Advice: Education & Career Goals (PLEASE READ POST #1 BEFORE POSTING)

[BetteT]

You really are all over the place .... so it's gonna be hard to give advice.

But let's break it down to what you said here and look it it in another way:

... currently interested in the possibilities of graphic design related to fashion, fashion design research and development, and graduate school for fashion history only if I can get a scholarship

1. Graphic Design
2. R&D
3. Fashion History for post grad work.

Internships are usually just the grunt work ... not a real learning or hands on experience. But they give you the opportunity to watch how the pros do it and to possibly make some contacts who can help you later in your career. However, it sounds like you may be able to actually do some of the work ... so you need to consider that, too.

If you have a good chance to get that scholarship and if you think it would help in that one goal, FIT seems ideal for that career path.

But, to me, it sounds like Fashion History post grad work is a "maybe" ... and you did not say where that would take you if you do get it. But I would guess that at the other end the work would most likely be in the Acedemic and Museum worlds ... teaching and research.

So, let me ask you this. What real benefit would come from interning at FIT? Would it really supply new insight and information that you could use it for your thesis? Or will it mainly just let you see how the work of research at a museum is done? And would it beef up the possiblity of getting that scholarship or not?

I can't answer that question ... only you know what is required to get that scolarship. But, if it would help the cause ... then it's still important. If not ... then it sounds great on paper, but perhaps would not really be of that much value.

The other 3 are all graphic design related ... which would probablty help you on your resume, when you are ready to look for graphic design work. So, if you are more likely to move in that direction .... one of these might be better (Ralph Lauren if that is your fav).

I don't think that they will let you shift you days to accomodate a second internship. I know that if I was considering a candate that asked that .... I'd certainly worry about the committment. Food for thought.

There is no clear answer here ... only you know what you really want from the internships and what you ultimate goal is.

That being said, any of these would be helpful and look good on a resume ... so I don't think that any of them would be a big mistake.

 

[CoffeeAndPearls]

You really are all over the place .... so it's gonna be hard to give advice.

But let's break it down to what you said here and look it it in another way:

1. Graphic Design
2. R&D
3. Fashion History for post grad work.

Internships are usually just the grunt work ... not a real learning or hands on experience. But they give you the opportunity to watch how the pros do it and to possibly make some contacts who can help you later in your career. However, it sounds like you may be able to actually do some of the work ... so you need to consider that, too.

If you have a good chance to get that scholarship and if you think it would help in that one goal, FIT seems ideal for that career path.

But, to me, it sounds like Fashion History post grad work is a "maybe" ... and you did not say where that would take you if you do get it. But I would guess that at the other end the work would most likely be in the Acedemic and Museum worlds ... teaching and research.

So, let me ask you this. What real benefit would come from interning at FIT? Would it really supply new insight and information that you could use it for your thesis? Or will it mainly just let you see how the work of research at a museum is done? And would it beef up the possiblity of getting that scholarship or not?

I can't answer that question ... only you know what is required to get that scolarship. But, if it would help the cause ... then it's still important. If not ... then it sounds great on paper, but perhaps would not really be of that much value.

The other 3 are all graphic design related ... which would probablty help you on your resume, when you are ready to look for graphic design work. So, if you are more likely to move in that direction .... one of these might be better (Ralph Lauren if that is your fav).

I don't think that they will let you shift you days to accomodate a second internship. I know that if I was considering a candate that asked that .... I'd certainly worry about the committment. Food for thought.

There is no clear answer here ... only you know what you really want from the internships and what you ultimate goal is.

That being said, any of these would be helpful and look good on a resume ... so I don't think that any of them would be a big mistake.

Thanks for you're advice. I really am all over the place, which has always been a problem of mine. I guess at the time of choosing colleges I was much more decisive than most people, I knew I wanted to be involved in fashion. But I wasn't sure in what aspect which is why I went to a liberal arts school with a design major rather than an art school. It's been a fantastic experience but unfortunately the chance to involve myself in several different things at once here has just made it more difficult to make a decision about exactly where I want to go in the future.

The post grad work is definitely a "maybe." Museum curation interests me, but teaching/academia doesn't really. Because I am not completely and totally set on this as a career, combined with the few and far between job opportunities in museums, and the fact that such education isn't necessary in the design area of the industry, makes me very reluctant to spend so much money on graduate degree. So I've basically decided that if I can get a scholarship (which I believe I am a decent candidate for, from what I can tell, but who knows really) I will take a couple of years to go to graduate school, intern some more, and see where it all takes me.

I don't really think the FIT internship would contribute to my thesis, its more like because of the connection I was able to get an offer that is typically only given to graduate students. It would be more so to decide whether museum curation is something I really want to do. I really don't know what the scholarship people are looking for, but because its pretty rare for an undergrad to have that sort of internship I think it would probably help a lot.

I think a graphic design internship is really necessary for me if I want to even consider entering that area post-college, especially since I won't even have a graphic design degree. I guess the question is really whether a full time graphic design focused internship with RL or Barneys is significantly better than a marketing internship that involves some graphic design at 80%20, a small company, along with the FIT internship.

I'm considering that maybe I should take RL/Barneys, mostly for the focused experience/connections/job opportunities, and see if I could do an externship/job shadowing sort of deal with the alumnus at FIT. My thought is that FIT might help me get the scholarship, but if I do that and I still don't get the scholarship then my post-college job prospects would be less than if I had done an internship like RL/Barneys.

 

[BetteT]

I think you also need to consider what your natural talents and inclinations are to help you decide your direction towards a specific career.

I would ask yourself these kinds of questions about the career you would be best suited to:
Where do you talents lie? What do you like to do on a daily basis?

Are you creative? Are you good at research? Does math and numbers appeal to you or do you hate that sort of stuff? Are you comfortable working for someone else ... working towards their goals? Or do you prefer to be more independant? Do you like being around people or prefer to work alone?



Graphic Design will work for you if you are creative but are OK working towards someone else's goals as a team player, but you also like to work alone in a cubicle. And if you can create under the pressure of deadlines.

If you love research ... and can work independently and don't need to be surrounded by people ... Curating is definitely a good career ... but of course, you already said it's very, very competitive ... not a lot of openings. But if you love it .... is it worth taking the chance?




There are lots of other careeers in fashion that you may not have thought about yet.
For example:

If you are a great communicater, can tolerate difficult people, can write well and thrive on putting out fires ... Public Relations is a great career.

If you love numbers and research and like to track your results .... Marketing for a big retailer would be a possible match ... but it sounds like you have already ruled that out.

Anyway .... here are a few threads with ideas, if you want to explore some other fashion careers:

What Career for Me ... if I Can'tSew/ Make Patterns/Draw, Etc.?
Fashion Industry Careers
Majors and corresponding fashion careers

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^I am curious...does a fashion merchandising degree pretty much entail me to do almost anything in business side of the fashion industry?? Or can you not do certain areas of fashion without certain degress???? (talking about the business side of fashion)

 

[BetteT]

Not really. Merchandising is about the retail side of fashion. It's the buying (at the right price), pricing (for sale), distibution (among your stores), and displaying of merchandise, in addition to hitting sales goals without having too much merchandise left over at season's end, in order to make a profit for the company. So, for example, a merchandising degree isn't a great match if you want to work at a Fashion Magazine, for a designer (unless you work for the designer's retail stores) or in a Public Relations firm that reps fashion lines.

A merchandising degree can get you in this job, apparently: Fashion Diector / Fashion Coordinatior but it looks like it's pretty much the same as a Merchandising Magager/Coordinator if you are working for a retail store. Same basic job ... different title.

There are other careers in fashion that are on the business side for students who have studied Marketing, Finance or Management.

For some ideas here are some related threads:

Business Graduates in the Fashion Industry?

Buying and Merchandising/PR and Marketing - similarities and overlaps?

Fashion Merchandising

Fashion Marketing

All about PR = Public Relations

A Career in Fashion Forecasting

Careers / Jobs / Positions in Magazine Publishing

Fashion Industry Careers

What Career for Me ... if I Can'tSew/ Make Patterns/Draw, Etc.?

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^Thanks alot. I am going to browse someof these other threads. If I have any more questions I now know who to ask Thanks bettet!

 

[LoveKatFashion]

Okay so I have another question. If I were to go to school for marketing and PR general, would fashion industry jobs look down upon that because I didn't go to school for specific fashion marketing? Or will it be harder to get a fashion marketing PR job?

 

[BetteT]

I don't think it would be a negative at all.

Marketing is Marketing ... PR is PR ... no matter what industy it's in. And, TBH, I'm not sure that you will get the best education to learn either discipline, if you only take it at a fashion school. Taken at a regular college or universtity, the skills you'd learn would work for a fashion company as well as for a an automotive company or a doughnut company. That is actually an advantage for you ... in case you cannot break into fashion (it's extremely competitive). The main difference is your contacts ... gathering names and numbers of people in the fashion industry who can help your client or company.

You begin to make your contacts when you intern ... so I'd suggest you intern at companies that are involved in fashion ... and that also would go on your resume to give you actual experience in "fashion" PR or Marketing.

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^Hmm I get what you mean. I was thinking about that how it might be beneficial for me to study marketing (for more job security). But that is what I am worried about, is that I will not developed connections with those in the fashion industry!

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^^So what would be the best course for me to have the most....choice...in what I would like to do in the fashion industry?

 

[BetteT]

You are a bit backwards here. First ... you have to decide what you "would like to do in the fashion industry" .... then figure what to major in. You did not say what you want to do ... so no one can recommend any courses.

And anyway, there is no one catch all school or educational path that will lead to a wide variety of fashion jobs. I mean ... saying you want to work in "fashion" is almost as broad a statement as saying you want to work for a "company that creates, manufactures, sells, or provides a service". There are hundreds and hundreds of career paths within fashion .... each with a very different skill set and path to get there.

Here's what you need to figure out (as I said above

I think you also need to consider what your natural talents and inclinations are to help you decide your direction towards a specific career.

I would ask yourself these kinds of questions about the career you would be best suited to:
Where do you talents lie? What do you like to do on a daily basis?

Are you creative? Are you good at research? Does math and numbers appeal to you or do you hate that sort of stuff? Are you comfortable working for someone else ... working towards their goals? Or do you prefer to be more independant? Do you like being around people or prefer to work alone?

Also ... do you like to write? Do you draw? Can you sew? Are you computer savy ... what programs can you use? For example: CAD or Photoshop.

Do you like thinking on your feet, responding to sudden demands and multitasking? Or do you prefer to work on one project or goal at a time, without distractions?

Are you organized ... or prefer a more free flowing way of getting your work done? Do you work well under pressure of deadines and long days ... or prefer to have a more calm workplace, where you put in 8 hours, then go home?

Are you good in explaining your ideas and debating with others? Can you speak to group of people? How about to strangers ... or just people you know?

The answers to all of these types of questions will determine what kinds of jobs in fashion you might want to do.



So, after you take a long and serious look at how you like to work, what your talents are and what interests you have, you must figure out what kinds of jobs in fashion would utilize these. Then, and only then, you can figure out how to get there and what type of courses and school would work. There might be several careers that would be good for you ... so knowing that, you would be more able to decide if there is some common base education that you need for them. That is where you would start.

 

[LoveKatFashion]

You are a bit backwards here. First ... you have to decide what you "would like to do in the fashion industry" .... then figure what to major in. You did not say what you want to do ... so no one can recommend any courses.

And anyway, there is no one catch all school or educational path that will lead to a wide variety of fashion jobs. I mean ... saying you want to work in "fashion" is almost as broad a statement as saying you want to work for a "company that creates, manufactures, sells, or provides a service". There are hundreds and hundreds of career paths within fashion .... each with a very different skill set and path to get there.

Here's what you need to figure out (as I said aboveAlso ... do you like to write? Do you draw? Can you sew? Are you computer savy ... what programs can you use? For example: CAD or Photoshop.

Do you like thinking on your feet, responding to sudden demands and multitasking? Or do you prefer to work on one project or goal at a time, without distractions?

Are you organized ... or prefer a more free flowing way of getting your work done? Do you work well under pressure of deadines and long days ... or prefer to have a more calm workplace, where you put in 8 hours, then go home?

Are you good in explaining your ideas and debating with others? Can you speak to group of people? How about to strangers ... or just people you know?

The answers to all of these types of questions will determine what kinds of jobs in fashion you might want to do.



So, after you take a long and serious look at how you like to work, what your talents are and what interests you have, you must figure out what kinds of jobs in fashion would utilize these. Then, and only then, you can figure out how to get there and what type of courses and school would work. There might be several careers that would be good for you ... so knowing that, you would be more able to decide if there is some common base education that you need for them. That is where you would start.

See thats the thing, I'm quite lost on what I want to do in fashion!

I'll answer these questions and hopefully you can guide me a bit on a schooling/career path....

-I do like to write, and I do like drawing, and I am computer savy
-And I prefer on working on one project or goal at the same time
-I am very organized, and I'd say I do work well under pressure
-I am very good at explaining my ideas, talking to groups of people, debating ect.


Also I appreciate all the help you are giving me

 

[BetteT]

This tells me that you are what I like to call ... a "project person". You like to have a project to work on ... probably creative in nature. Something where they give you a general goal and ask you to come up with something to present to them ... and doing within a deadline.




So the following might be of interest to you:

- Graphic Design ... you can work for any company that advertises, puts out a catalog, uses hang tags, posters, signs,publishes anything, has a web site .... it goes on and one.
- Marketing ... but not being the boss of a marketing company which is mainly about statistics, and how to develop the right product to serve the market, and how to present it to potential customers. (Not a marketing degree). But just working in a marketing environlment where you are part of the creative team ... writing, or graphic arts, or creating ideas for campaigns. Or in Visual Marketing ... one deparment in Retail Marketing that takes care of how the stores look.
- Advertsing .... ditto to what I said above ... as a member of the creative team to come up with the look of an ad campaign based on what the new "vision" is all about.
-Publishing ... fashion sections of a newspaper or local magazine ... or eventually for a big fashion magazine. They need graphic artists to work on layouts for editorials, articles and features. You could consider becoming a copy writer who writes blurbs for all thos wonderful pictures. Maybe work under the Market Editor who is responsible for those kinds of layouts like "Editor's Picks" ... with a selection of clothes, shoes, accessoried or beauty products on one page). And, in time move up to Art Director and/or Creative Director (responsible for the whole "look" of the magazine)

We have the following threads with lots of information about all of these (some are very old, so be sure to check the dates:

Who here is a graphic designer?
Visual Arts and Graphic Design Schools

Advertising Agencies and copywriting

Fashion Marketing

What Education is Needed to get into Magazines / Publishing?
Careers / Jobs / Positions in Magazine Publishing
Fashion Director /Coordinator
The Education & Job of a Creative Director - magazines

What does an art director do?

About Fashion Illustration as a Career

there are other threads that are related ... so feel free to search further.

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^Thank you ALOT!!

The marketing environment sounds appealing, and as does Advertising, and graphic design..So many options!

Curious, what did you go to school/study for?? Did you get a degree in advertising?

Also you mentioned a "market editor", which sounds very appealing....do you think I could get a job like this with a marketing degree?

Once again, you are helping me a ton

 

[BetteT]

No degree in anything. Didn't study anythink in particular except business courses ... because in a former life I was a Bank Officer and I sold Real Estate. Connections and a "good eye" for color and proportion, along with the business skills got me started in styling.

No ... do not confuse "marketing" (which is all about business and numbers in a retail environment) with anything that a market editor does. She's a junior magazine editor, that's all. But studying graphic design might get you a job close enought to the market editor to eventually get promoted to a job like that, if you have the organizational and writing skills too.


Read the threads ... there's little nuggets of infomation in them about how to gain the education and experience that you need for each.

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^Thanks for sharing!!! Very cool you could make those connections

And I am currently reading the threads.....lots of information, and very informing.

Thank you for all of your help IF I ever have anymore questions I know the person to ask

 

[LoveKatFashion]

Soo I am planning on going to school for General marketing...Anybody have any tips to create fashion connections both during and after completing college? Cause once I finish marketing, I would like to start with fashion marketing...

 

[BetteT]

Look for marketing Internships .... in fashion related companies. If you get lucky and convince them that this is your direction in marketing, you will be off to a great start. Then, after you get your general marketing degree (or even in summer school), see if there are a few individual marketing courses you can take at a fashion school to supplement your education. That will introduce you to students and teachers who are in or will be in the fashion biz. And that will give you a second opportunity to find internships in fashion.

 

[LoveKatFashion]

^Really enjoy your advice...thank you alot! I do not live in a fashion predominate location though...So I am considering defintly relocating after I finish school. Once again, thanks for the help your my fashion guide right now, as its so hard to find real answers from people in the biz!

 

[hautecouture_02]

I have always wanted to attend a school geared mostly toward fashion careers,but my problem is that I live in has nothing like this and I can't afford to move to New York or LA right now anyway. I did some research and saw that FIDM, Parsons, and FIT have online degree programs in fashion marketing which is my dominate area of intrest. I have always wanted to become an accessories buyer. Which one of these schools in you guys opinion would be the best option?? PLEASE HELP!!!! I would love to start school soon!!