Having been in the UK for only 2 years and wish a fashion background, I found it easy to get work in the UK, given that I had training and studied in fashion to initially be a merchandiser and then be a buyer. Being a merchandiser was easy and I found merchandiser jobs easy to do. The other fashion jobs of being a buyer was not so easy for me as I had to negotiate with suppliers and this did not come naturally to me in initially. The sales guys from my retail company suppliers were very good at their job and I guess I was just a little too soft, so I ended not quite getting the prices I should have done. Invariably that meant that my manger ended up giving me a bollocking or having to send me back to re-negotiate. This got to me initially, but in time I learnt to become a good negotiator. (Btw, I found all my fashion jobs with these guys careersandjobsUK – give them a try if you a fashion person looking for a job) Buying though is not just about haggling though. I found my skills from being a merchandiser made a big difference in my jobs, as my understanding of product lines within clothing were sharp and up-to-date. That made my job as buyer much easier. That said, my career in fashion is kind of on rocky road, as I had a falling out with my employer, an that is got me thinking whether a future fashion job is something I want to return to…
So my big question then, are my skills as a Fashion/ retail person transferable into sales. A job in sales looks is something I ma keen to try. I figure that as my job in fashion invariably meant that I dealt with many sales people and I learned (painfully, admittedly) how to haggle against sales people. In doing that I learnt how sales people think and work, the tricks they try. I think I could be good at sales, so I am going to start looking for sales jobs very soon. I did a few searches on google to find the best sales jobs sites and see that there a quite a few good ones: simplysales jobs, salestarget and careersandjobsuk and getting quite a bit of interest. I have found though that the recruiters are showing not much interest in me due to the fact that I come from a fashion jobs background. So my question is this: how do I communicate in my CV the transferable skills from fashion to sales? I know that a job in sales would be good for me and that I will excel in it. I just need a recruiter to believe me.