Sainsbury’s CV example

You do not need a CV for most Sainsbury’s store jobs: Sainsbury’s does not ask for one for colleague store-based roles.

You do need one for retail management and Store Support Centre roles, and Sainsbury’s assesses it against the job’s essential criteria. This example is a supermarket duty manager’s CV for a Sainsbury’s Customer and Trading Manager post, in Word and PDF, with each essential criterion matched to a line.

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Sainsbury’s CV example: fictional example, page 1. Full text is available below.

Read the example as text

Ffion Treharne

Duty Manager

Swansea · 07700 900897 · [email protected]

Profile

Supermarket duty manager with four years leading shifts of up to 25 colleagues, often as the only manager in the store, after three years supervising the checkouts and customer service desk. Coaches the team on service, keeps availability on target, and handles absence, performance and disciplinary cases with HR. Personal licence holder. Looking for a customer and trading manager post.

Experience

Duty Manager | Penhallow Foodstores, Swansea | May 2022–present

Run the store as the only manager on four shifts a week, from opening checks to cash office and close, for about 18,000 customers a week.

Lead up to 25 colleagues a shift, and coach every new starter on service and till routines in their first month.

Raised the store’s customer satisfaction score from 74% to 83% in a year by coaching the checkout team from customer comments.

Keep on-shelf availability above 97% by planning replenishment around deliveries and checking gaps every two hours.

Manage absence and performance for 30 colleagues: return-to-work meetings, improvement plans and two disciplinary hearings with HR.

Plan the weekly schedule, and check hours and pay before payroll each week.

Lead the store’s safety walks and fire drills; no reportable accidents in the last two years.

Checkout and Customer Service Supervisor | Penhallow Foodstores, Swansea | 2019–2022

Supervised 12 checkout colleagues and the customer service desk, including refunds, complaints and age-restricted sales.

Qualifications

Personal licence to sell alcohol (2022)

Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety (2023)

GCSEs including English Language 5 and Mathematics 5

Skills

Store opening, closing and cash office

Scheduling, hours and pay checks

Availability, waste and markdown routines

Absence, performance and disciplinary cases

Coaching for customer service

Fictional example for a supermarket duty manager applying to Sainsbury’s. Every person and employer in it is invented. Replace every detail with your own.

When Sainsbury’s asks for a CV

How you apply	What it means	What to do with your CV
A store colleague role (most store jobs)	Sainsbury’s does not ask for a CV for colleague store-based roles. You apply online, may be asked to do an online assessment, and book your interview online if you are selected.	No CV to upload. Use it to fill in your jobs and dates, and to prepare examples for a competency-based interview.
A retail management or Store Support Centre role	You need a CV, uploaded with your online application. Sainsbury’s assesses it against the job’s essential criteria, so it asks you to tailor the CV to show how you meet each one.	Download the Word file on this page, change every detail to your own and upload it. If the upload fails, save the CV as a .docx file, which Sainsbury’s says works with its system.
Sending a CV to a store or by email	Sainsbury’s cannot accept CVs sent directly: you apply for a particular role. All genuine Sainsbury’s vacancies are on sainsburys.jobs, and Sainsbury’s never asks for payment at any stage.	Do not send a CV to a store or an email address. Set up a job alert on sainsburys.jobs, and treat any request for documents or money over social media as fraud.

From Sainsbury’s application help, checked 17 October 2026. The advert says which documents the role asks for.

The essential criteria, and where this CV meets them

The job asks you to	Where this CV shows it
A track record of brilliant customer service and coaching colleagues to do the same	Customer satisfaction up from 74% to 83%, coaching the checkout team from customer comments
Experience of leading a team in a fast-paced, customer-facing environment	Up to 25 colleagues a shift; every new starter coached in their first month
Taking responsibility for store operations without more senior managers in	The only manager in the store on four shifts a week, from opening checks to close
Meeting or beating KPIs such as sales, availability or customer satisfaction	Availability above 97%; customer satisfaction at 83%
Managing employee relations issues, including performance and absence	Return-to-work meetings, improvement plans and two disciplinary hearings with HR

The left column is the essential criteria from a Sainsbury’s Customer and Trading Manager advert for a small supermarket, read 17 October 2026, put briefly. Read the criteria in your own advert and give each one a line in your most recent job.

Facts checked against Sainsbury’s: How to apply on 17 October 2026, Sainsbury’s: Customer and Trading Manager, Small Supermarket (advert) on 17 October 2026 and Sainsbury’s: 5 per cent pay increase for colleagues in 2026 on 17 October 2026.

Pay at Sainsbury’s

Hourly-paid colleagues earn £13.23 an hour nationally and £14.54 in London from March 2026 (Sainsbury’s, announced 29 January 2026, checked 17 October 2026). Manager pay depends on your experience and the store’s size, complexity and location; the Customer and Trading Manager advert above offers from £31,700 a year, pro rata for its 30 hours.

Inside this example

Profile: 60 words here
Experience: 161 words here
Qualifications: 22 words here
Skills: 25 words here

How to write yours

Answer the essential criteria

Sainsbury’s assesses a management CV against the job’s essential criteria. Give each criterion a line in your most recent job, in the advert’s order, with a figure where you have one.

Show the shifts you ran alone

Store management adverts ask for someone who can lead the store without a more senior manager in. Say how often you were the only manager on and what that covered.

Name the measures you moved

Sales, availability, waste, customer satisfaction and colleague engagement are the figures a store runs on. Name the ones you moved, with where they started and where they are now.

Upload a Word file

Sainsbury’s says a .docx file works with its system if your CV will not upload. Our Word download is a .docx, so edit it and upload it as it is.

Questions about a Sainsbury’s CV

Do I need a CV for a Sainsbury’s job?

Not for most store jobs: Sainsbury’s does not ask for a CV for colleague store-based roles. You do need one for retail management and Store Support Centre roles (Sainsbury’s, checked 17 October 2026).

Can I hand my CV in at the store?

No. Sainsbury’s cannot accept CVs sent directly; you apply for a particular role online and upload your CV where the application asks for it. Every genuine vacancy is on sainsburys.jobs, and Sainsbury’s never asks for payment (Sainsbury’s).

My CV will not upload. What do I do?

Save it as a .docx file, which Sainsbury’s says is compatible with its system. Our Word download is already a .docx.

How old do I have to be to work at Sainsbury’s?

School-leaving age, which differs across the UK. Delivery drivers, convenience store roles and shifts before 6am or after 11pm need you to be 18 or over (Sainsbury’s).

What happens after I apply?

You may be asked to do an online assessment, such as verbal or numerical reasoning tests, a personality questionnaire or a situational judgement test. Store, depot and fulfilment candidates book their interview online, and the interview is competency-based. You will be asked, when you apply and at the interview, to confirm that you can prove your right to work in the UK, and to send that proof before you start if you are offered the job, so have it ready. For most retail roles you hear within two to four weeks (Sainsbury’s).

How can I tell a message really is from Sainsbury’s?

Sainsbury’s says its emails come only from these domains: @sainsburys.co.uk, @myHR.sainsburys.co.uk, @sainsburys.com.hk and @nectar360.co.uk. A genuine message about a job points you back to sainsburys.jobs, and Sainsbury’s does not ask for personal details or documents through social media or messaging apps. If you are unsure, find the role on sainsburys.jobs; report a fake one to Action Fraud (Sainsbury’s).

Keep the CV to one or two pages. Sainsbury’s reads it against the essential criteria, so a CV that answers each one in your most recent job beats a longer list of duties.

CVs for other supermarket jobs

Most store colleague roles do not ask for a CV, but a complete example helps you fill in the application and prepare for the interview.

Applying to other supermarkets too? Lidl · Asda · Tesco · Aldi · Morrisons

Guides for this CV

How to write a CV Interview questions and answers Skills to put on your CV How to write a cover letter