How To Become A Warehouse Operative

What Is A Warehouse Operative?

Similar jobs: Warehouse worker, warehouse picker

There is bound to be a warehouse near you, so this is a fantastic early role that gets you a salary, training, social environment (warehouse are often quite social places) and experience!

You can treat this as a bit of cash in your pocket, but warehouse work is also a step towards a wide range of logistics careers. You can find out more about driving HGVs (heavy goods vehicles), or seek out extra paid training in anything from transport management to working with the supply chain.

What Does A Warehouse Operative Do?

You’ll be working in a warehouse, and you might be doing standard working hours, but you could also work shifts including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. You’ll need a certain level of physical ability, because you’ll be carrying things, and you might need to wear protective clothing.

Example activities in your working day:

• pick up delivered goods
• check for any damaged or missing items
• transport stock around the warehouse with special lifting equipment
• do stock takes and make sure all the stock is stored safely in the right place
• pack and wrap goods for dispatch, then help to load them up onto transportation vehicles
• carry out warehouse cleaning duties

Useful Skills To Put On Your CV:

• Teamwork skills – working well with others
• Self-belief skills – being able to learn from mistakes and improve
• Self-management skills – you can organise your time and workload!
• Communication skills – you can listen to instructions, and share any issues that come up with your manager
• Basic digital skills – you might need to carry out some tasks, like stock takes, using a handheld computer

How Do You Get These Skills?

Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.

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School, College And Training

You can go straight into this job after leaving school. Sometimes you don’t need any qualifications at all. Then again, employers might ask for GCSEs at grade 4 (C) in English and maths, or equivalent qualifications. You could also need basic digital skills. If you can use a mobile phone and send an email, you already have the level of IT skills needed for this job.

Some people build up their experience by doing temping or seasonal work as a warehouse operative. For example, it can get very busy around the Christmas period, so more workers are always required around this time!

Apprenticeships

You can get into this job through completing a supply chain warehouse operative apprenticeship. With an apprenticeship, you’ll get a salary and training, and you’ll also learn a lot about the whole supply chain sector. It’s a useful way to explore what’s involved in the whole story of getting products from A to B, and what aspects you might want to train further in as a full logistics career.

You will usually need around four GCSEs, including English and maths, or the equivalent, for an intermediate supply chain warehouse operative apprenticeship.

Over time you could become a team leader, shift supervisor or warehouse manager. In careers like this, people often start on the warehouse floor and get promoted.

You could also move in quality control, freight planning, or distribution.also train up for the Transport Manager CPC in Passenger Transport and start your own business.

Work Experience Tips

It’s not a must-have, but it can help if you’ve had any past experience of being trained to use a forklift! If you haven’t, it’s something you will probably get trained in once you start.

Getting Experience

Try getting some temping work in a warehouse, especially during busy seasonal periods like Christmas.

Examples of relevant work experience include:

• Work shadowing (even if it’s just for a day)
• Work placements in a company
• Work placements on a degree course

To find jobs for young people in this role, search on jobs boards for early career roles with these words in the title:

• Supply chain warehouse operative intermediate apprenticeship
• Warehouse operative traineeship
• Warehouse worker seasonal work
• Temporary warehouse worker jobs

These employers all carry our Youth Friendly Employer Mark. We work with them to make sure that they are providing great support and opportunities to young people.

Click on an employer to find out more about them and the youth-friendly opportunities they offer, from work experience and apprenticeships through to graduate schemes.