At Glam Observer we also consider people who want to reconvert and start afresh in the industry. Having years of experience in a different field makes you a professional. You know what it means to set goals, working in an office and within a team etc. During that time, you have also acquired skills that are often applicable to other sectors. In brief, you know how to work. This said every field has its specificities and fashion is a particular one. Meaning even with years of experience under your belt, you are back to square one when you decide to do a reconversion.
Influencer and street style photographer Tamu McPherson immediately comes to my mind when thinking about a career reconversion. After studying law and finance, she briefly worked as an attorney and in finance in New York before creating her blog All The Pretty Birds. It is not uncommon to see people coming from a law background moving the fashion field, but Tamu is interesting in the sense that her reconversion happened in Italy. A country she didn’t know the language and even less its fashion industry. I remember reading and watching interviews with her in which she explained her career path.
Tamu always knew she wanted to work in fashion nonetheless, it was clear from day one she will have to work really hard to make it possible. She started taking street style pictures with a simple click-and-shoot camera on the streets of Milan. Aware she needed to learn photography she documented herself about the best photographers, their photographic style and also observed other photographers during Fashion Week. She invested in a new camera and refined her style. She then started shooting for Glamour.it in 2006 and opened ATPB in 2008. And from 2011 to 2013 she even held the position of Editor-In-Chief of Grazia.it. Today she is a well-established influencer, hiring a pool of amazing writers for ATPB while collaborating and working with some of the most famous brands in the world.
All this is due to her determination and interest in constantly learning. Everyone’s path is different and changing career to work in fashion is a risky and yet beautiful journey to take. But before taking the leap here are some tips to prepare your change smoothly.
Assess in which field you would like to work
Under some aspects, changing career is harder (and riskier) than trying to get an internship or an entry-level job in an industry you didn’t go to school for. When a recruiter or a hiring manager will see your profile, they might think despite your experience, you won’t be a great fit because your CV is not matching with the position you are applying for. Before reaching that point, take the time to think about which side of fashion you like the most. Document yourself, read interviews with fashion professionals and find every piece of information you need about every job in fashion. With an internship, you can spend six months in a company to then realize it is not the right fit for you but when you make a career change from an industry to another calling it quits is much harder. That is why doing your homework before giving your notice is so important.
Here are some of the questions to ask yourself before taking the leap:
- what do you love about fashion?
- What type of skills is required to do this job in fashion?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of this fashion job?
- Who are the people in the fashion industry you can look up to for this job?
- What skills from your previous career can you bring to this fashion job?
You won’t have the occasion to test the ground like a student doing many internships, so on top of your researches, doing some ‘stalking’ on Linkedin will help you. Look for people whose profile is similar to yours and write them to ask how they did to change career path.
Learn what you need
Learning is an ongoing process. It doesn’t stop after your graduation. And if you plan to change your career, you will need to be open to learning new things.
Even if you are passionate about fashion, it won’t be enough to convince hiring managers.
Books and online searches are a valid choice. Here on GO we explain with many posts how this industry works and provide career advice specific to this industry. Our Membership is an excellent resource if you want to work in fashion, I suggest you take a look. For a deeper knowledge, you can also choose to take a fashion course. Going back to studying when working is hard, but there are many online courses or schools that offer short, evening and weekend courses.
Go to events
Going to events, you will hear inspiring and aspiring career stories. Sometimes the speaker might have a similar path to yours so when the moment to ask questions come, jump at the opportunity. But don’t only focus on the people on stage, around they are a lot of people like you. A lot of fashion events attract people desiring to change their career or in transition. Discussing with them, they might give you tips on a course to attend, people to ask advice to or simply be of great support to you. Making a professional reconversion is daunting, so having people going through the same situation will make you feel less lonely.
Have you ever been through a career reconversion? Tell us in the comments below
Photo source Song Of Style
