Tips for Applying:

1. Understand the Job Requirements: Every element of their CV must address the key criteria specified in the job listing. Here, the role requires a degree in marketing and experience in retail. Candidates must highlight these qualifications prominently.

2. Emphasize Relevant Experience: Tailoring the CV to highlight experiences related to customer service, stock handling, staff management and cleanliness regulation up front maximizes its impact.

3. Showcase Applicable Skills: Applicants must make sure to list every skill, from good organisation to excellent attention to detail that can help in managing the shop effectively.

4. Speak the Employer’s Language: The CV and cover letter should incorporate some of the specific language used in the job listing, which will help the applicants appear more aligned with the role.

5. Apply via the Specified Channel: Always follow the employer’s preferred method of application. In this case, it involves mailing your CV to the provided email address.

5 Areas to Highlight:

1. Qualifications and Experience: Candidates must possess a degree in marketing with two years retail experience.

2. Managerial Responsibilities: Candidates are expected to be competent in managing all operational issues of a shop, staff management, and a clean work environment.

3. Strong Customer Service: Successful applicants must have strong customer focus and provide exceptional customer service.

4. Cash Handling: Candidates should take note of the importance managing cash/ cheque handling, banking and handling deposit reconciliations effectively in order to avoid cash losses highlighted in the position.

5. How to Apply: It's important for prospective candidates to follow the specified way to submit their applications.

How to Stand Out:

1. Quantify Achievements: Rather than listing responsibilities in previous roles, candidates can separate themselves by displaying measurable results they achieved.

2. Show Ability to be Proactive: Candidates can demonstrate their initiative by conveying how they’ve gone above and beyond in previous roles to exceed targets.

3. Customer Service Excellence: As this role emphasizes customer service, incorporating specific instances of service excellence can set the candidates apart.

Things That Novices May Miss:

1. Customer Focus: In my experience, beginners often miss the emphasis on providing clients with 'first class service', this shows the company's strong focus on customer satisfaction.

2. Cash Handling and Reconciliation: Novices might not take note of the zero tolerance to cash loss clause, indicating the high level of accountability in this role.

3. Maintenance of Facilities: What I have noticed over time is novices might neglect the mention of 'maintenance of branch facilities', it implies an emphasis on cleanliness and standards.

Remember, the Zimbabwean job market is competitive but rich with opportunities. I advise utilizing services of reputed recruitment agencies in Zimbabwe to identify more relevant job vacancies in zim. My other suggestion to make the job search in Zimbabwe more effective is to regularly check for job offers in Zimbabwe, specifically for ngo jobs in Zimbabwe, if one is interested in the non-profit sector. Best of luck with your applications for jobs in zw and continue exploring diverse employment opportunities in Zimbabwe.