The past 3 months have been challenging. We have never seen anything similar before. All the stores, factories and offices closed and the fashion workforce has had to adapt to a new working routine from home.
Despite we are still not back to normal, we are in a new phase of this global lockdown and companies, factories and stores have started reopening slowly.
The question regarding the job applications during [and post] COVID has been the most asked during these past months. I have received hundreds of emails from students, interns, freelancers about working in fashion now and in the near future: the question was always: Are companies still hiring? Should I apply for fashion jobs/internships or wait?
Some fashion companies stopped the recruitment process, others have removed job offers, still others have reduced their number of internship and job opportunities. Over the past months, I have published several articles to help you understand how to navigate your career in these uncertain times.
Now that things are starting opening again there is no more need to wonder whether you should apply for jobs or wait.
Even though to return to the pre-COVID numbers of multiple jobs posted daily we will likely have to still wait a couple of months, companies are back at posting new jobs and internships more frequently now, so there is for sure no more time to wait to apply for jobs and internships.
So how do your CV and Portfolio should look like post-pandemic? The question here is more about how to show to recruiters and managers that you have been proactive during these past 3 months despite you couldn’t intern or work in fashion?
If the rules for the perfect CV and Portfolio remain the same: tailoring them every time to the company and the role, make it clear, short and with a clean design (for more details on how to structure your cv and for the cv templates check out Break into the fashion industry) what it’s important is to show to companies, managers and recruiters that you didn’t spend your quarantine just Netflix binging, but to grow your skillset.
They will appreciate your proactivity and productivity and you can prove them further how serious and passionate you are about the fashion industry.
That’s why it’s time to update your CV.
Add those online courses you took: Photoshop, fashion courses, excel, CAD, digital marketing, a new language…
Having multiple skills in fashion and speaking at least 2 languages is fundamental, so add your new skills and languages to your CV as well as a new paragraph with all the courses you took.
You still have time to start some courses today if you were not enough motivated in the past weeks. Usually, online courses are quite quick so you could finish one in a weekend if you are committed.
Many students of Break into the fashion industry and The Freelance Fashion Writer Boss have not only learned strategies to make it in fashion during quarantine but now that they have started implementing the strategies and applying for jobs and internships, recruiters are appreciating their ambition as having these courses on your CV prove how interested you are in entering the fashion industry.
If you have listened to my advice over the past months where I suggested to build up some experience by looking for some remote fashion jobs or writing fashion articles, it’s finally time to add these experiences on your CV as well. Recruiters will appreciate this a lot as getting even a remote or freelance job during covid was not easy.
Are you a student of The Freelance Fashion Writer Boss and together with pitching fashion magazines you have also built your fashion website as shown in the course? Well, add the link to your new fashion website on your CV as well as new skills you learned related to your fashion website such as content management, WordPress and Squarespace, google analytics, fashion writing…
Regarding your portfolio, recruiters will appreciate the fact that you worked on it during the pandemic, that your work is up-to-date and ever-evolving. So refresh it with new content that shows them you worked on it:
- Did you sew a new garment?
- Did you sketch something new?
- Did you photograph something at home?
- Did you work on new illustrations?
- Did you create new mockups?
- Have you learned CAD and patternmaking?
Fashion is a competitive industry, you already know this. Considering that many people have lost their jobs, that due to the closure now everyone is applying at the same time, that companies are posting fewer jobs it’s even more competitive than pre-covid. So putting in place strategies to stand out in your job search is absolutely fundamental.
Work on your CV and Portfolio and watch my free webinar on 4 proven strategies to get a job in fashion to learn how you can stand out in this competitive industry.
You can do it💪🏻💪🏻
