Christine writes:
I am interested in a career in fashion design, fashion merchandising, and fashion journalism. I know I can take courses in fashion design and merchandising at community colleges, but I didn’t see any courses in fashion journalism. Would I just need to take a regular journalism course and also the courses I need to take to do fashion design and merchandising to be able to do all three?
The Career Doctor responds:
I think it’s great that you have discovered your passion in fashion. Obviously, you envision yourself doing something in fashion, whether it’s creating it, marketing it, or reporting on it.
That said, I think the skills you need to do those three careers are all quite different, and while it makes sense to take classes in all three areas to absorb as much about the fashion industry as possible, its probably better to try and narrow down your choices. Besides learning more about the industry, the classes might help clarify which specific path you want to follow.
I also suggest you work with a counselor and people in your network to attempt to shadow one or more professionals in each of the career fields. See what a day in the life is really like. If job shadowing is not possible, you can at least conduct a number of informational interviews with people working in these careers. By doing one or both of these activities, you’ll be able to ask people working in a job you might aspire to how they got to where they are today — and that should help you with your educational and career planning.
Assuming you are in school, you should also consider one or more internships in fashion, marketing, or journalism to help you narrow your career choices. And work with a counselor to help narrow your choices — and find the best career path for you.
A pretty cool resource for folks interested in fashion careers is this section from About.com: Job Descriptions of Cool Fashion Careers.
