Store manager CV: example and tips

Keywords that come up in store manager job ads

Ads for store managers almost always cover three things: operations, finances and leadership. Chains want a manager who is visible on the shop floor, follows up the numbers every week and makes staff want to stay. Many chains use applicant tracking systems that sort applications by the words in the ad, so use the same words in your CV where they match what you have done. Our guide to an ATS-friendly CV explains how these systems read your CV. Most ads in Norway are in Norwegian, so it helps to know terms such as resultatansvar (profit responsibility), personalansvar (staff responsibility) and svinn (shrinkage). These words come up often:

• Profit responsibility, budget responsibility and financial control.
• Staff responsibility, recruitment, training and performance reviews.
• Rotas, staffing and staff costs, often measured as a percentage of revenue.
• Running the shop according to the chain concept, campaigns and visual merchandising.
• Shrinkage, stocktaking, ordering and stock control.
• Customer experience, customer satisfaction and customer surveys.
• Health and safety, internal control and routines for opening, closing and cash handling.
• A motivating, visible and decisive leader who leads by example on the shop floor.

Formal requirements: few, but some apply to the manager

There are no formal education requirements to become a store manager. Utdanning.no shows that many store managers have a trade certificate in sales (salgsfaget), a vocational college course in retail management, or a bachelor's degree in retail or business. Many chains run their own management programmes. List them with name and year, for example “Chain management programme for store managers, 2024”. If you have worked in retail for a long time without a trade certificate, you can take one in sales through the praksiskandidat scheme. According to the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Udir), this requires at least five years of varied experience.

If the shop sells beer, it needs a sales licence from the municipality, and the licence must have a manager and a deputy. Under section 1-7c of the Alcohol Act (alkoholloven), they must be over 20, have documented knowledge of the Alcohol Act and have a clean record. According to Helsedirektoratet, this knowledge is documented by passing the knowledge test for sales licences, taken with the licensing authority, usually the municipality. The certificate never expires. In grocery retail it is common for the store manager to be the licence manager or deputy, so if you have passed the test, say so: “Passed the knowledge test on the Alcohol Act (sales licence), 2023”.

If you are the employer, for example the managing director or the owner of a franchise shop, section 3-5 of the Working Environment Act requires you to have completed health and safety training. According to Arbeidstilsynet, the duty is personal, and the training must be documented in writing. If you are an employed store manager, health and safety courses and courses in people management are a plus. List them with name and year.

Example of a summary for a store manager CV

The summary should say what kind of shop you have run, how big it was, two or three results with numbers and what you are looking for. Here is a made up example you can use as a pattern:

Example: “Store manager with nine years of experience in grocery and specialist retail, the last four running a shop with 22 staff and revenue of 48 million kroner. Has hit the profit budget three years in a row, cut shrinkage from 1.9 to 1.2 percent and had the lowest staff turnover in the region. Leads close to the shop floor, with clear goals for every shift. Looking for a larger store or a role as area manager.”

Replace the numbers with your own, and only write what you can explain in an interview. You will find more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points with results: weak versus strong

“Responsible for operations, staff and finances” appears in almost every store manager CV. What sets you apart is what improved while you were in charge. Use figures for revenue, profit, shrinkage, staff costs and customer satisfaction, and compare with the budget or the region where you can. If you cannot share kroner, use percentages.

• Weak: “Responsible for the budget.” Strong: “Grew revenue by 9 percent in 2025 against 3 percent in the region, and delivered a profit 400,000 kroner above budget.”
• Weak: “Made rotas.” Strong: “Planned staffing around customer flow hour by hour, cutting staff costs from 11.5 to 10.2 percent of revenue without longer queues.”
• Weak: “Worked on shrinkage.” Strong: “Introduced daily date checks and fixed routines for goods receiving, halving shrinkage in the fresh food department in one year.”
• Weak: “Staff responsibility.” Strong: “Led 18 staff, recruited 12 new people and promoted two colleagues to shift supervisor and assistant store manager.”
• Weak: “Focus on customers.” Strong: “Raised the store's score in the chain's customer survey from 72 to 84 in one year, with customer service training for all staff.”
• Weak: “Opened a new store.” Strong: “Led the opening of a new 1,200 square metre store, from recruiting 15 staff to a first year with revenue above budget.”

Skills, systems and courses worth including

A store manager uses many systems in a week. The names of the systems show that you can get started quickly, and your courses show that you take the leadership role seriously. Include what you have actually used:

• Till, stock management and ordering systems by name, and the reports from the chain's systems.
• Excel or Power BI for budgets, forecasts and tracking key figures.
• Rota and time recording tools, for example Quinyx, Planday or the chain's own system.
• Leadership courses and the chain's management programme, with name and year.
• The knowledge test on the Alcohol Act, health and safety courses and first aid.
• Practical people management: working hours, following up sick leave and performance reviews.

First management job, or many years as a store manager

If you have not been a store manager before, show the leadership responsibility you have had: shift supervisor, key holder, department responsibility, training new staff, rotas or opening and closing. Add numbers, for example “ran evening and weekend shifts alone with six staff”. Leadership experience from hospitality, a sports club or the armed forces also counts. If you are coming straight from the shop floor, our guide to a shop assistant CV has more examples of bullet points that show responsibility.

If you have run shops for many years, choose the three to five results you are most proud of and put them at the top of each role. Cut older jobs to one line. If you are aiming for area or regional manager, show that you have trained other managers, been responsible for several shops or led projects for the chain. If you come from sales outside retail, our guide to a sales CV can help you present your sales results. Two pages are fine when your experience is long.

Common mistakes in a store manager CV

Most mistakes come from describing the job instead of the results. Check for these before you send your CV:

• Only duties, such as “responsible for operations, staff and finances”, with no numbers.
• Numbers without comparison, such as revenue without a budget or growth without a period.
• Nothing about how you lead, for example how you follow up staff and set goals.
• The knowledge test or health and safety course is missing, even though you have taken them.
• Internal figures the chain does not want shared. Use percentages and change instead.
• Every course from the chain's training programme in a long list. Choose the most important ones.

Get to your next management job faster with Selja

A store manager in grocery and a store manager in specialist retail are measured on different things. One on shrinkage, staffing and the flow of goods, the other on sales, product knowledge and customer experience. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have. In under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job, with the words from the ad, such as profit responsibility, staff responsibility or shrinkage, where they match what you have done.

Selja never adds experience or skills you do not have. If the ad asks for the knowledge test on the Alcohol Act and it is not in your CV, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. It is free to start: check your CV for free and get an honest review of the whole CV, the way a recruiter reads it, or take a free ATS check against the ad. Get started when you want to create your first application.

The application and the interview

Keep the application to one page. Say what you have achieved, with two or three numbers, how you lead, and why you want to run this particular store. If you visited the shop before applying, mention something specific you noticed. Our guide on how to write a job application walks you through the structure.

In the interview you are often asked about numbers, how you follow up an employee who is not performing, and what you would do in your first hundred days. Some chains also ask you to look at the store's figures and make suggestions. Practise with the interview questions and our guide on how to prepare for a job interview. The free pay check shows whether the pay is poor, standard or good, with figures from Statistics Norway (SSB).