I'm back with an advice post for you all. If any of you have seen my about page here on the blog you will know that I Graduated recently from University with a BA (Hons) in Fashion. So, If your the kind of person that is thinking of working in the Fashion Industry, or has always had an interest in it then your chances in getting a job related to fashion are good. Because I believe that if you truly want something you can achieve it.
Your most likely the one in your friendship group to read all the glamorous fashion Magazines, follow fashion Blogs and Write one yourself possibly? and that desire for Fashion will shape you into what you are as a person. I've always found it tricky deciding how to make a career in this area, and deciding on the right path is highly important. There is so many things to choose from in Fashion from being a Designer; Merchandiser; Buyer to Working in Production. There is just so many roles to choose from, but which one is for you is the main question to ask!
Before Deciding to Launch Seek Insider, I found myself stuck in thought a lot of the time. I had previous blogs throughout the years, I believe my very first one I decided to have was when I was about 15 years old. But with time, juggling blogging and school work became quite hard and I decided to work on my grades instead, which for me was the right choice at that time. So I do have some sort of experience in blogging prior to this. I also found that the University I had gone to wasn't the best experience due to it being falsely advertised. If you want me to write an independent post on University and the pros and cons to it then let me know.
Anyway, back to how I got to were I am now. After having graduated, I felt lost, I didn't know what to do or were to start. Living in the UK with my sister is great but I did miss my family a huge amount so my first step after Graduating wasn't to get right back into job hunting it was to go Home and see my Family. They did come to my Graduation but a week later left for Madeira Island, which is were my family lives. I booked a ticket and off to Madeira I went! I was there for 3 weeks and it felt as if I'd never left.
Even though the joy of my summer vacation was still very much alive I knew that eventually it would have to come to an end. And having my family there to help me with these discussions was a tremendous help.
Luckily I do have a job in Fashion Retail which isn't were I would like to be but is definitely key for building on experience. With that I decided to go back to blogging and that's how Seek Insider was born. My aim is to become a full time blogger, but in the meantime I am still eager to gain more experience in fashion. So if you're just thinking about what kind of role you'd like in the future, then read on for a few of my top tips! (we can do this together).
First on the List is Something I would love to Experience and that is Fashion Marketing.
I'm safe to say that most of us don't have contacts that know of or are in the Fashion related fields to help you get a placement. Firstly we have to try Interning. It's the best way to find out if the role is good for you. The only downside to Internships is the fact that they are unpaid, but like I said it's the best way to gain experience and network with people in the industry, it's a great way to get a foot in the door. Another tip would be Graduate schemes, I personally find this very competitive and truly challenging. But if you don't try, you don't get.
This can be anything from being an editor, photographer, copywriter or stylist. These mentioned are just a few of many different roles that fashion communication can offer. These roles are mostly office based and the odd external appointments which adds a bit of variation to your day to day role. With anything that involves fashion you have to be quite creative, especially when in need of experience for a role like this one. If you'd like an Internship in something like this then your portfolio/Curriculum Vitae need to stand out, as the recruitment process is highly competitive. One thing that can make you shine is to share your Instagram followers who follow you for styling tips or possibly a mock article to show how creative you can be.
Hopefully you get the general Idea that Fashion is a very competitive area to apply for but once your in, all that hard-work will have finally paid off.
Lastly, Fashion Blogger.
I believe that if you want to be a fashion blogger, you have to have the correct sort of attitude towards it. You truly need to have that passion for Fashion! Yes the aim to Fashion Blogging is to be able to work with brands and to make money. But if you just want that then this isn't the right reasons to become a blogger. I have decided to blog alongside working because its something that allows me to be creative and share my passion with people that enjoy it equally. I realize that to be a blogger you need to allow yourself some time to be able to write consistently, so if you have that all you need is to start your blog, find your niche that thing that will make you stand out, and create quality content in order to grow in readership. I, more than anybody know that it takes time to gain all of these things but the one thing that keeps me going is this quote from Benjamin Franklin " Energy and persistence conquer all things"
Books That Helped me:
- How to be Parisian - Wherever you are
- 50 fashion Designers you Should Know
- The Sourcebook of Contemporary Fashion
- Fashion Since 1900
- The Fashion Resource Book - Research and Design
- Fashion Design 01 - Research and Design
I genuinely hope that this post has been useful for you, I realize that its a brief post on the fashion industry and there's much more that I could of shared! But if you have any questions then tweet me and I will do my very best to answer them.
See you soon!
