As part of our new British Style Society Creative Hub, we’re bringing you a host of new things including advice and tips from experts in the industry. Fashion incorporates a host of career choices and if you love design in any form, we’ve got some fabulous advice from Kate Clancy, a designer at London agency, Greenwich Design. After graduating from Texas State University in 2011, Kate moved to the UK for work experience and before working at Greenwich Design, she did several internships at packaging and branding studios around London so knows the ropes in this rewarding career option.
Take a look at Kate’s top tips and important tools to help your land your dream job in design.
Dealing with rejection
Expect a lot of rejection. Getting into creative industries is tough, as there is so much competition. You definitely will face rejection, even if you are brilliant. Just don’t let these incidents bring you down or get in your way.
Ask for advice
Speak to anyone who can give you any kind of advice. Get your LinkedIn profile up to date and up to a professional standard and use it as the professional networking tool that it is. Getting in touch with people that might be able to help you or put you in touch with someone else that can is very important.
Portfolio and Networking
Show your portfolio to anyone who is willing to look at it. Even if they don’t have work for you, or a job to offer, it’s important to make as many contacts with people as possible. Not to mention, it’s important to practice presenting your work so you become better at it. Get feedback about your portfolio, and use it! Take what people in the industry say into account to make any updates. They are the professionals and they know what a hiring manager or creative director will be looking for.
Follow up
Don’t just email someone a link to your website and tell him/her to check it out. You have to follow up and have some persistence if you really want to be taken seriously. People are busy and need a nudge to take any notice. If people take the time to respond and say “Sorry, we’re not looking for anyone,” ask them if they know anyone who might be. They might ignore your email, but you don’t have anything to lose by asking.
Work experience
Most creatives will find it very difficult to get a job without some work experience under their belt. This can be extremely frustrating when you have a degree and a student portfolio, but unfortunately, a lot of studios and firms will not hire someone who doesn’t have some professional experience. If you find yourself looking for a way to get internships and work placements, be wary of unethical businesses that are just looking to exploit someone for cheap work. They should be paying you something if you are doing valuable work for them. Also, make sure it’s somewhere that you will truly be getting good experience and learning from mentors there, rather than just a company name to put on your CV. Internships, for many people, are the foot in the door to a creative career.
Over the coming months our Creative Hub will be developing and offering a range of advice, tips and courses for anyone interested in fashion careers, whether that’s journalism, design, photography or the many other fabulous choices out there. Join our community to get up to date news on the latest from our hub including opportunities, events and recent posts.
