Gaining experience
Getting relevant experience is essential. Many employers recruit through internships, placement programmes, or work experience programmes. Overall, additional experience will boost your employment prospects by helping to build a network of contacts. Most of your graduate competition will have degree-related work experience.
Types of opportunities
Most fashion internships are short-term (usually a fixed period between three months to a year) and generally unpaid, but will give you a more hands-on experience. Many employers will treat internships in the same way as full-time employment, so when a job role asks for 'at least one year’s experience' you can include this type of experience in your calculation.
Check out your favourite designers to see if they are offering fashion internships. It is also worth looking into the less obvious areas of fashion design for placement opportunities such as the costume departments of film, television and theatre companies.
Search for fashion internships at:
Placements are a great way to gain substantial experience, help you to build contacts and gain an understanding of an organisation.
On some degrees, work placements are part of the programme, whilst on others you can choose to complete a placement as one of your modules.
To learn more about completing a placement, you can contact the Placements team in the Careers and Employability Service.
Search for placements at:
Learn more about taking a placement
Many students from the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Arts choose to take a Self-Employed Placement. This allows you to work for yourself during your placement year and receive support from the University's Student Startup Team. You will have access to funding opportunities, networking events and workshops.
Learn more about Self-Employed Placements
It is worth considering the voluntary sector for work experience - this could be a valuable way to build up your skills and knowledge in this field. Our Volunteering Bank provides local opportunities to undertake alongside your studies, listing roles such as:
- Wardrobe Assistant Volunteer at the Kings Theatre
- Environmental Borrow Bag Creator with Final Straw Foundation
Learn more about our Volunteering Team
You might also like to check out the Students' Union and see what relevant volunteering opportunities they have. There could be a multitude of options for you to gain excellent experience!
Work shadowing is an introduction to many areas of the fashion industry, here you spend time with an experienced professional, learning about what they do.
TargetJobs has a page dedicated to gaining work experience in the fashion industry,
Work experience weeks are a good way to get a short but intense feel for how a particular role works and are a helpful way to find out more about a job you think you’d like.
FashionWorkie and Fashion United are a great platforms for finding short term work experience.
Where to find work experience opportunities
There are plenty of ways to find work experience in the fashion and textile industry. Some key online platforms include:
Speculative applications
You might find it tricky to find advertised opportunities within the fashion industry, so a speculative approach could be crucial for you to secure some work experience. This involves sending a CV and cover letter to an employer to ask if they have any vacancies, even if the company is not currently advertising for a role. They're a great way to access "hidden jobs" that go unadvertised.
Submitting a speculative application shows your interest in a specific company and your willingness to go above and beyond to develop your skills and understanding of the industry.
Learn how to send a speculative application
In the fashion industry, you could consider approaching designers, fashion magazines and retailers. Alongside the major fashion houses, you should also consider approaching small companies as they often have a need to recruit flexible and enthusiastic assistants to work on short term projects.
Directories that will help you locate companies to target as part of a speculative approach in the fashion industry include:
For opportunities within fashion journalism, contact specific fashion magazine publishing houses such as Hearst magazines UK; Condé Nast; EMAP; Haymarket Publishing Ltd; Time Inc. UK to enquiry about work experience. Also consider contacting local magazines and lifestyle publications, either independently owned or overseen by larger companies such as NewsQuest as well as the free, consumer sector of magazines that are available.
