WHERE WILL YOUR LANGUAGES TAKE YOU?

Sales Coordinator at French Connection, and University of Birmingham languages alumnus, Holly Roper- Newman:

YOU WORK IN THE SALES DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH CONNECTION. CAN YOU TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT YOUR JOB ENTAILS?

Interviews by Amy Wakeham and Maddie Kilminster

I’m the International Sales Coordinator, which means I work on the export wholesales team. We have a wholesales team which sells to shops across the UK, but my department, about five people, sells to the rest of the world. Mainly Europe though. We work for franchise stores, multi-brand boutiques and department stores, and we also work with our agents who buy for other boutiques and department stores. On a day to day basis I monitor orders from stockists, set up orders with new clients, visit showrooms in Paris and Milan and get together the digital version of each season’s Lookbook. I also organise marketing material from posters to campaign shots and advertising images, and also relay with the marketing and design teams.

DO YOU THINK BEING MULTI-LINGUAL HAS GIVEN YOU THE EDGE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY?

Definitely. I’m selected for visiting the showrooms in Paris and Milan because I’m the only person on my team who can speak the languages; not even my boss can speak them! Just speaking to people in their own language really helps, because it allows trust to develop and breaks down barriers. In my job, trust is of massive importance, especially in this difficult economic climate. We lose and gain customers all the time, so it’s important to show that, as a company, we’re making an effort for them. People are so surprised when a Brit starts speaking another language, and this enables me to develop great relationships with them. The client/company relationship is so important to maintain; being able to communicate is the great thing about learning a foreign language.

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR CAREER PROGRESSING IN THE FUTURE? DO YOU SEE YOURSELF CLIMBING THE RANKS AT FRENCH CONNECTION?

I’d like to, although I don’t think I will, as we’re just such a small team and there isn’t a huge hierarchy at French Connection. I think hopefully they’re going to create a role for me to directly liaise between independent customers and French Connection; I think my strength at communication, through my language skills, is what has really opened up this specific opportunity of me. I’d like to stay on at French Connection for another couple of years, because I’m learning so much and I love my job. Ideally however, I’d love to work for Burberry, which is really because they have a lot of work out in Italy which I’d love to be involved in. Down the line, I’d really love to be head of international sales.

WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORST ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB?

Best aspects are the travel, the opportunity to perfect my languages, work with amazing people from across the world and meet really interesting people from all over the place. And also all the free clothes! The worst is just the amount of work; because I’m the sole linguist in my department quite often I have to deal with customers and stockists who otherwise I wouldn’t have anything to do with. But that’s okay, it keeps me busy!

AND FINALLY, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR STUDENTS LIKE MYSELF WHO ASPIRE TO SUCCEED IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY?

Take any and every opportunity that comes up, even if it doesn’t quite follow any ‘game plan’ that you might have. Use your contacts as much as you can; at the end of the day, they might be the person who finds you that amazing next job! A lot of companies don’t actually advertise jobs externally, so having a contact in a business will mean that you’ll be the one alerted whenever a position comes up. Make loads of contac ts and make sure to keep in touch with them! Also, be persistent and don’t worry about any skills that aren’t of your ability in: the best way to learn is just by doing it on the job!

IAN WATSON, A EUROPEAN SERVICES ADVISOR FOR CMF CONSULTING:

WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE ROLE OF A EUROPEAN SERVICES ADVISOR INVOLVE?

What we do is help companies optimize overseas opportunities. That means if a company is interested in going into a new market, we will help them find out how their product fits into that market. If they want to expand their market, we’ll try and find out what they need to do. We hel p to make sure that the messages they’re communicating to the customers are what they mean them to be. For example a company in Austria had the slogan “ amEndederStraβe” which can be translated either as “at the end of the road” or “at journey’s end”. We would make sure that this was checked so the company didn’t embarrass themselves. On another level, we help on marketing consultancy. Not market research, as that’s just figures, but things like finding out whe ther or not people really want the product or service. Taking Italy as an example; the Italians are so protective over their children that you can easily create a product that they would deem too harmful. Whereas in Sweden and Norway they want their kids to be much more independent.

WHAT DO YOU MOST DISLIKE AND LIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB?

What I most dislike is trying to convince people that you have to get to know your customer. It is frustrating as they tend to believe that if a product works in one place it must work the same in another. This is because most people who work in exports have never lived in another country. When they go on holiday their experience of that place is merely what has been supplied for the British tourists. That’s the thing I hate most. The thing I love most is having insights into other countries. I personally feel almost at home in places like the Alps.

DO YOU BELIEVE YOU COULD HAVE DONE THE JOB YOU ARE CURRENTLY DOING HAVING NOT TRAVELLED AS WIDELY AS YOU HAVE?

Impossible. It is very much a matter of being the eyes and ears of companies and unless you know what you’re looking for you can’t get it. Recently, on a trip to Italy, it was interesting to see how little some of my colleagues who didn’t speak Italian could glean compared to me. Their transcripts were simply wrong.

ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL, DID YOU EVER ENVISAGE WHERE YOU WERE GOING TO END UP IN YOUR LIFE?

No. It has taken a totally different path! I always wanted to be a commercial pilot at British Airways. If I had got into that I would have been deliriously happy. But I think I have been able to gain an inner confidence by coping in other countries. People underestimate this. Going through a country where you don’t know the language and managing to get a job and apartment – you feel great.

IN TERMS OF BUSINESS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES, DO YOU THINK THAT LANGUAGES COME IN IN ANY OTHER FORM?

Let’s put it this way: I personally would never employ anyone who didn’t have at least two languages on top of their mother tongue; one of them being English. From my point of view I think sometimes companies do not place enough value on languages as they should. These communication skills are so vital in business but people seem not to get it.

WOULD YOU AGREE THAT IT OFTEN DOESN’T SEEM TO OCCUR TO TOURISTS TO MAKE AN EFFORT AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE?

Yes, definitely. When I went to Austria it was simply automatic to me that I would learn the language. I came across native English speakers who just didn’t have a clue where they were living. They got nothing out of it except from the money.

LANGUAGES: a fact-file

6% of the world’s population speaks English

35% of Europeans speak English

75% of the world speak no English at all

80% of UK export managers cannot conduct business in a foreign language

1/3 of UK graduates are confident to work