The pandemic and especially the resulting quarantine have disrupted the entire economic system and the working world. Although here we focus on fashion, in reality, we can count on our fingers the sectors that remained immune and that have not been affected by this global event.
In this unprecedented situation in which companies have been forced to stop hiring, cancel or reduce jobs, uncertainty about the future of work and how to navigate this crisis has dominated the last few weeks.
This quarantine has led, among other things, to changes in old and long-consolidated processes that have worked the same way for years in the fashion industry. Just think of how the fashion shows have changed and how the creative directors and all the brand teams had to readjust to create an event and present the new collections in a different and new way.
Considering these changes, what are the skills the fashion industry is looking for when hiring now post-pandemic both for internships and full-time jobs?
Let’s see them together so that you can act on time and acquire them.
1.Tech skills
If you have to choose to acquire only one skill, choose those related to technology. Think about the Dior and Valentino Haute Couture 2020/2021 fashion shows. Technology plays a fundamental role now more than ever in this industry. And for technology, in this case, we are not talking about just social media (of which you should have a broad knowledge of as of today). But technologies to develop video content, User Experience, virtual reality, and in general everything that a brand needs to bring everything that was previously done offline, online. Do research on fashion tech and stay updated on technologies and companies such as Ordre (virtual showroom) fashion gaming (Drest for example), companies that do analysis like  Launchmetrics and new features such as live-streaming video shopping of Moda Operandi , Moda LIVE.
2. Ability and availability to work remotely
With the beginning of quarantine, all the companies had to close their offices and many found themselves working from their kitchen overnight. With the virus still present, many companies keep hiring remotely. It is therefore necessary to get organized in order to work from home and add on your resume and in the cover letter, the keywords related to your ability to work remotely. Apart from soft skills such as organization, professionalism, and discipline, it is useful to mention that you know online tools such as Slack or Asana for managing tasks and communication ones such as Zoom or Google Meet, but also to be able to do your work remotely: being a stylist and consulting via video, being a buyer and do the buying through virtual showrooms, being a pr and continuing to build your network and maintaining relationships with editors and brands online as well as organizing online events, being a photographer and shoot at home … it is useful to mention not only the ability but also the availability to work online / remotely in the emails when contacting the brands and/or also write it on your LinkedIn profile, especially these days.
3. Digital skills
Most companies managed to survive thanks to online business which fortunately has not stopped. If Net-a-Porter closed for a few weeks, most of the brands’ e-commerce continued to operate non-stop throughout the pandemic. Fashion companies will therefore focus most of their resources on developing the digital business. The trends are in this direction: Zara (certainly not the recently born fashion brand, but a giant) will close 1200 stores in the next two years and will invest $1 billion to develop the e-commerce platform in the next 3 years. Keep an eye on all the jobs related to digital such as social media, e-commerce, and online marketing, and work on their related skills such as google analytics, social media management, content creation, copywriting, email marketing, customer care, SEO, data analysis, UX, HTML, CSS, Salesforce …
4. Flexibility and adaptation
The pandemic has certainly contributed to developing these soft skills that will continue to be required by companies that have tested how fundamental have been over the last months. Flexibility and adaptation mean having an open mind, being able to work well under pressure, adapting to new and unexpected deadlines, giving priority to tasks, and, in some cases, taking on additional responsibility. So don’t forget to add these two new words to your resume.
5.Sustainability
The consumer is increasingly attentive to the environment. Even before the pandemic, sustainability was one of the fundamental themes that the fashion system was addressing. Quarantine has pushed a lot of us to reconsider the approach to consumption even more. Many realized that probably all of this happened because of a too-fast world and disrespectful humanity to mother earth. Therefore the tendency to want to use sustainable products has increased and fashion companies know this. So all the careers linked to sustainability will keep being on demand. If you are interested in this area, do not forget to add this keyword to your applications and start studying the topic today. There is this free online course and I also recommend reading Fashionopolis.
