If you’ve always loved fashion, you may be considering a career in the industry. While it might not be the easiest industry to break into, working in fashion can be an incredibly rewarding, creative career. Developing a good portfolio is one of the best things you can do to kick-start your journey in fashion and highlight your potential. Here are four tips to help you land your dream job in fashion industry, with the help of a killer portfolio.
Choose The Right Degree
If you don’t yet know what area of fashion you’d like to specialize in, go for a degree that offers a broad introduction to the industry. If you do know what interests you, look for a college offering something more specialized, such as Fashion Photography, Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing or Fashion Management. Since you won’t yet have work experience, your fashion degree helps you show employers that you have the skills they’re looking for. The work you do for your degree can double as your first portfolio, displaying your skills and highlighting a proven record of being able to complete work to tight deadlines. Don’t let finances stand in your way – private lenders can offer great terms on a student loan to help you succeed in reaching your dream.
Practice Your Craft
Even if you don’t have any experience yet, get familiar with the basics of fashion and you can still develop your portfolio by creating sample work. This is the same work you might do for a client, even though the client doesn’t exist. It’s well worth taking the time to do this. A sample portfolio still demonstrates all the same qualities as work done for a real client. It can even help you to gain real clients while you’re waiting to land a full-time role.
Get an Internship and Use It to Network
In a competitive world like fashion, it can be a real struggle to get your foot in the door, especially when you’re newly qualified and don’t yet have any experience. An internship won’t be well paid – some may not be paid at all – but the experience you will gain, even in just a year, will put you in a good position for the rest of your career. The added benefit of an internship in fashion, rather than an entry-level job outside of the field, is the chance to network. Fashion is often regarded as a “who you know” business – so the more opportunities you’re exposed to, the better for your career. If people in your field are used to seeing and speaking to you, you’ll be at the top of their list the next time they need someone with your skills.
Be Active on Social Media
Successful brands rely on a strong social media presence nowadays. Understanding how to run social media pages can be a huge asset, especially if you get the opportunity to work for a smaller company. This is because they are more likely to need versatile, multi-talented employees with a wider skill set. Beyond this, though, social media can be a great outlet to showcase your portfolio and get your talent noticed by potential employers. And, if you ever decide to go into business for yourself, you have a ready-made audience to help kick-start your brand.