Thursday, November 21, 2019

Titles, Job Descriptions and Skills in the Fashion Industry

Titles, Job Descriptions and Skills in the Fashion IndustryTitles, Job Descriptions and Skills in the Fashion IndustryPeople working in fashion perform a variety of tasks. Those who work in fashion konzeption might analyze trends in clothing, shoes, and accessories. They might choose design concepts. They might use computer-aided design programs to develop designs. People who work in fashion marketing might visit retailers and convince them to buy certain clothing lines. Those involved in visual design might create photo spreads for fashion magazines and newspapers. People working in fashion can work for a variety of organizations. Some are employed by clothing, shoe, or accessory manufacturers. Others work for design firms, wholesalers, theaters, or dance companies. Some work for fashion magazines. If you are interested in fashion but dont know what specific career you might want, check out this list of fashion job titles. You might also use this list to encourage your employer to c hange the title of your position to fit your responsibilities better. Also use the list of fashion skills when writing your resumes,cover letters, andinterviews. Include some of these skills in your job materialsto demonstrate that you have the skills it takes to succeed in the fashion industry. Most Common Fashion Job Titles species Director An species director is responsible for the visual styling of a particular product. An art director in the fashion industry might work for a fashion magazine, a public relations firm, or a retailer. They have to be very creative and have a sense of what images will help sell a product. Commercial PhotographerCreative DirectorDisplay DesignerEditorial PhotographerGraphic ArtistGraphic DesignerGraphic Production ArtistStudio PhotographerWindow Stylist Buyer/Purchasing Agent Buyers and purchasing agents select clothing, shoes, and/or accessories from clothing manufacturers and wholesalers to sell in retail stores. They work for retail fashion a nd department stores, selecting items they think will be attractive to customers. Buyers and purchasing agents typically have to travel a lot, visiting manufacturing sites and attending fashion shows. They often have degrees in fashion, marketing, and/or business. Account ExecutiveApparel Production CoordinatorArea Brand CoordinatorAssistant BuyerAssistant MerchantFashion BuyerMerchandiserSales AssociateSales ManagerShowroom ManagerStore Manager Fashion Designer A fashion designer creates clothing, shoes, and/or accessories. Fashion designers work in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, clothing companies, theaters, and design firms. Along with artistic skills, most designers need computer skills to use computer-aided design and graphics editing software. Associate DesignerBedding DesignerFashion DirectorStyle SpecialistStylistTechnical DesignerTextile Fabric Colorist Market Researcher A fashion market researcher studies the fashion market to get a sense of what types o f clothing and shoes and accessories people want, as well as who will buy what items, and at what price. They need strong analytical skills they have to read and understand large amounts of data, and convey their findings to retailers, manufacturers, and designers. Brand StrategistMarketing CoordinatorMarketing ManagerMedia PlannerSales Inventory AnalystTrend Forecaster Model A model poses for photographers or the public to help advertise clothing, shoes, and/or accessories. They might also walk in a runway fashion show while wearing a designers clothing. Models work in a variety of conditions, from indoor studios to fashion shows. They often have unpredictable schedules and have periods of unemployment. Art Class ModelFashion CoordinatorFashion Model AgentFitness ModelModeling CoachShowroom Model Top Fashion Skills Attention to Detail Whether you are sewing clothing or ordering products for your boutique, an attention to detail is critical in fashion. Clothing has to be meticu lously made to impress buyers. Storeowners need to keep careful track of their products and prices. Marketing researchers need to keep a close eye on changes in their data. Models need to make sure the products they are modeling are meticulously displayed. Focus and a keen eye are necessary for almost any job in the industry. Color senseFocusPattern gradingPhotogenicTime managementVisualization Business Knowledge Anyone with a hand in the fashion industry needs to understand the ins and outs of the business. This requires more than just knowing the latest fashion trends. Designers need to know costs of materials and labor, and buyers and storeowners need to keep an eye on the market when purchasing items. Without a sense of market and business trends, a talented designer can struggle financially. AdvertisingFundraisingManagementManufacturingMarket researchMerchandisingProduct developmentPrototypingRetailingSales Communication Nearly every job in the fashion industry requires working with others. Designers need to be in constant communication with their team about everything from cost to production to display. Buyers need to communicate with others in their organization to decide on a budget. Art directors for magazines need to communicate with their editors to make sure they have a clear vision for their work. For all these reasons, people in the fashion industry need to have strong verbal and written communication skills. InterpersonalNegotiationNonverbal communicationPromotionVerbal communicationWritten communication Creativity Almost every job in the fashion industry requires some creativity. Designers need to be able to visualize clothing that has not yet been created. Art directors must create visual strategies for modeling products. Storeowners have to think of creative ways to display and sell their products. An open mind and a clear vision for how to market, display, and sell products are important in the industry. FlexibilityImaginationInitiativeSketc hingStylingTextilesVersatility Information Technology Skills People in the design and fashion industry increasingly rely on information technology (IT). Designers might use computer-aided design and graphics editing programs to sketch out designs or to share design ideas with clients. Marketing researchers work with various software to collect and manage data. When applying for a job in fashion, be sure to highlight any relevant IT knowledge that you have. Adobe IllustratorComputer Aided Design (CAD)ECommerceInDesignMicrosoft Office SuitePhotoshopPrimaVisionQuarkWebPDM

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Experienced Athletes and Sports Competitors Resume Template 2018s Top Format

Experienced Athletes and Sports Competitors Resume Template â€" 2018’s Top Format Experienced Athletes and Sports Competitors Resume Template - 2018’s Top Format Create ResumeMaxwell Slater100 Main Street, Cityplace, CA, 91019 Home: (555) 322-7337 Cell: (555) 322-7337 example-email@example. SummaryI have worked at Best Buy as a Head cashier, making sure customers are satisfied and that the front end runs smoothly. I currently work at Sports Authority as the fitness and team authority, stocking items that are out of stock, helping customers with all of there needs, managing co workers to do there best and help them understand the product. I was a college football and track athlete with a strong sense of discipline, a strong work ethic and excellent time management and people skills. Goal-oriented and results-focused individual who has achieved success both in the classroom and on the field.HighlightsTeam buildingAgility drillsMentoringDisciplinedStrong work ethicCustomer serviceSports enthusiastResponsibleDedicatedComputer proficientEnergeticWorks well under pressureAccomplishmentsHigh school state champion in football and track.ExperienceFitn ess and Team AuthoritySeptember 2010 Sports Authority West Des Moines, IAWorked stock out when items were low, Managed the co workers and what needed to be done and how we could increase sales. Helped cashier when lines started to build up, set ad and took it down, Made sure customers were helped and found what they needed!EducationHigh School Diploma: 09 Valley High School West Des Moines, IA, United StatesBuisness William Penn University Oskaloosa, IA, United StatesFootball and track Athletic ScholarshipCustomize ResumeMore Sports Resume TemplatesAthletes and Sports Competitors Resume TemplatesTeam Managers Resume Templates

Monday, November 18, 2019

Its Time for a Wake-Up Call

It’s Time for a Wake-Up Call It’s Time for a Wake-Up Call Most professionals say they’re often tired on the job, and admit their work performance can suffer for it. See the infographic for survey results. It’s Time for a Wake-Up Call 7 in 10 Workers Admit They’re Tired on the Job We asked professionals for their thoughts on working while tired. The ramifications can be costly, as these statistics show. WORKING WHILE TIRED HAPPENS TO MOST PROFESSIONALS How often do you work while tired? 43% Somewhat Often 31% Very Often 25% Not Very Often 1% Never 77% of men 71% of women 86% of 18-34 year olds 71% of 35-54 year olds 50% of age 55+ … said they often work while tired. WHEN PROFESSIONALS ARE TIRED ON THE JOB, WORK SUFFERS How does working while tired affect your work performance?* 52% I can’t focus/get distracted 47% I procrastinate more 38% I’m grumpy/grouchy 29% I make more mistakes 16% It doesn’t affect me 1% Other Lack of sleep costs U.S. companies $63 billion in lost productivity each year.1 Professionals admitted to or heard of others making these mistakes at work while being tired Ordered 500 more computers than were needed Missed a decimal point on an estimated payment and the client overpaid by $1 million Accidentally paid everyone twice Deleted a project that took 1,000 hours to put together Exposed executive compensation to the entire firm MORE THAN HALF OF WORKERS WOULD WELCOME CATCHING SOME Z’s ON THE JOB If your office had a nap room, would you take advantage of it? 55% Yes 31% No 2% Already have a nap room and use it 2% Have a nap room and don’t use it SOME SAY ‘NO’ TO WORKPLACE NAPPING Why would you not use a nap room or take naps at work?** 46% Might make me sleepier 35% Don’t want to be perceived as a slacker 34% Worry about getting work done 16% Other (e.g., can’t sleep in public, never take naps, hard to sleep during the day) accountemps.com 1Insomnia and Performance of US Workers: journalsleep.org/ViewAbstact.aspx?pid=28247 Source: Accountemps survey of more than 1,000 workers in the United States * Multiple responses were permitted ** Based on 337 respondents who would not use a nap room or take naps at work. Multiple responses were permitted. © 2016 Robert Half International Inc. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/Disability/Veterans. Most professionals say they’re often tired on the job, and admit their work performance can suffer for it. See the infographic for survey results.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The Latest in Perks and Comp in Investment Banking

The Latest in Perks and Comp in Investment Banking The Latest in Perks and Comp in Investment Banking UBS tries to stop the insane amount of its bankers leaving for calmer waters by boosting salaries, J.P. Morgan tells its crew to stop tipping the delivery man, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch throws its private wealth employees a meatless bone, giving them new and improved titles without any apparent pay increases.What this all means is UBS bankers unable to find jobs other than at their sinking deeper and deeper by the day firm will be able tobuy a few more cans of PBR this summer to sip away their troubles, delivery men and women at fine and not so fine dining establishments across Manhattan will be nightly drawing straws to see who will be the hapless short straw suckerforced todeliver meals to grunts tipping a mere 10 percent, and another 336 resumes emblazoned with the words Merrill Lynch were just sent into cyberspace.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a Sale

The 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a Sale The 3 Basic Strategies of Closing a Sale One of the hardest lessons for new salespeople to learn is the importance of closing every sale. The close doesnt have to be as difficult as it seems. If you did a good job of presenting the product and responded to the prospects objections, the close follows naturally. However, if things didnt go quite so smoothly, you may need to give the prospect a bit of a nudge to successfully close the sale. Here are a few strategies which may help when the simple approach fails. The Assumptive Close The assumptive close is the most generic and the one to use if you havent been able to fit the prospect to a more customized close. After making the presentation and answering the prospects questions, ask a question that assumes your prospect is about to buy the product. Here are a few examples:? Would you prefer red or blue?Our standard delivery can have this to you by Tuesday, or will you need our rush delivery option?Will ten units do for a start?I can get you a 10% discount if you pay for a year in advance, would that work for you?Will you be having fries or onion rings with your meal? OK, you probably wont use that last one very often. It shouldnt be too difficult to come up with a handful of similar assumptive questions that fit your product(s) or service(s). The Time-Limit Close This is a good one to use if your prospect utters the fatal phrase “Id like to think it over first.” Pause for a beat, then nod thoughtfully and say something like this: “I can certainly understand your wanting to think about this, but I want to let you know now that the model youd like is a popular one and were usually understocked. Id hate for you to be stuck with a model thats not as good a fit just because this ones not available tomorrow!” Or mention a discount that will expire in two days or a promotion such as a gift with purchase thats about to end. Of course, this only works if such a limitation exists â€" never lie to a prospect! You may be able to work with your sales manager to come up with limited-time offers to use if you dont have company-wide ones. The Custom Close If youve qualified the customer well, youve probably gathered a lot of information about their preferences (color, size, features, quality level, the amount theyre ready to spend, etc.). When youre ready to close, look at your notes about the prospects needs and say something like this: “So, you need an LCD TV thats big enough for everyone in the living room to see clearly, that costs not more than $500, and youd prefer it in silver. Are there any other features youd like?” Wait for the prospect to answer, then assuming they say no smile and say... “Luckily our XCL 5560 is a perfect fit for you! It has all those features plus it comes with our advanced sound system, and its yours for just $399. All I need is your signature and Ill have it delivered right to your home by the end of the week.” Still smiling, hand over the contract and point out the signature line. Since youve already accounted for everything the prospect says they want in a TV, its unlikely theyll back out now. If the prospect does hesitate at this point, he likely has some unresolved objections. Youll need to find out what they are and help the prospect overcome them in order to close the sale.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Job References How to Format and Present Them

Job References How to Format and Present Them Job References How to Format and Present Them How do you deliver job references to an executive recruiter or hiring manager? To start, remove ‘References available upon request’ from your resume.You’ve got glowing references. How and when do you put them in front of an executive recruiter or hiring manager? Do you send them along with your resume? Do you walk into the interview with a prepared list of references to call?The first thing most job seekers need to do is delete the phrase, “References available upon request” from their resumes, said Mary Schumacher, a certified professional resume writer who works with Ladders. “I don’t think any resume needs this kind of statement,” she said. “It’s a cliché and not necessary to include.”Beyond that, the rules are similar to resume-formatting guidelines: Use standard file formats and fonts, save files using keywords, and don’t lie, said Schumacher, Steven Van Vreede and Dan Dorotik, also certified professional resume writers who work with Ladders.How to forma t and submit job references:File format: Save the file as a Microsoft Word or PDF document, separate from your resume.File name: Save your references document as either “Professional References,” “(Your Name) references” or simply “References.” Branding consistency: To ensure your references look and feel like the rest of the documents you’ve submitted for a job application, resume writers recommend taking a cover letter and saving it as a new document titled “References” or something similarly descriptive.Cut everything but the header, which contains your name and contact information, Van Vreede suggested. “This way, a job seeker will have a consistent, branded framework for their resume, cover letter and references, giving them a more professional appearance.”Reference information: The list should include at least three references, preferably from your most recent employers. Include name, title, company, business address, e-mail and phone (optional).Make sure contact information is current.Print it: Print several copies of the reference list (in case you are interviewed by multiple people) on high-quality, ivory or white resume paper for an interview, Van Vreede said.Post it: Schumacher noted that many people have references right on their LinkedIn profiles, as quotes from bosses or customers. LinkedIn makes it easy to request recommendations simply by e-mailing those in your network; just click on Recommendations on LinkedIn’s menu.When to submit: Provide references during the interview phase.Submission exceptions: Submit before interviews if you’re in a field where it’s required, such as education, or if specifically asked.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Why you need a time machine to make big decisions

Why you need a time machine to make big decisions Why you need a time machine to make big decisions Knowing the right thing to do provides no advantage unless you actually do it. Our research on scaling uncovered all too many teams and organizations where people were well aware of the pitfalls ahead and could list the steps required to spread some brand of excellence as an organization or change program expanded. Yet they still screwed-up and failed to act on what they knew â€" often suffering from a deadly combination of illusion, incompetence, and impatience, symptoms of what my co-author Huggy Rao and I call a “scaling clusterfug.”Nobel winner Daniel Kahneman’s favorite approach for making better decisions can help you and your team avert such fiascos. This might sound weird, but it’s a form of imaginary time travel. It is called a “premortem.” Kahneman credits psychologist Gary Klein with inventing the premortem technique and using it to help many project teams avert real failures and the ugly postmortems that often follow.A scaling premortem works something like th is: When your team is on the verge of making and implementing a big decision, call a meeting and ask each member to imagine that it is, say, a year later. Split them into two groups. Have one group imagine that the effort was an UNMITIGATED DISASTER. Have the other pretend it was a ROARING SUCCESS. Ask each member to work independently and generate reasons, or better yet, write a story, about why the success or failure occurred.Instruct them to be as detailed as possible and, as Klein emphasizes, to identify causes they wouldn’t usually mention “for fear of being impolitic.” Next, have each person in the “failure” group read their list or story aloud and record and collate the reasons. Repeat this process with the “success” group. Finally, use the reasons from both groups to strengthen your scaling plan. If you uncover overwhelming and impassable roadblocks, then go back to the drawing board.Premortems spur people to use “prospective hindsight,” or, in grammatical terms, to think and talk in “future perfect tense.” So, instead of thinking “We will devote the next six months to spreading patient-centered care,” travel to the future and think “We will have devoted six months to spreading patient-centered care.” Now comes the critical element: You imagine that a concrete success or failure has occurred and look “back from the future” to tell a story about the causes. For example, in 2001, Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy and her team wrote a make-believe 2005 Wall Street Journal article about the company’s resounding success. This mock article listed performance metrics and quotes from experts about the specific steps that Xerox had taken to achieve a stunning turnaround during the prior four years. This “look back from the future” motivated and guided them over the coming years as they brought back Xerox from the verge of bankruptcy and transformed it into a viable company.Pretending that a success or failure has already occurred †" and looking back and inventing the details of why it happened - seems almost absurdly simple. Yet renowned scholars including Kahneman, Klein, and Karl Weick show that this approach generates better decisions, predictions, and plans. Looking “back from the future” helps people overcome blind spots, especially to bridge short-term and long-term thinking (a hallmark of successful scaling, as I discuss in this earlier LinkedIn piece). Weick shows that it is far easier to imagine the detailed causes of a single outcome (such as a horrible failure) than to imagine many possible outcomes and try to explain why each might have happened. In addition, analyzing a single event as if it HAS already occurred rather than pretending it MIGHT occur makes it seem more concrete and likely to actually happen, which motivates people to devote more attention to explaining it. Indeed, experiments by Wharton Business School’s Deborah Mitchell and her colleagues showed that prospective hindsight, or imagining that an event has already occurred, “increases the ability to correctly identify reasons for future outcomes by 30%.”Looking back from the future also dampens excessive optimism, especially if the imagined outcome is a failure, mediocre, or falls just short of being as wonderful as expected. Kahneman and many other researchers have found that most people overestimate the chances that good things will happen to them and underestimate the odds they will face failures, delays, and setbacks. He adds “in general, organizations really don’t like pessimists” and when naysayers raise risks and drawbacks, they are viewed as “almost disloyal.” Klein’s research and work with leadership teams indicates that premortems undercut the “damn-the-torpedoes attitude often assumed by people who are overinvested in a project.” In the hands of a skilled facilitator, a premortem creates a competition where members feel accountable for raising obstacles that others haven†™t. Klein says: “The whole dynamic changes from trying to avoid anything that might disrupt harmony to trying to surface potential problems.”As well-orchestrated premortem can also shatter illusions that everyone on a team concurs with a decision that is about to be made or that everyone believes an effort is going well and will continue to do so. Powerful and overconfident leaders often reward people who agree with them and punish those who are brave enough (or perhaps dumb enough) to disagree with their delusions. The resulting corrosive conformity is evident when people don’t raise private doubts, known risks, and inconvenient facts.Klein describes a premortem with a Fortune 50 company where a senior executive imagined that a billion dollar environmental project had failed because the CEO who championed it had retired â€" and the new CEO wasn’t committed to the project’s success. This possibility had never occurred to the CEO was pushing the project. Similarly, when Hug gy Rao ran a premortem with an executive team that was on the verge of launching a company-wide innovation project, the Senior Vice-President in charge admitted the team had just raised numerous roadblocks and “ticking time bombs” that they never had mentioned before â€" even though they had been planning the rollout for months. In a proper premortem, voicing such impolitic bad news and risks is safe, expected, and encouraged.Finally, in addition to imaginary time travel, another way to reduce the risk of scaling culsterfugs is to pretend that, rather than working on your own scaling project, you are coaching someone else. Ask yourself and your team something like “If you were advising another team in the same situation you are in right now, what would you tell them?” Harvard’s Max Bazerman demonstrates that people are less prone to irrational optimism when they make predictions about the fate of others’ projects or businesses rather than their own. Bazerman observes tha t, when it comes to home construction or renovation projects, most people estimate that their friends’ projects will run 25% to 50% late and over budget. But those same people estimate their own projects will be “completed on time and near the projected costs.”The world needs dreamers and their dreams. Without them, there would be no new and wonderful inventions and there would never be any inspired new ideas to spread far and wide. But dreams of what is possible are best balanced with hard facts and realistic projections about what is probable. Looking back from the future and imagining that you are giving someone else advice increase the odds that the dreams you choose to chase do, in fact, come true.This  article  first appeared on LinkedIn.