Recruiting Accessory & Handbag Designers- A Guide, Part 1
Happy 2019 guys! As the new year takes off, talent and employers are gearing up to hire and be hired. So what are best practices and need to know for hiring great talent in fashion accessories and softgoods design? The employee/employer balance is shifting at large; my peers and I often find ourselves discussing our experiences and what we wish fashion recruiters knew when recruiting for these specific roles. Accessory, softgoods, and handbag design for fashion is a very niche career which is rapidly changing with retail shopping trends. I've put together this guide for prospective candidates in the field and fashion recruiters/companies alike to benefit from my almost decade in the field. However, a lot of these strategies and advice can apply to all fashion talent areas, and even creative professionals at large. What issues do fashion talent candidates run into when trying to land a job? What are their annoyances, obstacles, and barriers? What do they wish fashion companies and recruiters knew when trying to hire them? This is part one in a series of articles to help educate both groups gain insight into the hiring process of creative people-from a creative person!
This first article is about what candidates are be looking for when recruiters and HR professionals first engage them. Tips & strategies for both on how to make to the interview IRL stage.
WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
Since this post is about connecting fashion handbag and accessories professionals with hiring entities, I'm starting off with a list of where they can find potential jobs. Where do HR professionals and recruiters find great fashion candidates? Where can candidates make themselves known to prospective employers?
1. Linkedin
2. Stylecareers
3. Coroflot
4. Glassdoor
I recommend prospective candidates having a profile on all these websites that you update at least once a year. Each of these websites groups fashion accessories into the larger 'fashion/apparel' category so be very specific when you set up your profiles.(I am hoping one day we will see cool companies like HIRED include our category so employers can find us -creative's dream!) For employers, this ties into my next bit.
5. BoF This is another resource for good listings that are category specific, however, I feel they are more geared towards the marketing and finance aspects of the fashion business.
WHAT KIND OF DESIGNER?
Job listings for "Designer". Simply "Designer"; but, what kind of Designer are you looking for? A knits designer? A handbag designer? An industrial designer? Even "fashion designer" is too broad a term because apparel designers often specialize in categories. Fashion encompasses many product categories. Also, what level are you looking for? Associate? Senior? Director? As a recruiter, you need to understand the kind of designer you are looking to hire and stick that info in the headline for the job. You will get so many more quality candidates if they know what you are looking for right off the bat, and let's face it, you'll save everyone some time. No one wants to click through on a job listing only to find out it is not the kind of design they do. Also, leverage the power of SEO! With the right keywords, you can rule the internet (good advice for us all)- and effectively find the right kind of applicants for your job opening. Correctly labeling the title of the position you are looking to fill will drive the specific types of creatives to your listing- not to mention save loads of time for both parties.
For candidates, fashion accessories can be a broad category. I once worked for a company that included sleepwear in it's accessories realm! Make sure you ask about the scope for the product design in the phone interview if isn't already listed in the job description. Make sure to use keywords for the product categories that you want work in: Handbags, SLGs, Softgoods, Gear, Cold Weather, Tech Accessories, Hair accessories... I would not group jewelry design with accessories because it is a separate discipline with unique skill sets regular accessories designs don't usually have. I also would not group Millinery (hat design) if it is traditional luxury millinery. Mass produced hats and head gear, could however, probably be done by most fashion accessories designers.
DESIGN QUALIFICATIONS
So what qualifications should fashion recruiter's be looking for when recruiting for fashion positions? Here is a basic, broad list:
Computer literacy- MAC/PC
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
CAD skills (COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING) (not AUTO CAD)
highly organized
detail oriented
ability to time manage- themselves and a team
ability to work with cross functional team members/ vendors
I want to expand on computer literacy, because this one has been appallingly lacking in my experiences over the last decade. What I mean by computer literacy is ability to handle high email volume, find things on the company server, ability to print out documents, attach documents to emails, and generally understand how to get around on a computer. I have worked on teams where a VP has had her assistant designer print out her emails for her to read and then dictated responses! Yikes! This was wasteful and we all lost respect for that VP and the company pretty quickly. I have had bosses who don't know how to organize their emails on Outlook and as a result, missed critical information or mismanaged my time because it took them longer to get through their emails. One VP would email me to attach a document to his email for him... This is basic stuff guys!
People who were being paid a lot more than me- to manage me- should have more skills than I do, not less! It is not a novel idea that one's boss is in charge because they have knowledge and skills that their subordinates don't, right? Many people in hiring positions don't even know what they need in their candidates, so I think a good fashion recruiter/company will make it their business to know and understand what skills a person needs to be competent in their role. If they don't this can lead to disaster! I have had several bosses in my time who did not have Illustrator or Photoshop skills to make CADS, for example (which is a big part of what we do!).
START WITH RESEARCH
"Did they even look at my Linkedin profile or portfolio website?" This is a thought that often runs through my mind when reviewing correspondence from recruiters. It is easier than ever to quickly check people out on-line and see what it is they do. I often hear that fashion recruiter's and fashion company's #1 pet peeves is when candidates don't background research their clients company before the interview. I get it, because I get many inquiries from recruiters that didn't bother to do their research on me before reaching out.
As a candidate, you want to feel confident that your recruiter or HR professional has taken the time to throughly vet you, especially if they are reaching out to you about a position. There is not a bigger turn off to me than when a recruiter contacts me for an apparel design position or offers me a lateral position I have already been at for 3 years. If you are looking for UX designer and send me an inquiry, then you don't understand what it is you are recruiting for! This should be a red flag to talent candidates that this recruiter isn't very detail oriented and is just trying to throw any candidate they can at the client.
THE PORTFOLIO
When properly analyzed, the portfolio should tell recruiters, HR managers, and potential bosses most of what you need to know about a fashion design candidate. This is why I love telling people about my portfolio website and sending the link to every recruiter I engage with. The portfolio should tell you:
1) Can this person draw?
2) How well do they know the relevant computer programs?
3) Their ability to interpret various client's brand aesthetic
4) How creative are they at solving design problems?
5) What kind of products have they designed
Before you even meet me, you can look at my portfolio and glean all this information, which is why it is so impolite when people reach out to me for jobs that are not even in my sphere. If my portfolio is digital (say on a tablet) that in and of itself should tell you something about my computer literacy, how progressive I am, even how I like to be smart about my presentation instead of traditional. Does the candidate have a portfolio website? Again should tell you something about their computer literacy (they should have one!).
You don't want designers that are creative one-trick-ponies and hiding computer illiteracy. I've seen many high level creative positions filled with people who have 'years of experience' but are actually complete train wrecks being held together by amazing, young assistants covering for their bosses ineptitudes. This is why 'years of experience' is missing from the above list. It really doesn't matter how long you have been at something if you can do the work. Years of experience should only be one of several key indicator's to look for when hiring any designer, particularly for a management role. However, the bottom line is that no matter how high the position, ALWAYS have their portfolio evaluated. I'm serious, especially the SVP of creative.
THE INTERVIEW
I think all creative people would eschew interviews if they could. It is probably not a good way to learn much from any type of candidate, but alas, we don't have a better protocol yet. Hopefully, you have a smart recruiter or HR professional who has asked for a phone interview or video chat first, after they have throughly researched you online. If there is some information they didn't get from the internet, your resume, or online portfolio website, then this is a great chance to find out, without wasting too much time. If you do get to the point of an in person interview, great, and you should consider yourself a front runner for the position because that means your recruiter or HR professional consider's you enough of a match for the position to bother scheduling a meeting IRL.
During the phone interview, candidates can gauge if the position is right for them and they should not leave the call without discussing compensation. If the compensation isn't right, I don't proceed further. If the compensation is right, but you are not sure about the company culture- I go on the interview to make further determinations. Pro Tip- If it's been awhile since you job hunted, go on the first few interview opportunities you get, no matter what. Sometimes you go on the interview, and you get pleasantly surprised; and if nothing else, you get practice.
HR professionals and recruiters for creative positions like a Handbag Designer should not be overly concerned with a candidates personal style when meeting face to face. This ties into something I will discuss in an upcoming post about why fashion talent is missed. A good designer will be able to work on many different brand aesthetics at many different retail price points, regardless of their personal style. The interview should help hiring managers get a sense of the person and learn more about their goals and abilities. For the candidates, its also a time to vet your employer's office, culture, and compensation. Of course candidates should still look clean and presentable, but don't worry about being too formal. Creative jobs often have casual dress environments, so I would rather show off my style than hide behind a 'safe' interview outfit. If it does end up ruining your chances of landing the job, you probably don't want to work there.
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In my next article I will continue this discussion- WHY YOU'RE NOT GETTING AND RETAINING FASHION TALENT? Stay tuned!
