In between jobs right now? Don’t have all the skills you’d like? Consider working retail. Stocking shelves and customer service may not be what you studied in university or what you want to end up doing in the long term, but retail can be a lucrative and beneficial path, especially for those who want to work in fashion. Most importantly, the transferable skills that come with retail experience will be a huge help in getting your foot into the door of your dream company.

1 – Teamwork

Retail environments can be hectic, but even the busiest ones can run smoothly thanks to a great team. Working retail means you’ll learn plenty about collaborating with other people to complete tasks. You’ll have to share responsibilities, help other people out when they need it, handle constructive criticism, and learn enough about your team to work well with their personalities. And, hey, if you’re a great employee, maybe you’ll eventually learn how to manage a team of people, too.

Teamwork is a major part of many jobs. For instance, if you want to be a fashion designer, you’ll be working with people to source fabrics and manufacture the garments to ensure your vision is carried out, or a digital marketer may work on a whole team of advertisers to create cohesive campaigns for the company.

2 – People Skills

There are plenty of skills you learn working with people in retail: patience, emotional intelligence, and listening are among them. “Awareness is key – if a customer walks in but you’re still steaming a dress, drop it immediately,” suggests Style Nine to Five Founder, Christie Lohr, “It’s the little things that make a difference in the customer’s experience,” Christie says.  I’ve been to many stores where the staff are finishing up a conversation first before they greet the customer, and that’s not the kind of people skills that will take you places.”

In future careers, you’re always going to be working with people, whether they be clients or co-workers. Having well-rounded people skills may get you a job, even, as you need them to network and ace interviews.

3 – Problem Solving

Things happen so fast on retail floors, which means that a great employee has to think just as fast. If a customer has an issue, you need to be able to offer some sort of resolution on the fly. Fast action will create customer loyalty, as people will always remember that they can depend on the employees at your store to solve their issues quickly.

It goes without saying that problems will come up in any job. Maybe you need to think of some last-minute fixes because your paid social media campaign isn’t bringing in the results that you anticipated. This is the type of work that requires the quick-thinking, problem-solving brain retail can help you develop.

4 – Working Under Pressure

In a retail environment, there is a constant stream of work to do and quickly. “You learn a sense of urgency,” says Christie. “You need to get things done right away.” This is because a seasoned retail employee knows it’s easy to become sidetracked from your assigned tasks. Maybe a massive influx of customers occurs, or one of them has a problem to solve. Regardless, you learn quickly to adapt and do your best work under pressure from higher-ups and customers alike. This skill is applicable to plenty of jobs. No matter your field, there are deadlines, or clients or co-workers hounding you for your share of the work.

Retail teaches you a lot about communication, thinking quickly, and keeping a cool head when things get crazy. If you want to move on to a new job in the future, you’ll have plenty of situations and experience to draw from when you helped your team out or remedied a problem under pressure.

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Emily Morrison is a media professional with passions for writing, film and popular culture.

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