So, you want to be a big cheese in Tesco?

If you join the retail sector you'll be given a lot of responsibility very young.

If a career in retail sounds like a lifetime stacking shelves and shifting stock, think again. Some graduates may feel they did not spend three years of hard study and run up five-figure debts to say they work at Tesco. They could be missing out.

Retail is a big and booming business, with nearly three million UK employees and a turnover of £260bn a year. Graduates working in retail can expect a pay cheque to match, with starting salaries at about £20,000, rising to £40,000-£70,000 in five years, with canny workaholics on more than that in three years.

It's a big business with major impact. What we buy and how it is sold defines our society. The choices offered by the big retailers have a direct effect on animal welfare, climate change and the health of the nation, and on working conditions around the world.

With more than 6 per cent of all graduate vacancies in retail, there are plenty of opportunities to choose from. The best are on the structured graduate training programmes (many are recruiting now) offered by Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco, John Lewis and The Co-operative Group, among others, which prepare graduates to become the retail leaders of the future.

A 2:1 or 2:2 is required for all programmes, depending on who you want to work for and what you want to do. And your character is just as important as your degree. "You've got to have good people skills," says Anne Richardson, careers strategy manager at Skillsmart Retail, a not-for-profit organisation advising people on careers in retail.

Most retailers now recruit graduates through assessment centres, where group exercises test team and leadership skills, and mock business briefings are a chance to show off your analytical skills and passion for the business.

That means first getting to know the business. "You need to research the company fully, look at the various job roles and understand about the functioning of departments," Richardson says. No experience is necessary, but the best way to get inside the company you want is on a placement.

And a placement can help you decide what you want to do and where. The range of roles in retail is vast, from buyers sourcing stock, through trend-surfing in merchandising and puzzle-solving in logistics, to making it all happen in finance, human resources and IT, among other roles. Tesco alone has 15 different graduate programmes.

The classic graduate retail job is in-store management. While graduates in many professions spend their first years out of university making tea and hoping to catch the boss's eye, store managers find themselves responsible for a staff of 30 within a year or two. Within a few years, you can find yourself managing 400 people and a budget of tens of millions of pounds.

Jay Todd-Wickenden, 24, started at Tesco last year after leaving York St John University with a 2:2 in design technology and management. He's now store manager at Tesco Express in Paddington, responsible for nearly 30 staff. "You have to adapt quickly," Todd-Wickenden says. " You're going through a big change in people management and personal development."

It is a long way from his start in retail – helping out with his dad's butcher's stall at market. "It is a challenge," he says. " Every day there's something different. You have to know about each section of the store. But it's fun when it's all going right."

Even when it goes a little awry, and he finds himself having to help out with the shelf-stacking, he enjoys the work. "Dealing with customers, you get an instant buzz," he says.

While some graduates relish the buzz of the shop floor, others find the biggest thrill to be at the heart of decision-making at head office. The scale of the big retailers' operations means that even small changes in products, supply, logistics or marketing can have a huge impact. Graduates can quickly find themselves having a direct effect on the lives of hundreds of thousands of employees and millions of customers.

As a student stacking shelves and working the tills, Melissa Webb, 25, saw how the choices we make at the shops are influenced by decisions made at the head offices of the big retailers. After she graduated from York University with a first in history and English, Webb joined The Co-operative Group. She is now acting category development manager at The Co-op.

"It's not just a job," Webb says. "There's a social awareness behind it." As product manager for confectionery, Webb was responsible for sourcing The Co-op's gift-wrapped Belgian chocolates and Easter eggs through fair trade from a co-operative in Ghana. She also worked with the Fairtrade Foundation to develop a schools pack and has visited schools as a fair-trade advocate. "It's very rewarding," says Webb. "It's simply a fairer way of trading with people."

For information on careers in retail and a breakdown of graduate opportunities, visit Skillsmart Retail at www.skillsmartretail.com