Home and Building Supply Sales

The retail home and garden business is booming these days. Stores like Home Depot are busy, and busy stores need staff to run them. That's where people who have an interest in building supplies come in to action.

These are retail jobs, but they are typically much better paying than a run of the mill retail job because you need specialized knowledge to work in this field. Many of the building supply stores only hire skilled tradespeople to work on the retail level selling to customers. That's because you need to know something about the products you are selling as many of the do it yourself customers rely on you for information.

These stores make good places for retired trades people, like plumbers, electricians, carpenters to work. They also hire people who have taken a course in home renovation / building supply business and there are trade schools and some universities that offer this type of specialized training.

You have to like dealing with people if you want to be in this line of work. It's not that much different than any other retail store job other than the pay is better. Otherwise, it can be long hours on your feet, heavy lifting, lots of walking, and reaching, even climbing ladders. The other problem is that a lot of these stores hire a lot of part time employees, which of course means you need two jobs to survive unless you have another source of income like a pension.

You'll also be dealing with people, men and women, some of whom are attempting jobs they shouldn't be, or have the dumbest of questions. You have to be able to work past that, and explain how it should be done, convincing them, explaining not only construction type advice but also safety advice.

On the other hand, the building supplies retail industry is huge these days, and there are jobs to be had. It can be very satisfying work, and perhaps not as difficult as working in the actual trade. Say you are a carpenter by trade but have discovered that you don't like heights, which of course limits your job opportunities. You could parlay your skills and knowledge into a retail job in the building supply industry, you won't be working on a roof, but you will still be working with wood and the related tools and equipment. It's a trade off, but it might not be a bad one.....