So, you want to work in fashion? Let me guess, you fantasize about magazine covers, wish to sit front row at Paris Fashion Week, and want to get free luxury product samples – it’s a pretty enticing picture. While this glamorous picture is likely to fade for those who are not at the top, if you are passionate about product and have vision, it can still be the industry for you.
But how do you get there? In today’s world, landing your dream job, whether or not it’s in fashion, is about what experiences you’ve had and who you have in your corner. So, let’s prepare to land that offer.
Step 1: Identify your fashion niche
There are tons of jobs in the industry, including design, merchandising, marketing, public relations, styling, editorials, and the list goes on. Also, don’t forget that at the end of the day, a fashion brand is a business, so all regular business function roles are still present, like HR, finance, accounting, or logistics. Narrow down your target role so you can best prepare for the recruiting process.
*Tip: Figure out what you are passionate about. This is not an extensive list! But generally, if you want to be in a creative role, lean towards the first set of roles or align with your major.
Step 2: Find people to open doors for you
Like I mentioned earlier, landing the role is about who you have in your corner, or “who you know.” As a college student, you might have companies targeting your university for recruiting, coming to your career fairs, or even speaking in your classes, which facilitates building these connections. But if this isn’t the case for you, don’t panic. Here is what you can do:
First, find alumni from your school. Go to the LinkedIn page of a company you want to work for, then click on the “People” tab, and type the name of your college/university in the search bar.
The profiles that populate after you select the filters should be people who went to your school. These are great people to reach out to and build relationships with because you both share a common interest. Ideally, the people that you talk to are in the same or a similar role that you want to be in. These people can connect you with the recruiters or hiring managers for the roles you want, and even give you a referral!
If there aren’t any alumni from your school, let’s dig further. In the people tab, filter results by “What they do” and select the job function you are interested in, e.g., “Marketing.” Then look through the results and try to find anything you have in common with the people that show up. This could be membership in the same national organization, same hometown, similar hobbies, practically anything you can find. Once you find someone, send them a connection request introducing yourself. At the end of my intro, I ask them for 15 minutes of their time to ask questions about their role. Ask for virtual coffee chats or 15-minute phone calls to make the initial connection.
networking events
You might be wondering, “Where do I even find events like these for fashion?” Girl, me too.
Last year, I discovered the National Retail Federation’s Student Program, which is a big retail conference for college students with tons of networking AND internship opportunities. The event is in NYC around the first week or so of January (right before school starts), and they host tons of industry leaders as well as companies recruiting for their summer internships.
If you don’t live in New York or anywhere close (like me), the NRF Foundation offers a variety of scholarships for you to attend!
Step 3: Gain relevant experience
work the unglamorous retail job
This sounds unintuitive, but I once spoke to the Dean of my college’s Marketing Department about wanting to work in luxury fashion, and he connected me with an MBA alum who worked for a university with close ties to luxury companies. The alum told me that some of her students worked in luxury retail throughout their undergraduate careers, communicated their goals to their managers, and had the opportunity to work in corporate down the line.
At the end of the day, the business of fashion is at the retail store (despite consumers also shopping online). So, even if it doesn’t become a pipeline to your dream job, a lot of fashion companies value having retail experience on your resume. For one, you understand the dynamics of the business, and two, you’ve had professional hands-on experience.
