The fashion industry is huge and, although just a few careers are well known, there are lots of career opportunities. There are many departments in a fashion company, so lots of different jobs.
You’ve decided to work in fashion, but now what? Let’s see together all the steps you’ll go through from the decision to your first fashion job.
There are two starting points now that you’ve decided you want to work in fashion: you could decide to specialize in the industry through a course or a master or, go directly to the experience and look for an internship that can get you into fashion and help you understand how this world works from the inside. We have already explained the importance of internships here. Even if you decide to attend a fashion course, your following step will be the internship.
If you want to work in fashion, remind that internships are the answer. To find your first fashion internship, you need to have more or less an idea of the job you are interested in. You can do research to understand the departments of companies and where you see yourself according to your passions and skills: marketing, design, communication, buying, showrooms, finance, e-commerce, in a fashion magazine, stylist … If you are undecided about which role is right for you, do not worry, because the internship will help you figure it out. Search for jobs on LinkedIn, on the Careers pages of each brand’s website and on various online job sites such as Indeed, FashionJobs, Monster …
Read the Job Description carefully and choose those jobs which activities interest you most. If something about the job is not so clear, Â you can ask for more information during the interview. Remember that the interview does not only serve the company to understand if you are the right candidate but also to you to understand if that position and that company are suitable for your needs.
When you’ve decided which internships you like, it’s time to start applying. But first, make sure you have a perfect resume if you want to work in fashion. Competition in fashion is high, even an internship role is difficult to get because there are so many requests, so you have to make sure that your CV stands out among all the others. If you need to write your first CV or think that your current one is not perfect, take a look at our templates that you can use right away with Microsoft Word, or our CV Review service.
Once you enter the company you will understand what the various departments are involved in and if the role you have chosen may be suitable for you or if you prefer the job of one of your colleagues, in that case at the end of the stage, you can do another one.
If you want to work in fashion there are also many experiences that you can do while studying or if you are not able to do a full-time internship. Fashion weeks are the perfect times to propose to help in the backstage of fashion shows and practical organization (bring clothes to the location, prepare models, iron clothes …). It’s easy for someone to tell you yes, the more hands they have the better in those moments. Of course, most of these jobs will be unpaid, but it’s the easiest way to start getting experience and also watch the show from behind the scenes!
It takes on average 2 internships to go on to have a full-time fashion job. During your internships, always give your best not only because you need to learn as much as possible but also because you will need to show others how much you are worth and create a good reputation in fashion, where word of mouth counts a lot. Here you can read the rules to be the perfect intern.
The fashion world is fascinating and if you like it you will love working in this industry, but because of the high competition you have to work hard and have a lot of passion.
If you have any doubts, take a look at our consulting services.
