I have been researching areas within the fashion industry that I could be involved with. I have started by looking at Buying and Merchandising jobs.
Fashion Industry Job Market
Through reading interviews with people in the fashion industry on Drapers I have learnt that most have interned before starting their career. I have learnt that the role of the merchandiser in the fashion industry has changed. One of the reasons for this is that technology has changed significantly in retail. Online sales are often greatly outperforming store sales. (Drapers, 2019) Merchandisers are now analyzing data in their role. It is important for merchandisers to know who is buying their product. Merchandisers need to understand the age of gender of the customers entering their store to be able to make allocation and stock replenishment decisions.
At some retailer head offices there have been some redundancies.
I have found some examples of Fashion Buying jobs on the website Fashion Workie. From the job descriptions I have found out some of the skills required for this type of job. These include:
- Good communication skills
- Passionate about fashion
- Highly organised
- A team player
- An understanding of margin and costs
- Computer literate - able to use Excel, Word, Powerpoint and Outlook.
- Experience working in Fashion
- Good time management
- Product knowledge
- Strong commercial awareness
- Love for the brand
- An eye for detail
- Numerate
(Fashion Workie, 2019) From this list of skills I have good product knowledge, and some knowledge of Excel, word and powerpoint. I think that I also have good commercial awareness and I are very aware of current trends. I think that I need to improve my skills in Excel. I also need to improve my organisation and communication skills. Another important skill is to be a team player, so it is important that I involve myself more with group work.
I have also compiled a list of the key responsibilities that would be expected of a Buyer admin assistant from job descriptions.
- Work to a critical path
- Carrying out online comparative shopping
- General admin duties
- Management of all samples
- Carrying out comparative shopping trips
- Purchase order placement
- PO tracking and management
Comparative shopping is something I have completed for many university assignments and I am able to do this.
I am unsure whether I would enjoy a career in buying or merchandising. I do not have strong maths skills. This is something that I need to work on. Although I do not want a career in Merchandising, I have still done some research into Merchandising jobs. I have found a job listing Fashion Workie. The job is Merchandising admin assistant at Reiss. The skills and experience required are:
- Strong numeracy skills
- Strong understanding of Outlook and Excel
- Experience in stock allocation
- Well organised with strong time management skills
Fashion Marketing
I have been interested in a career in fashion marketing since I was studying a Fashion Promotion degree. Using the websites Fashion Workie and Fashion United to find the skills required for a Fashion Marketing assistant. Here is the list I compiled:
- Knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Good communication
- Able to work in a fast paced environment
- Highly organised
- Ability to think creatively and strategically
- Passionate about marketing
- Good copywriting and proof reading skills
- Ability to produce reports
- An ability to understand culture and social trends
I think I would be better suited to a job in Fashion Marketing as I feel I have the required skillset for this type of job. Some of these jobs still require good mathematical skills so this is something that I need to work on.