Over the past few weeks, I’ve received questions and requests from community members about how to craft impactful resumes, particularly when you’re first starting out with a fashion internship.
To that end, I decided to create a 2-part series solely dedicated to exploring two essential aspects of presenting fashion internship experiences on a resume.
Part 1: Identifying and highlighting internship projects and responsibilities.
Part 2: Translating these experiences into compelling resume language that will allow you to create a high-level resume to help you stand out among the competition.
This post will cover Part 1 and will go over how to find important experiences within your fashion internship to help you highlight your skills.
Then, in next week’s blog post, I’ll break down how to make it all sound great on your resume.
Think of this part as the cherry and sprinkles and any other delicious toppings you like on your sundae.
Now, for those of you who are new here or just starting out on your fashion career journey, internships serve as a significant stepping stone for aspiring fashion professionals. They offer invaluable hands-on experience, industry exposure and, most importantly, networking opportunities.
I break down all of the benefits and what you need to do in order to excel in your internship within my episode, “3 Things You Must Do to Stand Out as a Fashion Intern ”.
Effectively showcasing your fashion internship experiences on a resume is crucial to making a lasting impression on potential employers.
During your fashion internship, you had the opportunity to develop a range of valuable skills that are directly applicable to the industry.
It’s important to learn how to highlight the way in which your projects and responsibilities allowed you to cultivate these skills. By doing so, you’ll be able to demonstrate your readiness and qualifications for a career in fashion. Listing specific projects, tasks and responsibilities is key.
These are some guidelines to effectively highlight your fashion internship experience that will help you set the groundwork for creating a powerful resume.
Guideline #1: Focus on Relevant Skills
Take some time to reflect on your internship experience and identify the specific skills you acquired or enhanced. These can include garment construction, trend analysis, visual merchandising, event planning, social media management or any other relevant skills you developed.
Linking Skills to Projects and Responsibilities:
Once you have identified these skills, it’s crucial to connect them to the projects and responsibilities you undertook during your fashion internship. For example, if you developed expertise in garment construction, mention specific projects where you utilized this skill, such as assisting the design team in the creation of a garment or contributing to sample production.
Showcasing Skill Development:
Highlight how your fashion internship projects and responsibilities allowed you to cultivate and enhance your skills. Discuss the tasks you performed, the challenges you encountered and the growth you experienced as a result. By demonstrating your skill development, you are able to provide tangible evidence of your capabilities and readiness for the fashion industry.
Emphasizing Transferable Skills:
In addition to technical fashion skills, also consider highlighting transferable skills that are valuable across various roles. These can include communication, teamwork, problem-solving, time management, or creativity. Showcasing your ability to apply these skills during your fashion internship will make you a well-rounded candidate.
Tailoring Your Resume:
Customize your resume to prioritize the skills that are most relevant to the specific fashion job you are applying for. Analyze the job description and identify the skills sought by employers, then align them with the skills you developed during your internship. This level of tailoring demonstrates your ability to match the requirements of the role and increases your chances of standing out.
By focusing on the relevant skills you developed during your fashion internship and effectively highlighting them on your resume, you can demonstrate your qualifications and readiness for a career in the industry. Take the time to reflect on your fashion internship experience, connect your skills to projects and responsibilities and showcase your growth and expertise.
Guideline #2: Quantify Achievements
When it comes to showcasing your fashion internship experience on your resume, quantifying your achievements can make a significant impact. By providing concrete numbers and metrics, you add credibility to your accomplishments and allow employers to gauge your level of your experience.
Quantifying your achievements on your resume helps paint a clear picture of your capabilities and the impact you made during your internship. Numbers add a level of specificity and credibility to your accomplishments, making them more tangible and impressive to potential employers.
Identify Measurable Results:
One way of doing this is to identify measurable results. Reflect on your internship projects and responsibilities to identify specific outcomes or results that can be quantified.
For example, if you contributed to a fashion show, mention the number of looks you assisted in styling or the positive feedback received from attendees. Look for opportunities to quantify your contributions in terms of quantity, quality or impact.
Be Specific and Detailed:
You’ll also want to make sure to provide specific details that demonstrate the scope and significance of your work. For instance, instead of simply stating that you managed social media accounts, mention the percentage increase in followers or engagement you were able to achieve during your fashion internship. Specifics help employers understand the magnitude of your accomplishments.
Align with Fashion Industry Standards:
Now, one word of caution here: While quantifying achievements is important, make sure that the metrics you provide are relevant and meaningful within the fashion industry. Consider the key performance indicators (KPIs) commonly used in fashion.
Some of these include: sales figures, conversion rates, social media metrics, or event attendance. Aligning your achievements with industry standards adds further value to your resume and keeps you on the right path to providing potential employers the information they’re looking for to ensure you’re the right candidate for the role.
Demonstrate Growth and Impact:
Quantified achievements not only showcase your abilities, they also demonstrate your potential for future success. By highlighting measurable results, you indicate your ability to drive positive change and contribute to the growth of a brand or organization. Employers are more likely to be impressed by candidates who can demonstrate the impact of their work.
Guideline #3: Notable Collaborations
Collaborations with renowned fashion professionals, brands, or industry influencers can significantly elevate your internship experience and make your resume stand out from the competition. They can help showcase your ability to work within a team, adaptability and potential for future industry connections.
Recognizing Valuable Collaborations:
To start, take the time to reflect on your internship experience and identify any collaborations you had the privilege of being a part of. These collaborations can involve working closely with influential fashion professionals, partnering with well-known brands, or participating in projects alongside industry influencers. Recognizing and documenting these collaborations is essential for maximizing their impact on your resume.
PRO TIP for those of you currently working in a fashion internship or looking to start:
Document all of the tasks you work on and complete on a daily basis. As tedious as this sounds, by the time your internship is over, you will have a long comprehensive list of all of the projects you worked on and skills you learned.
This is something I advise to all my students, regardless of their experience level. The bottom line is, it’s easier to remember details at the end of the workday than months down the line.
Showcasing Teamwork and Adaptability:
When describing collaborations on your resume, emphasize the teamwork, cooperation, and synergy that you brought to the projects. Highlight how your contributions enhanced the overall outcome and the skills you utilized to foster successful collaborations. This demonstrates your ability to work effectively within a team, adapt to different working styles and contribute to collective goals.
Sharing Specific Details:
To add depth to your resume, you’ll also want to provide specific details about each collaboration. Mention the names of the professionals, brands, or influencers you collaborated with, as well as the nature of the collaboration.
For example, did you assist a renowned stylist on a photoshoot? Did you work on a joint marketing campaign with a prominent brand? These specifics provide context and demonstrate the caliber of your fashion internship experience.
Impact and Learnings:
In addition to highlighting the collaboration itself, discuss the impact and learnings you gained from these experiences.
Did the collaboration lead to a successful campaign, a noteworthy event, or increased brand visibility? What valuable lessons did you learn from working alongside industry experts?
Demonstrating the tangible outcomes and personal growth resulting from your collaborations showcases your potential as a professional within the industry.
Potential for Future Industry Connections:
Notable collaborations have the capability of opening doors and creating valuable industry connections for your future career.
Mentioning these collaborations on your resume signals to potential employers that you have established relationships within the industry and have gained exposure to influential figures. These connections can serve as references, mentors, or even lead to future career opportunities.
Guideline #4: Positive Outcomes
Employers seek individuals who can make a meaningful impact in a professional setting and highlighting these achievements demonstrates your capability to deliver results.
These outcomes can be diverse and may include boosting social media engagement, improving operational efficiency, increasing sales or brand visibility, or implementing innovative ideas that had a positive impact on the organization.
Positive outcomes demonstrate your capability to make a meaningful impact in a professional setting. Take the time to reflect on your fashion internship experience and identify the positive outcomes that resulted from your contributions.
Quantifying Achievements:
Once you’ve put this list together, look for any achievements that can be quantified. Similarly to the second guideline, this step is important because it provides tangible evidence of the impact you made.
For example, mention the percentage improvement in operational efficiency or the specific sales figures you contributed to. Quantifying achievements adds credibility and provides a clear picture of your accomplishments.
Showcasing Impact:
When describing the positive outcomes on your resume, be sure to emphasize the specific actions you took that led to these achievements. Describe the strategies, initiatives, or projects you implemented and how they directly contributed to the positive outcomes. By showcasing your ability to initiate and execute impactful actions, you demonstrate your potential to deliver results in a professional environment.
Lessons Learned and Personal Growth:
In addition to highlighting the positive outcomes, consider the lessons you learned and the personal growth you experienced during your fashion internship. While there may not be an area on your actual resume for this, it’s a great exercise to do separately and throughout your career.
Describe how the challenges you encountered shaped your skills, mindset, and professional outlook. By showcasing your ability to learn from experiences and adapt, you demonstrate your potential for continuous growth and development.
Plus, this prepares you for those open-ended questions during interviews where you’re asked about moments in your career where you’ve learned a lesson or had a difficulty that you overcame.
Highlighting positive outcomes on your fashion resume is essential for showcasing your capability to make a meaningful impact in a professional setting.
Remember to provide specific details, quantify achievements whenever possible, and emphasize the direct link between your contributions and the positive outcomes.
FROM THE EDITOR
In a world where the fashion industry is constantly evolving and competition is fierce, it’s crucial to have a resume that not only stands out, but also tells your unique story. By effectively identifying and highlighting the most important aspects of your fashion internship experience, you have the power to create a resume that leaves a lasting impression on future employers.
Embrace the journey you’ve embarked on, the skills you’ve cultivated and the impact you’ve made. Remember, your resume is not just a piece of paper; it’s a testament to your passion, dedication and growth. So, dare to dream big, showcase your achievements with confidence, and let your fashion internship experiences shine through.
Your future in the industry awaits, and this is the first step to creating a standout resume to make your mark and carve your path to success. Don’t forget to tune in next week for the second part of this lesson where I’ll go over how to take all of this information and translate it into a high-level resume that helps you get any job you set your mind to.
xM
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