Have you ever wanted to discover how the founder of Glam Observer started her career in fashion? How Giada first got into the fashion industry as an intern? Or how she landed her dream internship? Well, this is her journey…
I got to sit down on Zoom and interview the CEO of Glam Observer; Giada Graziano on how she first got into the sacred fashion industry. It was an honor to interview a role model of mine and of this special community and an absolute privilege to be a part of this special article and Podcast episode, talking about everything from the interview process at a luxury company to a surprise Excel test.
How did you first enter the fashion industry? Was it always a passion of yours?
“I don’t remember the exact moment when I decided I wanted to work in the fashion industry. But like anyone, I began to think about the working world during my last year of high school. Where I was faced with the choice of which college degree I wanted to pursue. So in that moment was when I stopped and started thinking what do I want to do in my life? But when you’re just 18 it’s hard to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life or even the next 10 years. So I tried to imagine myself in different industries and office spaces, and I just couldn’t see myself anywhere else but in fashion. I had some work experience working for my parents, they have both always been entrepreneurs but neither in fashion, and I just couldn’t see myself in their industries.
So I had this passion for fashion but not the cliché way of playing with clothes every single day or deciding I wanted to work in fashion when I was 8, that was not the case for me. “
Was it fashion you went on to study at University/College or did you take a different path?
“So, I don’t have a fashion degree! I studied Management Engineering for the reason that although now I am living in Milan, I was actually born and raised in the south of Italy, where there are no fashion schools or fashion companies. So I took a degree that was very general and that I knew could help me enter many different fields, to give myself different options available. So I decided to go into Management Engineering because even though I already imagined myself in the fashion industry, I knew that I didn’t want to become a fashion designer. I picked something more generic that was on the management side, as I knew that no matter what industry I would enter, that I always wanted to work in marketing or management and not so much the more creative fields of fashion such as design or styling.”
How did you get your first fashion internship after studying something not related to fashion?
“When I finished university and had to head into the working world, I knew I had to move to where fashion companies were based, and here in Italy I decided to move to Milan. So I left my family and friends and moved here to a new city totally alone, starting with a master’s in Luxury Fashion Management. However, because like the 90% of the people who want to get a job in fashion, I too was believing in the misconception that I needed a fashion degree to enter the industry, and I thought this master’s degree would open me more doors. Now I know that this is not the reality and fashion companies hire even those who have no fashion degree.
But at this time I had no idea and I couldn’t find any resources or information online that could help me on how to get into the fashion industry, I also had no connections so I couldn’t ask anyone how this industry worked. The fashion industry seemed very intimidating as a girl coming from a small city, so I decided while I was doing my master’s in fashion I would begin applying and interviewing for internships. But my dream job was to get into fashion e-commerce because the digital space was my passion. This was how I found my first internship at Alexander McQueen in E-commerce. “
Do you remember that first interview experience at Alexander McQueen?
“Yes! During the first step of the job interview, it was a very general one as my resume was short. It was my first internship so I didn’t have any other fashion experience, all that was on my resume was what I had studied at college, some online courses and Glam Observer; which was only a blog back then. I decided to start Glam Observer during my last year of University, when I was looking for information on how to land my job in fashion when I couldn’t find anything online! I thought like me, there could be many other people who need more information about this industry, so when I started my master’s degree and my finding my first internship I started sharing what I was learning all focusing on the career side of the industry.
Furthermore, the way I got my first internship without any experience or fashion degree, was because I was very curious and fascinated by all things related to careers. I was reading a lot of different websites with tips on how to get your first job, but without any experience or a fashion degree yet I was scared my resume was too short. So instead I tried a lot of unconventional strategies to try get noticed and it worked! I got my first phone call for the job at Alexander McQueen! During that job interview, it was very general, about me, my passion, why I wanted that job, it was very generic.”
Do you remember all the stages of the interview process? Was it a really long process to work for such a luxury brand?
“After the first job interview, I luckily got a call back for the second step, already at the time I was shocked and unaware that there were multiple steps to a job interview for the fashion industry. I had read about these, however, it was explained they were used for more senior roles or advanced roles and not specifically for the fashion industry, so I was surprised I had to do a second interview. On the phone, I was just told it would be a very generic meeting but with more people from my team.
But when I arrived there that morning they actually put me in front of a laptop with an Excel sheet asking me to calculate the sell-through. It was at that moment I started hyperventilating. I didn’t expect to have this Excel test, not only was it not mentioned on the call, but it wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the job description not even in the skills required or listed activities.
Luckily I knew how to use Excel from my degree as most of my classes were Excel, numbers, and analysis. I also completed an intense course throughout university and used it while working at my parent’s company. So when I was asked to do these Excel tasks, I was able to do that as I knew how to use Excel. However, I just didn’t expect that in fashion, you needed to use Excel. Now if I think back, of course, people in fashion use Excel, but then when I was young it was a shock.
When I entered the office once starting the role, I noticed that everyone was using Excel every single day. Not just the E-commerce team, but even creative departments like styling too not just to analyze numbers, but to organize events and make lists for everything to track their process.
Also within the second stage of the job interview, they asked me to do a part of the interview in English.
The position was based here in Milan, Italy so the job description and ad were all written in Italian. However because Alexander McQueen is an English brand based in London, I had to work with the UK team too, therefor they had to test my English level. Fortunately, I knew how to speak a little bit of English and was almost fluent as I knew I wanted to work with an international brand and I loved learning new languages. Fashion is an international industry and I wanted to be reachable to as many people as possible. It is so important, yes Excel and yes a language even for just an internship, companies want to test your skills.
Even today, I get a lot of emails asking if a sense of style is important to work in fashion, but unless you want to become a stylist where your job is to dress people, it is not necessary. In the other careers in fashion, this is not even a skill required. The reality is that there are other skills that are more important and practical, that you really need on your resume. From Excel to learning another language. It’s not necessary to be fluent straight away in French or Italian to work for an international brand. But you need to add it to your resume today, even if you speak 0, and start learning today to increase your chances of getting the job. You can learn a lot of things today very quickly online, any skills can be acquired and we have so many resources today.
Today I speak fluent English but I never took an expensive course, the last time I studied English was in high school so I just listened to podcasts and read English websites and books every single day. You have to start somewhere, fashion is your dream and the industry is competitive, if you really want the job go and get the skills required of you. “
From starting as an intern to now being a CEO, do you think these skills such as Excel or knowing another language are something you have had to use throughout all stages of your career?
“Yes definitely! Since when I was an intern at Alexander McQueen I used Excel every single day and of course now with Glam Observer, I keep using Excel all the time. But even when I worked in other industries for my parent’s companies I used Excel too, so it’s important to consider that it is still so used in any industry.
It doesn’t have to be so complicated otherwise it would have been replaced by the array of tools at our disposal by today. It is really a MUST to know even from when you’re an intern. Something I found myself was that my boss was impressed because she didn’t have to stay there and explain to me all the Excel functions because I already knew all the important ones.
It is so useful to know once you’re inside a company because if you want to advance your career and your boss sees your already one step ahead, they can give you more responsibilities. Excel is something not only to help you get a job but to advance your career. As CEO of Glam Observer now I still use Excel and we collaboratively use it now to plan content and more, when you think of an editorial calendar of a magazine or even Glam Observer, we do organize it in spreadsheets. It is not something used to just analyze numbers.”
What would be the advice you would give someone who was going for a job interview or about to enter the fashion industry?
“So when you’re going to the job interview my suggestion is to study the brand and show this in your cover letter and job interview. When preparing for my job interview with Alexander McQueen, I read and memorized the job description and one of the activities of the role was to take care of the newsletter of the brand. So, I went online and subscribed to the newsletter before my interview. When I started receiving the emails I was clicking on all the links I found out that one was not working, I brought this up during the job interview and they were so impressed.
The success of a job interview is a mix of different things. I think why my interview with Alexander McQueen was successful, was yes I knew how to use Excel and how to speak English, but I also brought to the table this problem, showing them that I did this research and I was passionate about the brand. Also, I was asked; which were my favourite collections and what I thought about the latest show, I had to do a lot of research before going into the interview.
I believe the more you know the more confident you will feel during the interview process. It’s like when you have to take an Exam at University; the more you have studied, the more confident you will feel, therefore you’re not scared about any of the questions as you studied everything. It is the same for a job interview. If you study everything about the brand you will feel more confident and people will feel it too by the way you speak and the way you move. Recruiters are going to look at all these things during a job interview, not just your experience. Especially when you’re applying for an internship, they are looking for other things to see if you are the right candidate.
Another thing that also helped me was I took some online courses while at University about the fashion industry.
I was surprised that the recruiter was not focused on my master’s degree in a fashion that I had spent thousands on, but she was asking me about my online courses that I only paid a couple of hundred euros. I remember she said that nowadays we all have a degree, so this is no longer an exception but a rule. Instead, the online courses I took really showed my interest and passion for the industry, as they are a personal choice that shows you care. I didn’t expect the attention to be on my online courses over a master’s degree. From talking to professionals now, I can see the fashion industry is changing in this direction and companies want to know you’re able to learn. So bring your knowledge to the table and show your passion for the job.
It’s important to stand out, especially in fashion when around 500 people apply for the same job, I like to always suggest unconventional ways to get a job, especially nowadays when we have all these tools like LinkedIn and Instagram, there are so many things you can use at your advantage.”
Lesson of the day: It’s time to learn Excel to land your dream fashion job. I teach Excel applied to the fashion industry in my online course Excel for Fashion. You can also start from my free webinar.
This article is also available as a podcast on Spotify and Apple where you can listen now.
