Working in Visual Merchandising

Today I wanted to start the "Career" section on my blog. I am going to first talk about what I do/my experience and then, later on, start to write future posts about breaking into the fashion industry and the different kinds of jobs that exist.

I consider Visual Merchandising to be one of those hidden careers that a lot of people don't know exist. For instance, before I started working in visual my family had no clue what it was. I guess they thought the clothes magically put themselves out onto the selling floor, the mannequins dressed themselves or the most famous, the sales associate did it all. Being a former sales associate I know that your first priority is customer service, not merchandising. Most customers don't realise all of the work that goes into making the store look presentable and making a memorable experience (which can be a good sometimes; impulse purchasing, 'adding more to their basket').

I got the classic sales associate job when I was 16 and started to dread going to work after a year or so. So, when I finished high school and started university I jumped into a part-time merchandising job. Hands-down the best 'career' move I ever made. The people I work with are so much nicer and a lot easier to work with. And overall the job is just more appealing to me than sales for one main reason; clothes can't talk.

Personally for me working in-store doing visual merchandising isn't something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, even though lots of people do and have rewarding careers. I see visual as my first career while I'm in university. I hope my second career is working for a retailer in their corporate office. Who knows one day I may even be making visual directives and designing stores. But, for right now I love my visual job and everyone I've met. 

If you love the business side of fashion I would suggest looking into visual merchandising as a potential job or a starting point to launch your career. Some great job sites to look at are:

Style Careers
Style Nine to Five
Fashionista Careers
Business of Fashion Careers
Indeed

'live what you love'

xoxo,

Lisa-Marie

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