The first and essential step to get a job in fashion is building your CV. However, it is not enough to put down your experiences and studies to get a job. With the competitiveness of the fashion industry and the means to which everyone has access today: the internet, getting a job is increasingly a challenge. Especially at the beginning of your career, when you don’t have a lot of experience in the industry, filling out your CV to make it interesting for fashion companies is even more difficult. But there are some experiences that will make your resume immediately more interesting for fashion companies:
Fashion Internships
Pearl of your resume, internships are gold and the most important thing you need to start working on. Experience is essential if you want to work in fashion, and it is the thing that is most appreciated by fashion companies. The more internships you can do even during your studies, in the summer for example or part-time internships, the better.
Fashion Week Jobs
Many companies need help during fashion week. Typically these are short experiences from a couple of days to a week but they are worth a lot on your resume. Try searching for job offers during fashion week, or email companies, showrooms, agencies and offer to help them during fashion week. The men’s fashion week has just begun and the September one is upon us, so get organized in time.
Shooting Assistant
Many shootings are made on weekends, so if you are still studying or have a full-time job, they are the right occasion to start gaining some experience in the fashion industry. This kind of experience is even more valuable if you want to work as a stylist, photographer, makeup artist. Reach out to some stylists on Instagram and ask if they need help during the shootings, offer to help/assist them and you’ll have another experience to add to your resume.
Sales Assistant
Don’t underestimate a sales assistant job. Even if your goal is not being a sales assistant for your entire career, for retail “office” roles, you need to have an in-store experience at your back. Do you know that Louis Vuitton sends also senior managers in stores for a couple of months? The in-store experience is the most useful to understand customers because it is the most direct approach that a brand has, and knowing the customers and how they react to the products, the visual merchandising, etc.. is fundamental to developing winning strategies.
Journalist / Blogger
Start your own fashion blog, or write for some online or print magazine, even local or at your school. Writing is not only fundamental if you want to start a career as an editor or fashion journalist, but it is important for other jobs as
Social Media Manager
Help a fashion store or brand in your city to develop its social media strategy. This will be useful to show and proof your social media skills on a professional level.
Showroom
Showrooms often look for people for 1-2 weeks during the sales campaign. Even if your role is only to get people inside, show them the collection, bring coffee or change the flowers in the showroom, it is a great experience to add to your resume. Furthermore, once you are in the showroom you will be in contact with various figures in the fashion industry: journalists and buyers especially and you could give your CV to some of them 😉
Experiences abroad
Companies love people who have had
University jobs
Have you done a dissertation related to the fashion industry, or have you worked on an important fashion during college? When I attended my Master course, I worked on projects for Versace and Estee Lauder and I included them both in the description of the master when I was looking for my first internship. If your university has allowed you to do an internship even for a couple of days in a fashion company, add this experience separately to your studies and put it on the list as if it were a job itself. During the job interview, if they ask you questions, you can say that it was linked to your school.
