CAREER GUIDE FOR CASHIERS

SOC Code: 41-2011

Pay Band(s): 2           (Salary Structure)

Standard Occupational Description: Receive and disburse money in establishments other than financial institutions. Usually involves use of electronic scanners, cash registers, or related equipment. Often involved in processing credit or debit card transactions and validating checks.

Cashier positions in the Commonwealth are assigned to the following Roles in the Administrative and Office Support Career Group:

Administrative and Office Specialist II

While Cashiers within the Commonwealth are all located within Administrative and Office Support Career Group, individuals may want to pursue other opportunities within the Commonwealth depending upon individual training, education, knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests.   

Other Career Group(s) that may be of interest are:

Retail Operations

Stores and Warehousing

Food Services

General Administration

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITIES AND TASKS

(Technical and Functional Expertise)

Skills
Note: The technical and functional skills listed below are based on general occupational qualifications for Cashiers commonly recognized by most employers.  Typically, you will not be required to have all of the skills listed to be a successful performer.  Recruitment and selection standards for an individual state job must be based on the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities for that job as indicated in the job announcement and job description in the Employee Work Profile.

1. Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
2. Using mathematics to solve problems.
3. Talking to others to convey information effectively.
4. Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
5. Actively looking for ways to help people.
6. Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
7. Using the computer to enter data.

Knowledge
Note: The technical and functional knowledge statements listed below are based on general occupational qualifications for Cashiers commonly recognized by most employers.  Typically, you will not be required to have all of the knowledge listed to be a successful performer.  Recruitment and selection standards for an individual state job must be based on the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities for that job as indicated in the job announcement and job description in the Employee Work Profile.

The Knowledge of:

1. Principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
2. Arithmetic and counting money to make change.
3. Structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
4. Relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Abilities
Note: The technical and functional abilities listed below are based on general occupational qualifications for Cashiers commonly recognized by most employers.  Typically, you will not be required to have all of the abilities listed to be a successful performer.  Recruitment and selection standards for an individual state job must be based on the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities for that job as indicated in the job announcement and job description in the Employee Work Profile.

The Ability to:

1. Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
2. Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
3. Add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
4. Identify and understand the speech of another person.
5. Speak clearly so others can understand you.
6. See details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
7. Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
8. Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
9. Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
10. Choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.

Tasks
Note:  The following is a list of sample tasks typically performed by Cashiers.  Employees in this occupation will not necessarily perform all of the tasks listed. 

1. Receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debits.
2. Issue receipts, refunds, credits, or change due to customers.
3. Count money in cash drawers at the beginning of shifts to ensure that amounts are correct and that there is adequate change.
4. Greet customers entering establishments.
5. Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas.
6. Establish or identify prices of goods, services or admission, and tabulate bills using calculators, cash registers, or optical price scanners.
7. Issue trading stamps, and redeem food stamps and coupons.
8. Resolve customer complaints.
9. Answer customers' questions, and provide information on procedures or policies.
10. Cash checks for customers.

INTERESTED?

Like people, occupations have traits or characteristics.  These characteristics give important clues about the nature of the work and work environment, and give you an opportunity to match your own personal interests to a specific occupation.  When you choose a job in an occupation that matches your own interests you have taken an important step in planning a successful and rewarding career.

The occupation of Cashier has Conventional, Enterprising and Realistic characteristics as described below:

Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

LICENSURE, REGISTRATION, OR CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Generally this is not required for Cashier positions in state government.

However certification may enhance professional development and career progression.

For information on the Certified Administrative Professional designations, contact: http://www.iaap-hq.org

EDUCATIONAL, TRAINING, AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES 

The Department of Labor provides the following information:

Cashiers total bills, receive money, make change, fill out charge forms, and give receipts.

Sample of reported job titles: Cashier, Sales Associate, Checker, Admissions Gate Attendant, Central Aisle Cashier, Toll Collector, Center Aisle Cashier

Cashier jobs tend to be entry-level positions requiring little or no previous work experience. Although there are no specific educational requirements, employers filling full-time jobs often prefer applicants with high school diplomas. Nearly all cashiers are trained on the job.

The State Council of Higher Education lists many Virginia educational institutions offering programs in administrative and office support services on their web site: http://research.schev.edu/degreeinventory/inventory_

For information on careers as a toll collector visit the Virginia Department of Transportation's web site: www.vdot.virginia.gov.

COMMONWEALTH COMPETENCIES

Competencies are a set of identified behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities that directly and positively impact the success of employees and the organization. Competencies can be observed and measured.  When consistently demonstrated, competencies make employees particularly effective in their work.  Competencies help lay out a road map to career success.  You can use the Commonwealth Competencies to help improve your individual performance by adopting behaviors that make high performing employees successful in their jobs. In this way, you can use the Commonwealth Competencies for your further professional development.

The Commonwealth Competencies are:

1. Technical and Functional Expertise
2. Understanding the Business     
3. Achieving Results
4. Serving the Customer
5. Teamwork
6. Interpersonal and Communication Skills
7. Leadership and Personal Effectiveness

The above competencies may be applied to employees throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.  They can be rank-ordered by agencies and hiring managers to represent the needs of a specific job.  The rank ordering will change depending upon the occupation, an organization's priorities, the actual job requirements, and the supervisor's preferences. 

Career success is both about what you do (applying your technical knowledge, skills, and ability) and how you do it (the consistent behaviors you demonstrate and choose to use) while interacting and communicating with others.  Hopefully, by studying the Commonwealth competencies, identifying your developmental opportunities, and working to refine your own competence, you can take charge of your career!

For additional information about the Commonwealth Competencies go to: http://jobs.state.va.us/cc_planningctr.htm.  For the competencies, we first list the competencies and then define each.  Finally, we list competency indicators; to describe what successful performance looks like. 

COMMONWEALTH CAREER PATH

Career opportunities in the Commonwealth are not limited to moving “up” to the next highest role and pay band, changing positions, or to becoming a supervisor.  That's because most roles describe a broad group of occupationally related positions that perform a range of work that requires increased knowledge and skills.  For that reason, Commonwealth roles describe the career paths within the same or higher-level role for the same or different Career Group.  The broad salary range and the Commonwealth's pay practices provide flexibility in recognizing career development and advancement. (Salary Structure)

For example: Cashier

PAY BAND	PRACTITIONER ROLES
2	Administrative and Office Specialist II
3	Administrative and Office Specialist III

Sample Career Path

Administrative and Office Specialist II

The Administrative and Office Specialist II role provides career tracks for operational and administrative support specialists such as toll collectors and cashiers who perform a wide variety of journey-level office/program and administrative support duties based on business needs. Duties are performed within specific guidelines using established policies and procedures.

Administrative and Office Specialist III

The Administrative and Office Specialist III role provides a career track for operational and administrative support specialists. Duties range from journey-level to supervisory level and may include report writing, scheduling, data collection and analysis and research.

ADDITIONAL OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT: 

O*NET (Occupational Information Network) 

http://online.onetcenter.org/gen_search_page

Virginia Employment Commission 

http://www.alex.vec.state.va.us/

Career One Stop

 http://www.careeronestop.org/

Virginia Career Resource Network 

http://www.vacrn.net/