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Bookseller
Booksellers buy books from publishers or wholesalers and sell them on to customers.
Average salary (a year)
£14000
Starter
£30000
Experienced
Typical hours (a week)
39.0 to 41.0 hours
a week
Work Hours
evenings / weekends / bank holidays
How to become
Explore the different ways to get into this role
You can get into this job through:a university course; a college course; an apprenticeship; applying directly
University
You may have an advantage when looking for work if you've completed a qualification at university, like a higher national diploma or a degree. Employers will accept any subject, although some may prefer English, humanities or the arts.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
student finance for fees and living costs|https://www.gov.uk/student-finance
university courses and entry requirements|https://www.ucas.com/
College
You can learn some of the skills you need for this job by doing a
Level 2 Certificate or Diploma in Retail Skills, Level 3 Diploma in Retail Skills (Sales Professional)
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
  • 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More Information
equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
funding advice|https://www.gov.uk/further-education-courses/financial-help
search for courses|/find-a-course
Apprenticeship
You can get into this job through a retailer intermediate apprenticeship or a retail team leader advanced apprenticeship.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More Information
equivalent entry requirements|https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels
guide to apprenticeships|https://www.gov.uk/apprenticeships-guide
Direct Application
You can apply directly for jobs. You'll usually need 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English and maths. You'll have an advantage if you have previous experience of
retail or online sales, customer service, publishing
You'll need a broad range of reading interests and an enthusiasm for books.
You may need specialist knowledge for some bookshops. For example
comic art for a shop that sells graphic novels, classic literature for rare or antiquarian books, art history for specialist art publications
More Information
Career Tips
You'll need sound business skills and a good grasp of the publishing and bookselling industry, if you want to go on to open your own bookshop. This includes some understanding of online promotion and sales methods or e-commerce.
Further Information
You can find more advice about bookselling and setting up your own business through the Booksellers Association.
What it takes
Find out what skills you’ll use in this role
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
    Customer service skills
    The ability to work well with others
    The ability to sell products and services
    To be thorough and pay attention to detail
    Business management skills
    The ability to use your initiative
    Persuading and negotiating skills
    Excellent verbal communication skills
Digital Skills Level
to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
What you will do
Discover the day-to-day tasks you’ll do in this role
Day to day tasks
You might
serve customers and take payments, make suggestions and give advice about the books available, review books for in-store reviews or book clubs, organise in-store promotional events, monitor stock levels and create book displays, work with publishing companies and order new stock, process online orders, complete admin tasks like accounting, order distribution, arranging deliveries and returns
Working environment
You could work at a store.
Career Path & Progression
Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities
With financial backing and a lot of experience, you could open your own bookshop.
You could work for a publishing house and sell books to retailers.
You could also work from home as a book dealer, or set up an online bookshop.
Job profile data provided by The National Careers Service.
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