ACE YOUR FASHION INTERVIEW
Monday, February 13, 2012
Looking to get in to the exciting world of fashion and brand marketing? To get you ready for your interviews, we caught up with a Web Merchandiser at Free People and fellow Penn alum, Alissa. The psych major was recruited out of Penn for the Executive Development Program at Macy’s Merchandising Group training program and did a 2 year stint in NYC before heading to the Urban Outfitters headquarters in Philadelphia.
Blending marketing and psychology together, Alissa is now able to pursue her interest in consumer behavior, ”How do people shop online? What motivates them? What does the BRAND mean to customers?” she asks.
“I never imagined that I would end up in the retail/fashion industry. I majored in psychology but took many courses in marketing, and I found myself really interested in consumer behavior, which is exactly what I do now at Free People!”
What are your top tips to a candidate interviewing for a fashion position?
Really understand the brand. Why do you want to work for this brand specifically? If the brand has core values, learn them. (Free People’s profile) I think some candidates go into these interviews expressing only that they love fashion in general, but there are a ton of companies out there, so what is it about this one specifically that excites you?
Understand who the brand’s customer is. If it isn’t you, that’s fine, just know who he/she actually is. How does this person shop and where else does he/she shop?
Be prepared to talk about what you think upcoming trends are, what you thought of the most recent shows or which shows you are looking forward to seeing.
If this brand has stores, visit a couple of them. Be on the lookout for who was shopping around. What did you think? What were the strengths vs. opportunities for the store? Is there anything you noticed they weren’t doing that they should be? That kind of research is very worthwhile – you are someone who has a new, fresh perspective – they want to know what you think!
What characteristics do you look for in a candidate?
In retail/fashion, you have to have a sense of urgency, be flexible and pay close attention to detail – those are very important qualities! #1 Not to Say: “I have a passion for fashion”
What does “Web Merchandising” at Free People mean? Do you like it? I absolutely LOVE my job! I work with my team to develop an email merchandising strategy based on factors such as what trends we believe in, what our biggest items are, what we are currently loving, and seasonality.
What do you day to day? Day to day I am merchandising the website, working with the stylists on shoots for emails and homepage layouts, and analyzing email performance, web sales and traffic daily to see how customers are shopping.
So you are in charge of how the product is visually presented and sold to the customer. Do you ever interact with the buyers? I meet with the buyers constantly to hear about their upcoming buys – what products they believe in, what their biggest buys are and then use all of that information to develop merchandising plans/creative across the site.
How did you hear about this awesome position at Free People? I always knew about the company (because it is my favorite brand!) but I searched Pennnet (the alumni database) for URBN Inc. and found an alum in talent development! I emailed him and he was incredibly nice, then setting me up with a phone interview and it went from there. I met with a bunch of people and this job organically arose because of their needs and my interests. There was no specific job listing. I was very persistent and kept meeting with people until we found the right mutual fit.
How did your experience at Macy’s help you? Starting in a training program was incredibly beneficial because I learned how to speak the language and how all of the puzzle pieces come together in the huge and complex world of retail. That experience made me much more confident coming into my current role, as I knew how to read the reports and what to look for.
(Photo Credit courtesy of Free People)