Going to a school in the city, where wearing sweatpants to class is not an option, and where every other person is majoring in public relations or journalism, it is easy to figure out what half the girls at Suffolk want to do when they grow up. That aspiration is to work in the fashion industry. The fashion world is notoriously one of the most difficult areas of work to get into. Luckily, there are a lot of ways to boost your resume, while maintaining good grades in your classes, especially in the city of Boston!
1.)Â The first, and most obvious thing that you might want to do to make your resume a little more fashionable, is get a job in a clothing store. If you are someone who has never worked in retail, it can be demanding and it can be very slow. However, on breaks from school, retail experience is such a good thing to have, especially if it is experience working in a clothing store. Starting out working at a store in the mall can lead to even better jobs in the future at higher-end boutiques.
In Boston, there are so many walk-able shopping areas that would love to hire college students, especially for the busy holiday months and summertime. Not to mention, you get an employee discount, which is something I think every student can appreciate! Newbury Street, Faneuil Hall, and the shops at the Prudential are all in walking distance from Suffolk, and great places to start applying if you are looking for a job.
2.) Another really good activity to get involved with, no matter what type of career you are looking into, is writing for your school publications. School magazines and newspapers have multiple sections, so whatever your passion is, you can easily write about it. If interested in fashion, contact the head of your Her Campus branch and get involved! Being a good writer, or at least putting in effort to write an article for a newspaper or online publication, shows that you are putting your English and Journalism classes to good use.
An added bonus is that you are getting involved with something on campus, and making some friends in the process! Writing is not just essays and lab reports anymore. It may not be Glamour or Vogue (right now), but being published anywhere is really exciting and only adds to your resume and portfolio.
3.) Finding an internship is something that all college students are excited about and dread at the same time. Finding a good internship can be just as challenging as finding a job after graduation. A lot of internships, especially ones in fashion, require experience in the field that the internship takes place. But isn’t that what an internship is for, to gain experience?
There are a lot of ways to gain experience before applying for an internship. Sites such as Rent the Runway, CollegeFashionista, College Candy, and HerCampus, all offer programs designed to give collegiate women, or trendy campus men, an inside look into the fashion business. Some of these sites you can gain internship credit for, but if your school is strict on what is considered an internship and won’t allow this, it is still great experience to say you were a campus representative or blogger for a large fashion website.
4.) If you get the opportunity to study abroad, take it! Especially at Suffolk, where the study abroad programs are the same price as attending school in Boston! Why not spend a semester in another country? When picking a location, think about the classes that the country offers. In Italy, for example, there are a few classes aimed at fashion marketing and design. When you are abroad, it is important to take classes that may not be offered at your home school, especially because you are most likely taking all electives. Your experience abroad will say a lot about who you are as a person to employers. Packing your life into two suitcases to move across the world for 4 or 5 months shows independence, maturity, and worldliness! Also, many of the countries in Europe are known for their fashion, and it is easy to see multiple countries on the weekends while abroad. Paris fashion week anyone?
5.) There are a lot of books on getting started in the fashion industry. Two of my favorites that I recommend any college fashionista to purchase are, The Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider’s Guide to Careers in Fashion and Lauren Conrad’s Style.
Unfortunately, we cannot all be Lauren Conrad and casually work as an intern for Teen Vogue, where our biggest decision in our lives is to date a hot guy with a beach house or go to Paris. But, we can dream!
Building your resume with some of these tips is the best way to jump-start your dream career in the fashion industry with a busy college schedule. See you someday in New York!