Life After A Fashion Marketing Degree – Georgina Sussman
As the academic year restarts, some of you maybe embarking on an exciting creative course and some are currently being bombarded with questions having finished studying with questions such as what is next?
We talk to Georgina Sussman a Fashion Marketing graduate who now works as an Account Manager at Crescent Fashion Agency. Georgina talks us through what her role as an Account Manager entails, her thoughts on unpaid internships and her ultimate career goal.
You did a Fashion Marketing degree; did you know straight away what career you wanted to pursue after your degree?
Not exactly. I knew that I wanted to be in the fashion industry and had tried editorial and advertorial work, more social media-based roles and specifically admin roles, and through this experience I realised that I wanted to try the other side of it, working in PR from a brand/ agency perspective.
What does your role as an Account Manager at Crescent Fashion Agency entail?
Being an account manager at a PR Agency there’s always a lot to do and it’s never the same. I would say that I work on the communications side of things the most, speaking to influencers, publications, journalists, stylists and any one who wants to work with any of the brands we represent. On top of this there’s always admin work and quite a bit of physical work to do too, whether that’s pack and dispatch samples, attend and help organise photoshoots and events or even attend things on behalf of the agency. It’s always very busy and there’s always something to do, no day looks the same!
What are some of the skills you had to learn and develop in order to do your role?
As it’s a communications based role I had to learn to be a lot more confident or at the very least come off as confident to every individual that I spoke to, to reassure everyone that we’re working with that things are in our control. Additionally I had to develop my management skills as prior to this role I was only really responsible for myself whereas now, with building and developing a bigger team I’ve had to learn how to delegate and create tasks and projects that make sense to other individuals roles while making sense with the day-to-day responsibilities of the agency.
A majority of jobs ask for years of experience in order to get the job. What sort of things did you do to build up your experience?
I did lots of bits in university that I think helped me learn a lot whilst still gaining that experience. For a year or so I was the social media manager for a new jewellery brand which meant I was able to really focus on my university work during the week whilst spending a day dedicating my time to researching social media strategies, planning feeds and scouting for influencers. On top of that I did a few internships for different things related to Fashion Week throughout LFW which helped me build networks and understand the ins and outs the industry. Throughout my second year I did a six month internship at a digital magazine. However throughout all of this I was still working retail on the weekends to build up sales experience and have funds coming in. I’ve found that all of this experience including my sales experience has become really useful in the roles that I’ve had since then. I do think that working in fashion retail if internships aren’t feasible/ attainable is really useful, especially in Fashion PR as it’s a considerable client facing role and a consistent representation of a brand, which can be elevated and discussed in interviews.
What are your thoughts on unpaid work experience/internships?
Unfortunately for young people, especially in the fashion industry, it seems that unpaid work experience and internships are more common than the paid ones. At this moment in time I think it’s very hard to progress in the industry as an individual without them, based on the structure of requirements for getting an entry level role in the first place. However, in saying that I do not think it’s fair or right, I think it gives people with privilege the opportunity to get a leg up in the industry, which is unjust in itself to every individual who can’t take unpaid roles due to financial strain, but on top of this I think it manipulates and abuses those who do take the roles. I hope at some point in the near future unpaid roles will be condemned more frequently and won’t be the fashion social norm, as I don’t think the ‘benefit’ of experience weighs out a lack of payment for long days and a lot of work. I do think I sound like a bit of hypocrite as I have taken unpaid internships before, but at the time I never picked up on how wrong it was, when I reflect on it and hear younger people like my sister, her friends, some of my friends and industry professionals now talking about doing them, I find myself strongly opposed to the concept of unpaid work for both the participants and those who can’t actually afford to do it.
Ultimately what is your career goal?
Being 23 I’m really not certain. I’d love to progress in the fashion industry and find success in what I’m most passionate in, which for now is in a communications based role, but I’m still learning and growing as an individual in both my personal and professional life, and I think each new opportunity presents new life decisions, struggles and goals.
