A career objective tells potential employers about your skills and goals and sets the tone for the rest of your resume. Objectives should be specific to the job listing and focused on how you can help the company. When you take the time to think through your career objective thoroughly, it gives you direction on how to write the remainder of your resume.

Management

Members of retail management sometimes work long hours and are in charge of many aspects of a store's operation. They might oversee an entire store or an individual department. Their career objectives should focus on areas such as leadership skills. An example of a retail management career objective is, "Seasoned retail manager with seven years of experience in supervising associates and growing sales seeks opportunity to improve profitability at a clothing retailer that specializes in cutting edge designs."

Sales

A broad category of retail positions involve sales. Sales associates assist customers in choosing items and checking them out at the cash register. To be successful, sales associates must use creative selling techniques to persuade customers to make purchases. A sales associate's career objective might say, "Outgoing and persuasive sales associate with a proven record of exceeding monthly sales goals seeks opportunity to increase profits at a well-established electronics retailer."

Merchandising

Retail merchandisers work with management and vendors to display store items in a way that engages customers and promotes higher sales. When merchandise is displayed the right way, customers are more likely to purchase items. Merchandisers work with documents such as plan-o-grams, so a detailed and organized mind is handy, too. If you seek a merchandising position, your career objective might say, "Merchandiser with experience in setting plan-o-grams and displaying new merchandise seeks the opportunity to enhance the shopping experience through attractive displays."

Buyer

Retail buyers have the important job of choosing the next season's items to sell at a store. They place specialized orders and also make repeat buys. Creativity and an eye for future trends are important qualities for a buyer. When writing a career objective as a store buyer, one choice is to focus on analytical skills. For example, you might say, "Experienced buyer seeks opportunity with a fashion-forward accessories retailer to utilize proven skills in analyzing sales and current trends to determine purchasing needs."