Fashion/Fashion Communication CAREER INSIGHT
LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk
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Career Insight: Fashion
Introduction About 500 new designers are needed each year and around 4,000 new graduates leave fashion & textile design courses - but highly talented designers are still in demand. Some graduates work as freelancers, although this is easier later on in a fashion career. Sometimes graduates supplement their income with jobs in retail, catering or clerical work, while building their creative careers. Portfolio working is a popular option with creative graduates and involves earning your income from a variety of sources, often in complementary but differing roles, for example, fashion design work and teaching fashion at an institution. There is a reliance of many design businesses’ on word of mouth and personal recommendation when recruiting staff. Liverpool is a fashion hub and there are strong links between the degree programme at LJMU and local designers and companies. Recent graduates from the LJMU Fashion programme have gone on to work for a range of internationally recognised fashion houses and high street brands in a range of roles including designers, buyers, visual merchandisers, garment technologists, stylists and fashion retail assistants.
Career Options: Employers within the fashion industry range from top designers in well-established studios to high street retail outlets, supermarket clothing labels and manufacturing operations. Each of these offers different employment opportunities such as design work, creation, buying, marketing, PR. Consider other less obvious areas, too, such as costume design within the television and film industry, the fashion media, and internet companies. Recruiters may attend graduate shows at universities and snap up the most talented designers there. The biggest retail chains run graduate trainee schemes for buyers and merchandisers. Employers often fill junior posts by contacting tutors and university careers services. Recruitment may also be done through niche agencies and the press.
Options with your degree: Fashion Design and Fashion Communication Career options Creative options within this exciting, demanding and competitive industry include designing for high street and on line retailers or for exclusive design houses. Specialisms include menswear, womenswear and childrenswear. Skills and attributes for this role include:
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a creative eye for colour and shape
ability to draw and show design ideas effectively
a strong interest in fashion and past and future trends
excellent technical skills in sewing and pattern-making
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Career Insight: Fashion
ability to transform ideas into patterns and making samples
When starting out, a Fashion Designer may be paid between £12,000 and £14,000 a year. This increases to around £22,000 with experience. Top, experienced Designers could earn over £60,000 a year. For more information consult: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/fashion_designer_job_description.htm http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/fashion_and_textiles/job_roles/685_fashion_designer
Retail buyer http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_buyer_job_description.htm
Retail manager http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_manager_job_description.htm
Retail merchandiser http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_merchandiser_job_description.htm
Textile designer http://www.prospects.ac.uk/textile_designer_job_description.htm
Jobs where your degree would be useful: Magazine journalist http://www.prospects.ac.uk/magazine_journalist_job_description.htm
Newspaper journalist http://www.prospects.ac.uk/newspaper_journalist_job_description.htm
Public relations officer http://www.prospects.ac.uk/public_relations_officer_job_description.htm
Other roles include: Fashion predictor, Colourist, Clothing/textile technologist, Costume designer, Fashion stylist, Fashion illustrator, Visual merchandiser, Teacher and Museum Curator (clothing/textile specialist). The suggestions listed here are by no means exhaustive so we would encourage you to consider other relevant options, e.g. based on previous work or voluntary experience, skills and interests. To explore job options by sector check out below: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm. https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobfamily/Pages/default.aspx. You can also use career planning tools to generate career ideas, for example:
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Career Insight: Fashion
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report
Ensure you check entry requirements for each area, e.g. will you need a degree in a specific subject? Is a 2:1 degree classification essential? Will you need to complete a postgraduate degree? Is any specific work experience required? We also recommend that you download a copy of our “Planning your Career” guide from the Careers website at https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. This includes a list of useful questions to help you explore your career options and aid your career planning.
Further Study: The majority of fashion graduates go straight into employment after their studies but a small percentage go on to study a Masters, specialising in areas such as childrenswear, embroidery, theatrical costume, textiles, millinery or shoe design. Other Masters courses may allow graduates to investigate the social, economic, ethical, environmental or cultural side of fashion in more detail. Some M.As in fashion are very practical and are assessed on that basis, for example, by requiring the student to deliver an innovative collection. Others involve essays and a dissertation.
Useful websites:
http://creativeskillset.org. Follow advice and information for Fashion and Textile careers. http://www.csd.org.uk The Chartered Society of designers, the professional body for designers http://www.textileinstitute.org Worldwide organisation for textiles including clothing and footwear http://www.fashionpersonnel.co.uk Specialist site for fashion and retail jobs throughout the UK and Internationally. http://www.textileworld.com Industry information and links http://www.fashionunited.co.uk The latest fashion news and apparel business network for the UK fashion industry including Fashion jobs Career Centre. http://www.designdirectory.co.uk A comprehensive A-Z listing of design consultants. http://creativepeople.org.uk National network providing information, advice and guidance to support those in the creative industries.
Follow relevant companies/websites through Twitter: @LJMUCareers @TextileWorldMag @N_D_T_A @BritishVogue
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© 2017. Liverpool John Moores University. The content of this document is copyright material of Liverpool John Moores University. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Career Insight: Fashion
You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn profile and follow relevant organisations through Twitter to keep up to date with opportunities and developments in the creative industries. Many employers use social media to post work experience opportunities so take advantage of using the sites to help you make links and find out more about what opportunities are out there.
Sources of work experience Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships. Gaining experience, whether it is directly in fashion or in other areas of the creative industries, is really important. Networking is crucial and many contracts are filled through contacts and links with people who have worked together before. Download our mini-guide on “Making yourself employable whilst at University” from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm for an overview of the different types of work experience available and some general suggestions about finding work experience opportunities. LJMU has been managing a summer internship programme for Level 5 students in recent years, so keep an eye on your LJMU inbox for details of any opportunities. Your Skills Support Officer, Elaine McNeill, forges active links with local companies and will keep you up to date with work experience opportunities. Contacting fashion houses, designers, department and other retail stores and supermarket fashion labels directly at networking events, via email or through LinkedIn may lead to work experience. It is important that you demonstrate that you are interested in the company and have spent some time finding what they do. Even when applying to secure work experience for the first time in this industry, show the employer what you have to offer. Briefly outline the relevancy of your course. Look at the skills outlined above and try to discuss these in your CV, drawing on examples from your course and other work experience or extra-curricular activities to demonstrate these skills. Useful websites to research a range of voluntary opportunities include http://www.do-it.org.uk/ and https://www.liverpoolguild.org/main-menu/volunteer. You could also contact LJMU Volunteering Manager Chris Prescott on 0151 904 6356 or c.j.prescott@ljmu.ac.uk to enquire about current opportunities. It is also worth researching relevant organisations/charities and contacting them directly to find out about voluntary roles on offer.
Recruitment schedules It is important that you network and engage with employers and utilise the websites and Twitter feeds above to find out about opportunities. Many other roles within fashion and the creative industries will be through small or medium sized enterprises/businesses (SMEs). These types of SMEs will recruit ‘as required’. They may use their own application form but most applications will be by CV and covering letter. These positions will be advertised on company websites, relevant recruitment websites and national and local newspapers. The ‘creative’ or ‘speculative’ approach to job hunting is also important when looking for graduate roles. Making contacts and approaching organisations speculatively to look for work is a common route into employment. For more information about the speculative approach to job hunting, download a copy of our guide to ‘The Hidden Jobs Market’ from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. Roles within public sector organisations, such as schools or museums, or creative organisations such as galleries, also recruit as required. However, it is more common to apply using an application form.
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© 2017. Liverpool John Moores University. The content of this document is copyright material of Liverpool John Moores University. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Career Insight: Fashion
A comprehensive person specification is usually included in the advertisement. Each point in this has to be addressed within the personal statement section within the application form. If you decide to take a different path outside of fashion you can look at graduate training schemes, many of which are open to graduates from any discipline. If you are interested in these roles you will need to be aware of the graduate recruitment cycle. Many recruiters begin the graduate recruitment process during the autumn term for final year students. Most closing dates are in November and December but some are earlier so it is important to start researching companies that you want to apply to early on. The application process usually involves completing an online application form, which may require you to answer ‘competency based questions’. Psychometric tests, a telephone interview and an assessment centre will usually follow. You may also need to submit your CV. Always carefully read through the information in the ‘careers’ or ‘graduates’ section of the employer’s website. For more information about graduate schemes, download the ‘Graduate Schemes’ guide from https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. You can get advice about the recruitment process by booking a one-to-one appointment with a career or employability adviser at your nearest Careers Zone or you can attend workshops or webinars run by the Carers Team.
Key events and networking
Liverpool Careers Fair: usually held in the autumn and spring of each year, see fairs website http://www.liverpoolfairs.org.uk/ for additional events
Manchester Careers Fairs: open to students and graduates from any university; check http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/students/events/ for details
Careers and Employability events at LJMU: Keep an eye on our events pages at https://careers.ljmu.ac.uk for details of upcoming employability workshops, networking sessions and employer talks.
LiverpoolSU Clubs and Societies: http://ljmu.unioncloud.org/groups#club-society
LinkedIn: You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn account (http://www.linkedin.com/) to network online with professionals and organisations in your chosen industry
Other information Centre for Entrepreneurship - support for LJMU students and graduates interested in starting up their own business https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/startup/.
Careers Zones Campus-based Careers Zones provide easy access to careers support in convenient locations at Byrom Street, Aldham Robarts Library and at IM Marsh, staffed by the Careers Team. Support available includes CV and application form reviews, Careers Adviser appointments, drop-in quick queries, practice interviews and access to careers resources and information. The Zones also host regular employer visits during term time where you can meet and network with employers and discuss job and placement opportunities. For the latest updates and details of locations and opening times, try our Twitter and Facebook pages.
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© 2017. Liverpool John Moores University. The content of this document is copyright material of Liverpool John Moores University. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Career Insight: Fashion
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Š 2017. Liverpool John Moores University. The content of this document is copyright material of Liverpool John Moores University. No part of this document may be reproduced or distributed without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
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