How to Apply Fashion Apprentice | Career

The process of applying for an internship is similar to that of an entry-level role application. The recruitment process generally requires candidates to produce written applications, from resumes or CVs and cover letters or short written applications, to creative portfolios, interviews, and thorough research. on the company.

To help guide junior talent in their application process for fashion internships, BoF Careers gathers advice from career coaches, industry experts, and recent interns to help with your entry-level role application today.

Do Your Homework

Before making contact with a company or submitting an application, you should research your business, from its history and core values, to your target customers, key messages, and leadership.

These people are looking for [applicants] invested in their company, says Cambridge Dantzler, a former digital merchandising intern at Louis Vuitton and a Howard University student. They need to know that you understand what they expect, what they are proud of; they want to know you are serious, not just about the internship, but the internship at their company.

Researching companies can help you understand what you value in an organization. Deloitte Welcome to the Gen-Z report found 77 percent of respondents stated the importance of working in an organization whose values ​​align with their own. You can then refer back to these values ​​in your app.

When I did research on Louis Vuitton, I saw that they were committed not only to sustainability, but also to diversity, equity and inclusion, Dantzler added. Doing my research not only prepared me, it pushed me to do even better.

Companies need to know that you understand what they expect; what they are proud of.

The number of online resources can be overwhelming, from a company website or company branding page to articles or interviews if the business and its leaders are well known. As a result, time your research carefully.

You can become consumed, spending 12 hours a day, seven days a week, trying to do this, and you’ll make yourself sick and hate the industry, says Joy Campbell, director of brand partnerships at the Graduate Fashion Foundation. Treat it like nine to five: take a break for lunch, make sure you have a clear and concise plan for what you’re going to do with your day.

In addition to understanding the business at hand, stay up-to-speed with the industry you want to work in. A comprehensive understanding of your field will impress during the interview.

Being well versed in your contemporary industry, culture and fashion segment is invaluable and can empower your critical eye and emerging voice, says Kirstin Newell, a student at Drexel University and a social media intern at a Chicago-based retail platform.

Your research should also include understanding whether an internship is paid or not. Unpaid internships are widespread, both within and outside the fashion industry, and globally. According to the NACE survey of more than 5,000 interns in 2020, nearly 40 percent said they were unpaid.

If salary is unclear, contact the HR team to inquire about compensation before you submit your application and receive in writing the financial commitments made. Wherever possible, you should not compromise on salary.

If you accept an unpaid position, understanding your legal rights is very important. For example, British law forbids an unpaid internship that lasts more than a month or if the intern does work that no one else in the business can do. In the US, unpaid internships can be longer but the US Department of Labor stipulates that they should be limited to the period during which the internship provides useful learning for the intern, among other things other legal requirements.

Write Compact and Structured Applications

Your CV or resume should be a snippet, not an in-depth narrative, of your academic and work history, and any extracurricular activities or abilities that made you stand out.

For CV, my biggest thing is to be concise [and] points. I don’t want to see more than one page for entry-level roles. And only [include] most relevant experiences. I don’t want you to waste space on your photos. If you’re going to have a personal statement, explain who you are, because I’m going to scan that and think, where can I put you? I don’t need to know that you are family-oriented or enthusiastic, says Campbell.

When applying for a role in the creative industries, you may be tempted to show your creative flare in your CV but save that for your portfolio or cover letter.

If they are too creative, [they] will not [be] understood. [Recruiters] will receive thousands of CVs and you need to get the headlines, says Eugenia Mirri, fashion career coach at Istituto Marangoni and former talent acquisition specialist at Gucci. If [you] have work experience, [that] information [should be] above, from newest to oldest; same with education.

Although the process is time-consuming, your CV or resume should be tailored to meet the requirements of each job you are applying for. This could prove important for recruiters to see the application in the first place. Often, organizations that receive a large number of applications will use software that scans for specific words that match the job description, so entering those keywords can help reduce the risk of missing out.

You should print job specifications, highlight keywords in them, and make sure you reflect them in your every communication.

Your portfolio, CV, and cover letter should change for each job you choose. It should never be the same and if it is, that’s where you go wrong, says Campbell. You should print job specifications, highlight keywords in them, and make sure you reflect them in your every communication.

Your cover letter is then where you can expand your skills and craft a narrative around yourself. The cover letter should be concise and not a copy of the information on your CV.

Pinpoint some of your key skills and values ​​that align with your role and organization and make the relationship clear. If possible, pass the letter on to the recruiter or hiring manager, and make references throughout the company, to show that you’ve researched the business and care about your application’s readers.

A portfolio is very important because at the end of the day, it will demonstrate every skill and it will get you a job, Hywel Davies, director of the fashion program at Central Saint Martins, previously told BoF.

Indeed, for a fashion designer, your portfolio should offer insight into your design, creative vision and expertise, from sketches to samples to photo shoots. Grounding your portfolio in a cultural zeitgeist also suggests commercial knowledge and understanding of the wider context and is essential for demonstrating your process and development.

Most of the time, you will find in the final portfolio [creations]. For designers and managers who will be hiring for internships, they want to understand what is behind the collection, how did you find this material, how do you [created] this embroidery, said Mirri.

Portfolios aren’t meant for designers: whether they’re writers, illustrators, stylists, or visual merchandisers, creating a physical or digital home for your work will make it easier for you to share with potential employers or collaborators. For example, the author can use Scrapbook to compile works published online, which means only one URL to share in an app.

If possible, your portfolio should be tailored to the job you are applying for to ensure you speak directly to the criteria for the role or company.

Your portfolio, CV and letter should be cohesive. I don’t want to see on your CV that you are a menswear designer [an interest in] sustainability, but then you get a portfolio that just wears women’s clothing and uses synthetic materials, says Campbell.

Consider Your Cross-Platform Personal Branding

You will enter an industry where creativity, process and branding matter. So make sure you understand that and reflect on what you do, continued Campbell. You have to make sure that every touch point tells the same story about you. That includes Instagram.

Your online profile, such as Instagram or TikTok, can give recruiters insight into your creative aesthetic, personal branding, but also personal life, so create your online presence with care.

[Accounts] have to be up to date with their aesthetic if they are a designer. They need to focus on their collection and we recommend to [build it up] slowly, added Mirri. [Otherwise,] we recommend making [your account] personal.

Hiring managers and line managers want to understand whether this person can thrive. Show empathy, flexibility; Be humble.

You can also treat LinkedIn like a portfolio while the less visually appealing social media space is full of recruiters and professionals who can instantly access everything they might need to know about you, so be active and professional on the platform.

A girl who wanted to get into PR on Boohoo made this beautiful PR pack, took a picture of it and tagged it [on LinkedIn]. It has thousands of likes and Boohoo team [invited her] for the interview, Campbell said. You have to market yourself.

Show Soft Skills at Interview

Indeed, part of the application process will inevitably involve at least one interview. For some, like Dantzler, it took three interviews with various individuals at Louis Vuitton to pinpoint where he would thrive in the business.

View interviews as conversations, suggests Dantzler. Knowing that only [makes it] more approachable, because interviews at Vuitton, on a corporate level, are scary, especially if you’ve never worked in a fashion internship. My first step is to make sure that I am confident in my skills, and that I know what I can bring to the table.

If this is your first internship, recruiters should understand that you don’t have all the essential skills yet. So, when preparing for your interview, focus on showing your soft skills, including a positive attitude and aptitude for learning.

Hiring managers and line managers want to understand whether this person can improve, Mirri said. Show empathy, flexibility; Be humble.

Under the pressure of an interview, it’s easy to forget your talking points and lose your confidence. But in general, recruiters will only interview you if they believe your application is strong enough to work for their company. The interview is to help them understand if they can enable your growth, and if so, where.

Make a list of all your accomplishments that you have done in organizations and internships, research, even in class. This can greatly increase self-confidence, says Newell.

Also consider what skills you can provide beyond the expected academic transcript or passion for a role. As the next generation of talent and a representative of the next generation of consumers, you can offer insight into the demographic brands they are trying to reach and therefore represent their workforce.

Next week, we’ll learn how to impress in your internship and make the most of it from office etiquette and email to advice on networking and relationships with colleagues.