Jobs are wide as they are varied and the first question you have to ask yourself is where do you want to work?

1)                  Retail – even within retail there are a host of jobs such as distribution, merchandising, buying, QC, marketing, retailing and visual display

Merchandising, as commonly used in marketing, means the promotion of merchandise sales, as by coordinating production and marketing and developing advertising, display, and sales strategies to increase retail sales. This includes disciplines in pricing and discounting, physical presentation of products and displays, and decisions about which products should be presented to target customers at what time.

Google search and look for jobs in retail.

2)                  Design in fashion

3)                  Manufacturing and production

4)                  Education (lecturing)

5)                  PR and Marketing

6)                  Pattern Cutting and Grading

7)                  Business Support Organisations

8)                  Market selling

9)                  Party Plan  

Which direction would you be willing to take? Although fashion retail graduate schemes can provide some fashion graduates with very comfortable starting salaries places are minimal due to the increasingly competitive nature of the fashion industry, therefore graduates need to come up with some sort of strategy to get noticed.

The best advice for graduating students is to be absolutely certain you can devote yourself to the job. This is a vital aspect employers will be looking out for and due to the fact that the number of fashion students graduating from University is continuously on the increase, retailers will want to see enthusiastic graduates who offer loyalty and reliability.

Currently, it is known that buyers are among the few unfortunate job seekers within the fashion industry, due to the swarming competition as buying is such a popular job. Inevitably results in starting salaries are set substantially lower than starting salaries for other jobs within the sector. Because competition is greatest for buying, graduates should maybe consider looking at other areas such as PR and marketing or even look into store operations. These roles may not seem as exciting as buying; however opportunities are more likely to arise within these fields which will encourage the progression of your career. Other directions will also result in greater financial benefits.

As a graduate, if you have not been selected for a recruitment scheme, do not panic as there is another option on offer and placements are available all year round; entry-level positions may not propose a salary as satisfying for a graduate who has been accepted for the recruitment scheme however the training is of a very high standard and graduates have the freedom to go into whichever field they wish to pursue instantly, rather than enduring unnecessary placements.

What advise can we give you to stand out from the crowd? Revise for your interview. Research everything about the retailers you are applying for, find out as much information as you possibly can, for example what the competition is like? You could even present some of your own ideas that you believe would improve their outlet/product. If the retailers run a website you should thoroughly inspect every aspect of the site so you have a much broader understanding before you attend any interviews.

By Emily Tullett