Tips on Getting into the Fashion & Marketing Industry

Photos by: Vincent Elejorde

I’ve had a ton of interest in getting to know a little bit more about my work experience and how I went from College student to experienced marketer having worked in a multitude of industries. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here but there definitely are ways and tools to utilize when job searching. It’s important to understand how to stand out amongst your fellow thousand graduates you stand beside at the end of your schooling career. Here are a few of my biggest tips and just thoughts on the matter!

For a little backstory, I graduated in 2012 with a BA in Marketing from California State University Fullerton. I had worked retail and restaurant jobs throughout college and got a break working as an admin assistant for a marketing agency during my second to last year of college. It didn’t last super long since I got pretty bored from the kind of work I was doing but it opened the door for me to apply for a paid internship at a non-profit which turned into a full time job once I graduated college. While internships are kind of a touchy subject, I always had to focus on PAID internships since I was supporting myself during school. While it wasn’t a glamorous internship at a cool fashion brand it was a very fulfilling job that to this date is one of my favorites. When all is said and done I ended up working for House of Lashes as my last position before going freelance. They are a well known beauty brand and I was able to contribute to the business as their Marketing Manager for almost 3 years. That being said let’s run down some methods that I used during my time in school and afterwards to help me get the attention needed to enter such a competitive industry.

Networking

They say it on blogs, they say it in lectures, they say it everywhere but man is it true. One of my biggest regrets in college was not engaging enough with professors, fellow classmates and participating in job fairs. You never know who you can meet and how either of you could end up helping one another in the future. As I’ve gotten older blogging has definitely helped me with my networking skills through attending events and meeting new people almost on the regular. Always keep in touch with old bosses / colleagues and always leave companies on good terms no matter how bad a situation might get. That admin job I spoke about earlier wasn’t necessarily for me but I kept in touch with my old boss and it actually led to me taking a different position there a few years later where I worked happily for a little over a year! I suggest adding people on Linkedin as well, it gives you a great way to stay connected (professionally) and when you are on the job hunt, seeing old colleagues or classmates who work at a company you are interested in ALWAYS helps. References are key!

Strong Resume

The main reason I selected Marketing as my major was because in my eyes there was so much potential to marry my organized and analytical side of my brain alongside my creative side. When I was applying for jobs my resume had to be key. While you can stack your resume with tons of great names and references one of the key factors people forget about is the design. A friend of mine sent me a template a few years ago when I was applying for my third full time job and let me tell you, my resume stood out so much that during the interview they actually had to make a comment about how nicely it was designed and how much attention it grabbed from their list of black and white word doc resumes. While this might seem intimidating please know there are SO MANY templates out there whether free or paid (around $10 for some) that are easy to manipulate and adjust with the simplest of edits. Trust me when I say you want your resume to stand out before even being read. In today’s day and age it’s way too competitive to miss out on this important step.

I love Creative Market for templates so take a peak here at some of there resume templates!

It’s also crucial to continuously update your resume as you never know when an opportunity might come about! It’s also important to take the time to adjust your resume per job you are applying for. While it might seem draining to think about, it makes a huge difference. A resume is like a highlight reel for your experience and depending on what you are applying for, you might want to focus on certain characteristics.

Create Your Own Work Experience

A lot of times the biggest struggle or concern individuals have regarding applying for jobs is the lack of experience. While employers of course look for experience (it’s their main way of eliminating candidates at the beginning) they also want to ensure the person they are hiring will connect well at the work place. I actually was hired for my first office job and I had the LEAST amount of experience in comparison to every candidate they had interviewed. When I asked my boss how they got to hiring me she told me the three main reasons – 1. I had a cover letter. 2. My resume and cover letter had no spelling errors (this left about 7 candidates left in the running out of 100.) 3. She felt my personality would fit in best at their work place, I was laid back but had an eagerness to learn and seemed teachable.

While this was of course somewhat lucky considering hiring managers are all different, the main note is that you don’t ALWAYS have to hit every note when it comes to experience the job requires. Another great perk of having created my blog (aside from being a creative outlet) is it showcased a lot of skills that I didn’t necessarily explore in my “resume” listed job descriptions. My blog showcased my writing skills, my creativity, my knowledge of backend blogging platforms, along with some photoshop, photography, and editing skills. If you have a passion that you could spin in any way towards experience on your resume I always find it important to include. While it doesn’t have to necessarily be a blog, for Marketing this definitely showcases a lot of skills that an employer might be interested in seeing and can make you stand out among the rest.

Don’t Expect Immediate Success

While we all hope we will end up at our dream job in our dream industry and company right out of the gate, it’s usually not the case. The most important thing to do is never stop trying to reach that goal. Every job I have ever held taught me so much about what I like, dislike, and would want to expect from my next position. It also helps you figure out what you are good at! Many times we go into the workforce thinking we are super interested in doing one thing when you realize when it’s completed on a day to day basis you actually despise it. This is when you can pickup on the things you DO like about a job and know what to look for in a future position. A lot of times we get complacent with a job when they land it and end up forgetting where they were trying to go in the first place. What I have to say is that it took me at least four jobs to get to the industry I wanted to get into and be able to hold the responsibilities I ended up taking on. Patience is key and it’s OK to want more from your workplace. Considering we spend most of our time at work it would only make sense.

Nailing the Interview

Interview skills are definitely something you can practice with friends or family but ultimately the more you interview the more comfortable you will end up being. I used to be petrified of public speaking and while it still gets my nerves up I realized that if I’m talking about something I am passionate about and that I feel knowledgable in I don’t feel as nervous. It’s normally when we feel underprepared or clueless that we falter to our nervousness. The same goes for interviewing. You have to enter an interview confident but humble, speak up but listen carefully and always ask questions! You are there because YOU want to work there and find something intriguing about the space. If you don’t, it’s probably not going to go that well. I love to research companies prior to interview so I can get an idea of: 1. What to wear (what does their culture feel like, laid back? Super professional?) 2. Know what kind of questions to ask and 3. Be able to bring up details about their company that apply specifically to some of my experience.

One of the MOST crucial things to do actually happens AFTER the interview. When I was hired for my first office job my boss told me a few weeks later that while I nailed the interview in her eyes the one thing she would have loved to see from me was a thank you email after our interview. It really seemed like a no brainer once she told me but I had honestly never thought about it before. Ever since that job I have ALWAYS followed up after an interview with a quick email (to whoever my contact was) thanking them for taking the time out of their day to speak to me and that I looked forward to hearing from them regarding the position. It not only makes you seem eager and excited about working there but it also just sets another little reminder in their heads about having met you.

Well I feel like that’s all the advice I’ve got to give but let me know if you guys have any other specific questions and I’ll try and include them in a future post!