6 Quick Steps To Get The Job, Move To NYC and Live Your Dreams!

6 Quick Steps to Get the Job, Move to NYC and Live Your Dreams!
from a fashion designers perspective by Kali Simba
Copyright 2008, Kali Simba, 6 Quick Steps to Get the Job, Move to NYC and Live Your Dreams! from a fashion designers perspective, Artwork by Kali Simba, This Ebook may be freely distributed!
Table of Contents Intro..................................................................................................................................3 Step1 Prepare Resume....................................................................................................3 Sample Resume...............................................................................................................4 Step 2 Get Summer Internship.........................................................................................5 Step 3 Summer Housing...................................................................................................6 Step 4 Work It!..................................................................................................................6 Step 5 Send Out Resume for Full-Time Job.....................................................................7 Important Skills.................................................................................................................8 Step 6 Housing, This time Its for Real!...........................................................................11 Manhattan and Boroughs Map.......................................................................................12 Hudson County, NJ Map.................................................................................................13 Congratulations!..............................................................................................................14 Glossary..........................................................................................................................15 Climb Your Way to the Top of the Design Ladder...........................................................16 Pay Scale.......................................................................................................................17 References.....................................................................................................................18 About the Author.............................................................................................................19
Looking for a fashion job right after college? Be the rst in your class to land a job that you desire in one of the greatest cities in the world! Its the fashion capitol of the world, New York City. Its were dreams come true if you make them happen. You can win, you can succeed. You can make it! These steps come from a young designer who was the rst person in her college class to land a fashion design job right after school. More about her later. This ebook is for you! So lets start again. Are you ready to land your fashion design job straight out of college in New York City? Do images of the big city intimidate you? New York City is a fascinating city. Look at it as a fresh start in a very unique place. You will have the opportunity to grow to unknown heights, meet tons of very interesting people and work with the very best in the industry. Here are 6 very easy steps that will lead you to your dream. Junior Year College, Start Early! 1) Prepare Resume The earlier you start, the better. Prepare your resume. Get assistance from your schools career center. A clean concise one page resume is sufcient. Sample Resume This resume is sufcient to use for internship and your rst full-time fashion job. Feel free to make variations to suit your personality. See sample resume on the following page.

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Jana Lewis 234 West Street Phoenix, AZ 29112 (891) 555-5555 jlewis@fashionschool.net __________________ Objective To obtain a position as a fashion design intern at a company that designs exclusive high fashion womens apparel in New York City. Notable Achievements 2005: Awarded All American Trophy for Womens Cross Country team as best team player. Relevant Skills Hand Sketch Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Excel Bilingual English and Mandarin Employment History Carmelas Accessories Boutique, Phoenix, AZ Intern, Summer of 2006 - Present * Assisted in all aspects of selling * Developed and organized a charity fundraiser fashion show at Carmelas boutique. Raised $5,000 of which a portion went to the local childrens travel club. Summer 2006. * Arranged store displays. * Created and designed a new fashion headband concept. Product was produced with the financial backing of boutique owner. Sold approximately 50 units per month during the spring/summer of 2007 which resulted in over $19,000 in sales. Voice Now Telephone Company, Phoenix, AZ Cutomer Service Representative, Summer 2005 * Assisted customers with trouble shooting service malfunctions. Assisted both English and Mandarin speaking customers. Education 2008 Expected date of Graduation, Bachelors of Arts, Fashion Design Fashion University, Phoenix, AZ
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2) Get Summer Internship in NYC But wait, where will I live? Hold on, were getting to that! Remember its one step at a time. Start by nding companies that you would love to work for. The earlier you start, the better. Start looking for internship possibilities in February. Most college fashion design programs offer summer internships abroad. This is a great opportunity. Try this route if it interests you. The price normally includes room and board. Most of these summer programs are in cities like Paris, Milan and London. If you want to do an internship in NYC then rst ask your school if they are afliated with any schools there (in NYC). This could be a possible way to cut costs. If youre nding an internship on your own, dream big and identify the brands that you love. Call at least 10 different companies and keep calling until you land your internship. If you land the internship of your dreams great! If not, great also. This is your chance to learn with any company. Your main goal is to get in and get the experience so that you can move on. This means that you have to be exible and open to learning. The fashion industry is very consolidated so most companies own many brands. This is good for you as an intern because, once you are registered with Human Resourse for a particular company then year after year if you start even earlier than your junior year you can ask to work with another brand within the same company. They will already be familiar with your work habits which is a plus for you if you wish to build your relationship within one company. Key to nding an internship in NYC
Do a search on http://www.fashioncareers.com or http://www.stylecareers.com You can also use other job search engines like craigslist, hotjobs or careerbuilder. This will give you access to a companys human resources or job contact details. Stylecarers.com is an excellent site. Most major corporations are listed here. If you see a brand or ad that interests you, email the contact person who is listed on that ad. Tell them that you are interested in assisting as an intern for this particular position. Human resources will let you know if that particular position is available to have an intern. Pay: This is something that should be discussed up front. FYI-most internships only pay for transportation. That is, getting back and forth to work everyday. Do not take it personally if you do not get an internship right away. Large corporations have to go through a process of budget approval that seems to take longer than at a smaller company. It may seem like it should be a quick and easy answer but, it could
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take weeks before you get a nal answer so, follow up and do not get discouraged. Keep it moving. Do not wait for one company to call you back. Keep going to the next and the next opportunity. 3) Housing: Ive landed my internship now what? Celebrate as you are on your way! Now you will need a place to stay and money for food and fun. If you started early enough as suggested you still have plenty time to look for a place to stay. Use your contacts rst, thats family and close friends. Is there anyone that you know who lives in NYC who can let you stay for free. Can you afford to do a sublease just for the summer months that you will be there? Be creative, ask your schoolmates if theyve landed a job or are doing internships as well the same time you are. A group of you and your friends can share an apartment! 4) Work It! Work your summer internship 100%. Do it well and learn all that you can. Meet as many people as possible and get their business cards. If you do not know Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator already, make sure that you learn these programs at your internship. Take initiative, if its not part of your job, ask if for a few hours per day or week you can learn these programs. You will more than likely use one or both in your rst job to create at sketches of garments. If you are not able to do an internship in NYC or abroad, do one at home in a fashion company or as close to a fashion related position that you can obtain. Remember you are looking to gain experience so take it from wherever you can. This will help you in the future if you are going to have your own fashion business and also to grow in this industry if you continue to work for others.
Now that you have your internship. On the weekends make time to explore different parts of NYC and its boroughs also nearby New Jersey towns (they really are not foreign countries), you will need a place to live when you land your full-time job. With this attitude you are keeping all options open. Advice
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March, Senior Year 5) Send out Resume for Full-Time Job Start sending out resumes in March so that you can get used to the communication process which will be similar to the way that you obtained your internship. First utilize the contacts that you made during the summer. Remember the business cards of the friends that you connected with in step 4? Utilizing your contacts are a more quick way to gain entry into a company. Make sure that you are applying to companies that you can see yourself working in for a year or so. Now that youve had your internship experience this should aid you in what type of position that interest you. There are so many aspects of design. You can start off as an assistant in design, merchandising, sales, buying, technical design, production, sourcing, fabric research and development, pattern making and in the cad department. Again, keep sending out resumes for positions that interest you. Be sure to schedule your interviews in a time period that does not affect your school work. If you need to travel out of state to NYC, can you schedule interviews on a Thursday or Friday so that you can be back to school by Monday? You can also work with a head hunter. There are many head hunter agencies in New York City related to fashion design. There is 24/Seven, Gromwell Group, Project Solvers and many others. You can register with them for free and they will advise you of any jobs that t your background and interests related to fashion.
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Important Skills Fashion Designers frequently use the following skills, knowledge, and abilities: Design - Knowledge of current trends in styles, colors, prints and other decorative trimming. Knowledge of design techniques that are cost efficient. Able to sketch collections fully and come up with new ideas constantly. Sell- Ability to sell/present seasonal collections to design directors department heads, and sales team for approval to start sample process. All parties have to be convinced that the collection will sell therefore, concept presentations are not for the shy. Designer has to have confidence in his ideas and be able to present them during concept presentations. Active Learning - Being aware of price points of fabrics and trims. Attending fabric and print trade shows for new concepts and materials to adopt. Reading fashion publications and keeping abreast of sourcing trends. For example if the price of metal has been on the rise then, a collection may not have much decorative metal trimmings. Knowledge of your competitors and their price points. Communication- Able to direct the design team that assists in building the collection. This includes interns, assistant and associate designers. Some companies have specific woven and knit designers. Head designer has to communicate with the entire team on the direction of the collection. Problem Solver- Able to settle any misunderstandings in regards to style development and can quickly come up with new ideas to solve a problem. If a sample does not come out looking the way design expected, designer has the skill to communicate adjustments to spec technician or must be able to decide to drop the style and replace with new idea immediately. Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. As a designer one works with an entire team of people in order to coordinate the process of sample making and production approvals. This applies to interacting with in house departments such as the following: sales: Design normally generates style sheets for the sales team to use during market week. This computer generated catalog normally includes a brief description of each product with fabric details. It also shows the many colorways a particular garment will be sold in.
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Design also works with the sales team to get feedback on what the buyers want and any changes that the buyers require for a particular style, design has to act on the changes that the buyers want by putting into work a new sample reflecting the change. production: Designs role with production is to make sure that if any questions arise during a garments approval process that a representative from design is ready and available to answer these questions. There could be a need to confirm a print layout on a strike-off or if there are any concerns about fabric quality, design can reconfirm with their production counterpart. technical design: Design normally works with technical design during the entire process of a garments life. Initial sketches are presented to the tech person to go over new styling details for each delivery. Design has to make sure that the technical designer is fully aware of all styling details because, tech creates the specs that will be sent to the manufacturer. Any prolonged delays in the process could result in a style not being in-house for market week. Design also has to attend fittings to make sure that the garments overall look and fit is what they conceived. cad (computer aided design): Design works with this department when new artwork is needed for a style. For example, if a pair of cotton capri pants are designed to have a floral print, design is responsible for giving cad any purchased artwork that was used to conceive the idea plus any additional requests to be represented in the final work. Design tells the cad team what colorways to print the artwork in and approves the repeat or border or placed art pattern. Design has to make sure that artwork such as a print, embroidery, applique is affordable. They work with the cad team to stay within the allowed price for each art work. product development: Product development sends out the packages of style development which includes fabric, artwork, and in some cases specs to the manufacturers. Design works with this team to make sure that the packages are correct as if the wrong fabric details go out to factories, this could delay the fabric sample yardage making process. Product development develop also raises any alarms in terms of fabric yardage availability and tracks samples for the design team.
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colorist: Designs role with the colorist is to make sure that they have all pitch sheets and color standards necessary to approve a garments color for sale sample making and for production. This also includes pitch sheets for prints yarn dyes, embroideries and appliques. If the colorist has a question then design is responsible for making sure that all questions are answered right away as to not hold up the process. This is basically the designers role in coordinating with other in-house departments. Its very important to follow the companys time and action calendar and work with the above mentioned departments to meet the calendar deadlines. The ultimate goal is to have correct samples in-house for market week and to have production samples approved so that mass production can begin and delivery schedules to stores can be kept on time according to calendar. Design is copied on emails from most of the departments listed above so that they can make sure that the sample making process is going smoothly.

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6) Housing, This time Its for Real!
Once you have your job start date conrmed. Make sure to immediately start looking for housing. Again, rst use the resources that you may already have which includes friends and family. See who you can share an apartment with until you earn enough money to live on your own. Also check online for roommate searches. Can you afford to live in New York City? If so, by all means live where you can afford and where you will be happy. If you need to seek alternatives, try other boroughs such as Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx or Staten Island. These are not foreign countries. Some communities are very accessible by train or bus or even water ferry. Do not forget about New Jersey. Hudson county has excellent towns that are easily accessible by bus, water ferry or Path Train http://www.panynj.gov/ CommutingTravel/path/html/ . There are cities such as North Bergen, West Advice New York, Weehawken, Guttenberg, Union City, Jersey and Hoboken that are right across the Hudson river. In a lot of cases, rent and the selling price of condos is less expensive than New York City. You can also get a higher square footage for your space in New Jersey. See the next 2 pages for maps of Hudson county and New York and its boroughs sometimes we do not realize whats next door to us. This could result in saving a ton of money or nding the space that you really want. This is just a start. If you desire to venture out further please explore but, make sure you can easily commute with no problem.
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New York City and its Boroughs Map

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Hudson County, New Jersey Map
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Congratulations, as you now have your rst job and home! Give your job
all that youve got and when its time to move on, do so. You will know when the time is right. If you plan on having your own business you may want to work for a few years at other companies before you quit and do your business full-time. The idea is to learn while you earn. Learn all aspects of the design process. Make at least one friend in every department (sales, tech design, pattern making, buying, merchandising, production, art/cad, and so on). Continue this pattern as you move from job to job as you increase your income and your network of friends and associates. When new to any city you may want to join clubs or groups to help you get acclimated to your new environment. New York City has tons of groups and organizations for any interest that you may have. You can check meetup.com or do a general web search for groups or clubs that interest you. You will soon gain friends from work and you social activities. Having a social circle outside of your work associates will help you in getting more comfortable and more varied perspectives on your new environment.

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Glossary CAD computer aided design. Most companies use a software called U4ia. This program allows the user to put a pattern into repeat such a oral print. Adobe Photoshop a program that allows the user to use creative concepts in developing artwork. Adobe Illustrator create ats and illustrations for any kind. Sourcing the ability to manage a products cost by getting initial price quotes and negotiating quote to meet your companys margin goals. Placing product with the right manufacturer that has the capacity to produce the item in the fabric or yarn/knit quality that your design team requests. Fabric Research and Development being responsible for bringing in new fabrics season after season and reporting on new fabric directions and trends. This enlightens and inspires the design team. Working with fabric vendors that meet the quality and price points of your product and the ability to challenge the vendor to come up with ways to use his resources to meet your price points. Budget an extremely large mass appeal to the largest buying audience. Huge product quantities are produced and sold at a very discount price. Moderate very large mass appeal targeted to a very large buying audience. Large product quantities are produced and prices are affordable to the masses. Designer large mass appeal targeted to a buying audience that can afford to purchase fashion with innovation and high quality and or novelty materials. Couture appeals to an exclusive buying audience who can purchase custom items. Very limited and exclusive. Not mass produced. Head Hunter a person who works for an agency or owns their own agency and performs the task of matching clients with jobs that t their clients interest and skill level. The job seeker does not pay for this service.

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Climb your way to the top of the design ladder! These are some of the positions that you can aspire to with a career in fashion design. These are only examples. Different companies may term them differently and of course, you can always change the course that you are on to target new goals and objectives.
EVP of Design
Design Director
Senior Designer
Designer
Associate Designer
Assistant Designer
Design Intern
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Pay Scale: According to Vaults Career Guide to the Fashion Industry, the pay scale for New York City varies. Entry level assistant designers can earn between $20-$30,000, $30,000 $45,000 for associate designers and $60,000 plus for experienced designers. This gives you a very general idea of the salary scale in design. Each company is unique and pay will be reected on your experience, the companys budget and your negotiation skills.
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References http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=15 http://www.realtor.com/hudsoncounty/nbregion1.asp?st%3Dnj%26poe% 3Drealtor&poe=realtor http://books.google.com/books?id=g9EH2PYGxkQC&dq=industry+pay+scale+for +fashion+designers&pg=PA30&ots=cM1zqNSaLb&sig=rtn8qckeits3RXgmjXGa4pp0E8&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fq%3Dindustry%2Bpay%2Bscale% 2Bfor%2Bfashion%2Bdesigners%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den% 26start%3D0%26sa%3DN&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1&cad=legacy#PPA30,M1
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About the Author: Kali Simba has worked in the fashion industry for companies in New York City for the past eight years. She was the rst in her college class to move to New York City and work in the fashion industry as an assistant designer. She advanced up to associate designer and has also worked as a sourcing and production manager. While at one of her corporate jobs she started her online boutique http://www.newyorkaccents.com which focuses on creative and fun womens fashion accessories. These include t-shirts, necklaces and bangles in exciting colors and at moderate price points. The new luxury collection Kali, incorporates fashion with innovation and exquisite high quality design details. This collection combines art with fashion and utilizes dual functionality in the Jenny bag and the Hip Pak. Visit this collection at: http://www.newyorkaccents.com/ kaac.html Kali knows what its like to leave a small city, Washington, DC and move to a large metropolis. Shes gone through a bad landlord to having her apartment burglarized twice and to nally owning her own home and fashion accessories business. If you have questions please ask! To Your Dreams! Kali Simba email: kali.6quicksteps@yahoo.com http://newyorkaccents.com Your Online Accessories Boutique!
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6 Quick Steps To Get The Job, Move To NYC and Live Your Dreams!

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6 Quick Steps To Get The Job, Move To NYC and Live Your Dreams!

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6 Quick Steps to Get the Job, Move to NYC and Live Your Dreams!

from a fashion designers perspective by Kali Simba

6) Housing, This time Its for Real!

New York City and its Boroughs Map

Hudson County, New Jersey Map

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