If you’ve been reading my articles or listened to one of my podcasts, you probably know that I say many times that personalizing your applications is the key to get a job. Writing one single version of your resume and using it for all the jobs as well as writing one cover letter and just changing the name of the brand is not the right way to stand out in this competitive industry where fashion bosses are looking for people who are super passionate about that specific brand and position. They won’t hire people who are looking for just one job, they want to hire someone who wants specifically that job. Like in The Devil Wears Prada: “A million girls would kill for this job” . Yeah, they are looking for someone as passionate as that.
So how can you understand what a fashion company is looking for so you can tailor your applications and show not only that you understand the employer’s needs and job requirements but that you also match exactly that position?
The answer is always in the job description.
As a fashion career coach and mentor over the past years, I’ve found out that the main mistake in the job applications is that people get attracted by a job title and the name of the brand and they apply without reading carefully the job description ending up applying for the wrong jobs and so getting discouraged because they are not hearing back from companies.
The first step of a successful job application is to apply for jobs that are made for you. While you don’t have to meet all the requirements to apply for a job, there are some essential ones you need to take into consideration. One is the years of experience requested. For example, if you are a student and you want to apply for an Assistant Buyer job that requires 1 year of experience in a similar role, then you probably won’t hear back from the company if you apply. The word Assistant gets tricky easily in fashion, but if you read the job description thoughtfully, you can read they are actually looking for someone with one year of experience so that assistant job might not be a good fit for you if you’re a student and you’ve never worked before.
The job description tells you everything about the job: who they are looking for, the skills, the requirements and also what the job is going to be about.
If you want to understand what a fashion company wants and who they are looking for, the answer is right there.
I usually recommend reading carefully the job description a couple of times and highlighting the keywords.
Are they looking for a student or a recent graduate? They don’t say anything about the studies? Which tools and programs should you know? Excel, Photoshop?
Which languages should you speak? Do you have to be a multitasker? Do you need to be able to travel? Do you need previous experience in a similar role?
Do you need to take care of the marketing strategy? Managing samples? Assisting in a photoshoot? Write 3 articles per day?
Create an avatar of the person they are looking for, write it down on a piece of paper.
For example
- Student
- Speaks English and French
- Knows Photoshop and Excel
- Who is going to take care of:
- assisting on a photoshoot
- managing samples
- requesting samples
- managing the closet
- ….
by creating this avatar you can build a profile of the person that the company is looking for to hire.
Remember that even if it’s not the rule, usually the order in which the skills and requirements appear in the job description will give you a good idea of what’s most important to the hiring manager. So make sure the first skills mentioned in the job descriptions are the first skills in your resume as well and the ones you leverage in your cover letter.
Once you have this avatar, make sure that your resume and cover letter matches exactly that person/avatar. If they are looking for someone who knows photoshop, make sure photoshop is in your resume and cover letter.
Fashion companies are not looking just for someone who matches the skills, but also the company values, so together with reading the job description, take a look at the website and find the pages that talk about their values such as About Us, Our Company. If you’re applying for a company such as Stella McCartney you might want to mention sustainability in your resume and cover letter.
Together with having the right skills in your resume and cover letter, if you want to stand out and land your dream job in fashion, remember that companies are also looking for people who think out of the box, so be very creative with your applications. In this free masterclass I teach you 3 unconventional strategies you can try today to impress fashion recruiters and land your dream job in fashion. Click here to register for free.
