Quiz Caryn on getting into fashion

Your merchandising background is very desirable. When recruiting for buyers employers tend to look for an understanding of fabrics and garment construction as well as a personality that can work well with a team and negotiate with suppliers. A rounded, outgoing and strong personality is also looked for. Experience: Perhaps you need more – you say you are turning your attention to fashion. Have you worked in the industry at work experience level? Have you shadowed a buyer? I don’t have enough info here from you but perhaps you don’t have enough hours in the saddle for others to give you a job and you need to put in some actual time to be a convincing candidate.It’s a sad fact but there are people who have been made redundant through no fault of their own and have much more experience than you. Work experience may be very necessary here.rn rnIf you are going for junior positions however where no experience is necessary then it will be your sparky, ‘can do,’ attitude that will earn you a foot in the door. Start working it now! For instance, have you spoken to a buyer to get a handle on what you are missing? Perhaps there are insights they can put your way. There is no easy way to get straight through to anyone when you phone up a company, but either pick a small one and ask honestly for what you want – everyone was student once! Or pick a large one and find out the name of the chief buyer by using your cunning determination. If it were me, I would pretend to have a letter to send and ring up the receptionist and ask for the name of the head buyer. Once you have the name sign off, then ring back later and ask the receptionist for the email of that person. Once you get it write a funny, personable letter with your request – again they were students once. Learn everything you can about the job and then the company you are applying for to show them you have done your homework. If you are as determined as you say you are then it will only be a matter of time before you do get an offer. Keep going and don’t give up.

Photography is a very different skill from styling and it is rare to find a stylist photographer. If it is photography you want to pursue then a technical skill based course with real emphasis on composition of image, lighting techniques and working with technology to create the image, means that you really need to make sure you pick a college that can deliver.

A styling and promotions course, which is more media based and covers other areas of fashion promotions, is a very different discipline. There are a plethora of both types of course and for me to suggest a specific based on very little information from you would do you a disservice. Plus I’m not a walking directory of who is offering what out there.

This is why Graduate Fashion Week is a crucial research opportunity for you to discuss the courses that the colleges offer and I can only insist you attend for the day and take a prospectus from each college of interest away with you to gain a better understanding of what each offers.

As you are young it may be that you need to get out and experience some of the job areas you are talking about entering. Have you ever been on any kind of photographic shoot? Do you know how styling works and what is involved?

Also these subjects can be learned at different levels from Diploma and BTEC through to Degree level.

A degree course requires a foundation course first which is a year spent experimenting with a variety of different disciplines and building a portfolio and during this year, you would experiment with all the things you are interested in.

My best advice is to really be open to what you will learn on Graduate Fashion Day and act on that to get the next stepping-stones in place.

Best wishes

You are talking my language. When I was studying all those years ago, the thought of working in fashion media got me going, but back in the olden days there was no such thing as a fashion media course.

In 1979 I started my degree at Kingston University as a graphic designer who spent all her time in the fashion dept documenting the designer creations. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by great people many of whom are now well known international fashion names today. I then went on and did a postgraduate course at Central St Martins still as a graphic designer but I produced a fashion magazine with another student and then got my first job at i-D magazine. It was whilst at i-D that I moved into journalism and later broadcast. OK history lesson over.

You on the other hand have the pick of colleges and universities right now, who offer exceptionally good fashion media courses. Promotion and marketing, journalism, broadcast and styling as well as fashion business courses are all available.

Having spoken to Heather Lambert, Head of Communications at London College of Fashion where I am external assessor, I can tell you that for their fashion PR and fashion journalism and broadcast courses they do not require an art a-level because these courses are not visually based. However, Heather points out that some communications, media or business courses are more visually based and require a portfolio.

There are over 100 art courses in the UK, but not all offer the media related fashion courses so this would be a matter of you tracking down which colleges appeal, based on their whole offer from campus and location to student life and of course the actual areas of study and of course finding out whether they are visually based or not.

Graduate Fashion Week is an excellent and in fact crucial chance for you to look through the media and promotions student portfolios and through talking to both students and tutors gain an understanding of what each discipline involves. A business and marketing course would be completely different from a journalism and broadcast course or a styling course. It’s well worth you beginning to get to grips with that now.

This is an exciting area to work in and one that is offering more and more opportunities.

Have fun!

Exciting news! A redundancy needn’t be a negative experience and you quite rightly are using it to reassess your direction.

You say you wonder what qualifications you would need to get you on the ‘right track,’ but do you intend to study in order to get another job? Do you have the savings to support yourself and pay for tuition while you do this? If the answer is yes then clearly the world is your lobster and you can choose which area pleases you to study in.

If your answer is no however, which realistically I am expecting it to be, then you need to be nimble on your feet.

Make a list of those skills you believe you fine-tuned in your recent job in print management. It’s possible that because you were involved in production, and working with a variety of clients, you now have great people handling and communications skills as well as good organisational skills. You can take direction and show initiative and have a good eye for colour, print, trend and embellishment. You may also have some technical skills.

All of this can translate into a skill set that will work well in a variety of areas where clothing production, promotion or retail is concerned.

Of course some companies will say they are looking for certain qualifications and others may not, but rest assured experience counts for a great deal and once employees understand yours, they may be more flexible about qualification requirements.

Make sure you have testimonials from previous employers and co-workers that validate and back up your applications as well as a glittering CV, which is freshly prepared and updated - please check the earlier posts where I discuss this.

And research what’s on offer. Most retailers have their own recruitment area on their website so find out what they want and what sort of pay you can expect. You may need to adjust your income expectations and go in at a lower position or pay bracket to get a foot in the door. There are also other places to look for jobs in fashion and having just chatted to my friends at RD Franks they recommend the websites of the following magazines:

Drapers www.drapersonline.com

The Appointment www.theappointment.co.uk

Retail Week www.retail-week.com

Be prepared to send out multiple CV’s in this environment. For everyone who graduates as well as people like yourself who, for a variety of reasons besides redundancy, are looking for another job, this is a tough climate. But there are jobs. Employers can afford to be picky and hold out for the best candidate, make sure your passion, knowledge and skill set are really tip top.

You should speak to tutors on the stands if you feel you do need some moral support. These people are well used to helping their own students and may have something helpful to contribute to get you on your way.

I was chatting recently to Giles Deacon who told me that when he has a work experience student (and he has many of course) he expects them to do all the boring stuff and the periphery stuff. After all he does all the packing and unpacking of boxes from the factory so he expects others to get on with it too. Those who think they have earned a shortcut through to immediate job satisfaction are quickly shown the door.

My point is: You have studied textile and jewellery design and now like all other graduate students you are trying to make the next set of moves to get closer to your dream job which in your case happens to be designing clothes.

You have already got yourself a job working with clothes in retail. USE IT. Like Giles and the unpacking of boxes, you are rolling your sleeves up, getting stuck in your chosen field and learning about all aspects of clothing design.

Do not, for one minute, underestimate your experiences in this field and how they can inform what you will do in the coming years. Will you have the chance to talk to customers about what they like and dislike. Or about what they are looking for? Can you see a gap in the way things are done or can you suggest something that could be done more effectively to help your superiors and get yourself noticed. Will you have the chance to contribute to other River Island activities with all the enthusiasm you have described in your letter?

River Island, by the way, offers design work experience so apply now and be prepared to sacrifice any holiday in order to fit the work ex in with your existing job. Learn what you can in that time and be extremely diligent and helpful. Make yourself known and return to do more work experience as soon as you have another holiday. In short, show everyone how determined you are by being consistently determined. A determined and talented worker is eventually spotted I can assure you.

The thing is, you will progress in this path and you will get to where you want to be but it takes patience, focus and drive. It will not come immediately - it just doesn’t work that way despite the ‘spectacular rise to fashion stardom’ stories the fashion media will sometimes print. I speak to you as someone who has had nearly 30 years in the business to reassure you that you have time on your side and for the next few years you can incrementally edge yourself closer and closer to your ideal job.

Going to GFW is an excellent idea to speak to the colleges about the affordability of their evening classes and to lay yourself bare. Show your portfolio around (I presume you have been working on it to display your dressmaking and clothing design abilities) and take feedback and advice as to whether you have talents that will allow for you to re-route your design skills.

There will be many graduates this season who cannot get stuck in to the job they really want, but those that survive and will be in the industry in 10 years time will be the ones that use their determination now! Whether it be all manner of work experience by day and bar work by night or a day job and evening classes doesn’t matter. If you want it like you say you do you will make it happen.

OK let’s start with the basics. There are plenty of people that will get jobs this summer, one of them is going to be you, positive thinking at all times is crucial. Repeat after me “I will get a job.”

Right lets get started. As someone who reads quite a few CV’s and requests for work I predict yours is going to be a typical graduate CV. I’m not saying that to be mean, far from it, but let’s examine the facts, after all you don’t have lots of previous experience you can dazzle me with and you haven’t reached a high status post that makes you particularly desirable. But work with what you’ve got!

When I open your letter I am open to you, so let me have something memorable.

First be brief with your CV. Flag up awards and what you did during work experience and what that lead to. Give me some insight into your training and the technical, creative skills and life skills you have learned. Don’t forget a few sentences to describe your approach to life. There you have it, your CV is done.

Now put all your creativity into your covering letter because this will be very different. Why? Because this is the space you must use to differentiate yourself from all the others.

Quite conveniently somebody has asked for advice on covering letters so I’ll talk more about them in my next post.

Normally I’m a "tools not rules," kind of person but in this instance I think some hard and fast covering letter rules will be just the ticket.

Rule 1:
Never ever write a ‘Dear Sir’ letter. You will be replying to ads or introducing yourself to a variety of companies in the hope that you can make a connection, weasel out an opportunity, stand in on someone’s maternity leave, brush up your company friendly skills with a refresher bit of work ex...whatever.

The personal address you take is everything. ‘Dear Sir’ tells me immediately that you know nothing about my company or about me and worse it effectively communicates that you can’t be bothered to find out. I bin you. Come on, even if you are lucky enough to create a ‘Dear Sir’ letter that actually goes to a man it will still be binned. Whoever I am, I want to see my name on any letter asking for a job or an interview at my company.

Rule 2:

Get to point really quickly...just what are you offering me? Are you a standard, timid, nervous of the market and “desperate to get a job” college leaver or are you a quirky, bright and adorable, “what’s not to love perfect addition” to my team?

This needs to be communicated but how? Well your use of words is everything. Present yourself as the perfect candidate for interview, with your knowledge of the company and an opinion about its superiority amongst competitors. We like informed opinion but not empty compliment.

Sell me your skills. What are they? No lying here, tell me about what you can do really well and why this will be of value to me and how it will help my company. Why do you think you should be working for me? Make me feel that you have singled me out and that I am not one of 50 others you are contacting and you don’t care who gets back to you as long as it’s someone with a job offer.

And finally create a tone for your letter. Are you confident, funny, helpful? Is what you are saying memorable in any way? Will your personality shine through?

Rule 3:

Keep it short. A good candidate will impress quickly. This isn’t the space to win me over, that is done at interview stage.

Rule 4:

Put your contact details on both the letter and the CV as one may get separated from the other. Offices are very busy - creative people are over worked and your CV may even get mislaid. Ask for a reply within a time frame and if you don’t hear anything send the package again until you do get a reply.

Rule 5:

Finally, keep calm and carry on. Meet friends for coffee, find out what they know, keep busy. Do not take any refusal personally and repeat to yourself regularly “I will get a job.”

First and foremost – the right attitude. Let me be crystal...attitude is everything. Your personality and your passion must shine through. Are you a ‘can do’ person? Will you stop at nothing to make it happen, whatever menial task you are given? Are you fun to be around? Are you a team player? Have you got bags of energy? In short are you the one who will be noticed. And let’s make sure you get this...a good work experience graduate does get noticed.

Creativity is a big thing too. It’s not just about being arty. Remember to be a creative thinker and think outside the box as well as inside. Your creativity is a valuable transferable skill. Polish it daily while you repeat your regular mantra ”I will get a job. I will get a job. I will get a job.”