Over the past couple of posts you may have realised that I have a new job, wooooo- go me! I have been waiting for the right time to sit down and put into words the ups and downs that I have faced during my job search in London, as I think it might benefit others who are in the same position I was. After graduating from Uni with First Class Honours and my work as Features Editor for
Third Floor already published I probably was a bit naive about how hard it would be to secure a permanent role. I left University in June/July 2012 and moved in quite quickly with my boyfriend. A lot of my friends were stressing themselves out about finding that perfect internship that would lead to that 'dream job' but I was just happy to have some time back to myself. I had always planned that I would move to London in March 2013 and until then I wouldn't even tempt myself by looking at fashion jobs as living in Southampton just wasn't close enough to commute.
I have never been one to sit about and do nothing, so I kept my Uni job in a busy nightclub and blogged and wrote for
Pause magazine in my spare time. That was until the nightclub where I was working and living above closed down in October 2012, whilst I was on holiday. I tried to enjoy my time away but knowing I had 1-2 weeks to find somewhere to live and work really turned things on it's head. I was unsure whether to move back home to Oxfordshire or somehow get the deposit together to move to London. Luckily through this whole process I have a very supportive boyfriend who was happy to go with the flow and try something new. It was very last minute but after selling everything we owned, myself and James (not forgetting Nacho the cat) packed what we had left and headed to the big smoke. I had mixed emotions at first as I had always wanted to live in London, but I won't lie it was a very scary time. My boyfriend found a job in a hotel and within a few weeks I started a job in retail on Oxford St. Lets put it this way, retail was not for me but I managed to stick it out and somehow scraped by each month.
The one thing that I learnt whilst working in retail is that for a large amount of people it is a stepping stone and it allowed me to network with other photographers, journalist and creatives. The one bit of advice I would give is to always believe that you are worthy of your dream job. I have no idea how many jobs I have applied for since I moved to London but my guess is around five hundred. For some job positions I didn't have enough experience and other times I was over qualified and told 'you'll be bored here'. Sometimes it is really hard to see where you fit in but network, blog, and keep your mind active and you will get there. I am always lucky that I have a very supportive Mum who was always there at the end of the phone when the job search was getting me down. She always told me 'your time will come' and it did! For those of you who say you can't get a job in fashion without interning I am proof that you can! Okay so in my spare time I was writing for a lot of different fashion magazines, attending London Fashion Week, London Collections:Men and a lot more but I still managed to do it without interning.
Early in June I received an email for a job as PR & Marketing Assistant at
Celliana.com. I have always had a love for jewellery and social media & PR so it seemed the perfect role for me. After a lot of interviews I was sometimes very negative and thought 'I won't get it anyway', but for some reason when I walked out of that interview I knew I had the job. Don't tell me why but I visualised myself in the role and surely the week later I was offered the job. I will always strive to do better and go further in my career and this role is a great chance for me to learn more about PR & Marketing within a great company. I am proud that most of the girls I graduated with are all doing so well now and in similar roles in London. If you are at Uni now my advice is to really make the most of every opportunity and always believe you deserve that dream job. For any advice on searching for a job in fashion please contact me on: katiehandybeith@gmail.com
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