar levels of education than shop assistants. Wet-end helpers are 2.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Shop assistant vs. Rigging helper
Each career also uses different skills, according to real shop assistant resumes. While shop assistant responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer vehicles," "cnc," "customer service," and "sales floor," rigging helpers use skills like "irrigation pumps," "pulleys," "hoisting," and "flow tests."
In general, rigging helpers achieve similar levels of education than shop assistants. They're 2.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Shop assistant vs. Hvac helper
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, shop assistants are more likely to have skills like "customer vehicles," "cnc," "customer service," and "sales floor." But a hvac helper is more likely to have skills like "hand tools," "ladders," "air handlers," and "air ducts."
Hvac helpers make a very good living in the energy industry with an average annual salary of $34,022. On the other hand, shop assistants are paid the highest salary in the construction industry, with average annual pay of $32,963.hvac helpers typically earn similar educational levels compared to shop assistants. Specifically, they're 2.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Shop assistant vs. Washer engineer helper
Types of shop assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
