So I just did one of the ballsiest things I've ever done.
It's no secret that I am (pretty much) unemployed even though I graduated from college in May (something about a recession?). I originally looked for entry level fashion jobs in New York, went on numerous interviews, and wound up empty handed.
It was always an agreement between me and my boyfriend, that whoever got a job first, the other would follow (location wise). So as it turned out, this past October, my boyfriend got a job in southern New Jersey. Clearly not the fashion capital of the world.
My initial plan was to simply transfer to the Charlotte Russe closest to him, but after much consideration (primarily about my finances) it became clear that I wouldn't be able to keep up my half of the rent/bills, etc. on my minimum wage/part time retail job.
So here I am, 7 months after graduation, still living at home in Connecticut with my parents. Now, I've looked for jobs in Jersey that weren't in fashion and still had no luck. I even extended my search to Philadelphia, and yet so far I've heard nothing.
I finally decided, that it's time to take matters into my own hands. I mean, here I was searching website after website for any job that I felt I could manage. Then I thought about it. What do I want to do with my life? I want to work in fashion. And although Philly isn't a fashion capital either, it is a city and, to me, every city has a fashion district. I did some research and finally found that Urban Outfitters Inc. is located out of Philly. In addition, (for those of you who don't know this) Urban also owns Anthropologie and Free People.
I had seen job postings on websites for assistant buyer positions (which would be amazing!) along with other positions, but every time you applied you were brought to their main "career" website where you'd submit your information. After applying to roughly 10 different positions, it hit me: there is no way to stand out amongst all the other hundreds (or thousands) of applicants who are also applying through this career site.
So what did I do to stand out?
I put together
three mini portfolios.
In each portfolio was my resume (duh), cover letter, and a summary about the items in the portfolio: four writing samples, examples of design work I did for my college newspaper, and a copy of the final image chosen from the photo shoot I assisted for Entertainment Weekly with Emma Stone. After assembling these packages, I sent them out (yes... via "snail mail") to the
presidents of Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie .
Why?
This way, I feel like whoever does open these packages (whether they be the presidents of the companies or not) they can have a true glimpse of what I've done, who I am, and what I'm capable of. Who knows what will come of this? If nothing does, so be it. At least I know I'm really trying everything I can to fulfill my dreams.
