Careers

We have been looking at what careers will be available with a textiles degree:
• FASHION FABRIC DESIGNER 
• DESIGNER FOR INTERIORS 
• STUDIO/IN HOUSE DESIGNER 
• SURFACE DESIGNER FOR GIFT 
 • SELF EMPLOYED/FREELANCE DESIGNER 
• COMMUNITY ARTIST 
• ART THERAPIST 
• DESIGNER MAKER 
• STYLIST 
• BUYER/MERCHANDISER 
• CURATOR/GALLERY OWNER 
• ILLUSTRATOR 
• ARTS EVENT ORGANISER 
• TEACHER

I am interested in the areas of buying and carrying on designing. They are too different approaches to textile careers, maybes ill try both! 



I found a job for a textile designer at Stephen Walters:

Qualifications/Experience: 'Textile & CAD' experience would be beneficial. However they do give full training.

What it entails: Creating luxury fabrics for international fashion markets, womenswear and furnishing fabrics. It includes initiating designs on graphics programmes using their CAD system.
Does this suit my ambitions? I like the idea of carrying on designing for textiles after my degree, rather than a non design based job. I do like digital design however i also like hand rendered designs, but, i think i am too inexperienced to say which i prefer, and would like the specialize in for certain. Also, so far, i feel that i am more suited for designing interiors, so the furnishing fabrics part sounds great, but i'm not too into fashion at the moment. 

http://recruit.interactiveti.org/2013/08/21/textile-designer/



All of the jobs i found for buying needed experience, so the best way to get into this which i have found is to start with an internship and work fro the bottom as a junior buyer and work your way up. So instead i have found out more about this job title:

'retail buyer is responsible for planning and selecting a range of products to sell in retail outlets. The buyer must consider the following factors when making purchasing decisions:

• customer demand, including price, quality and availability; 
• market trends;
• store policy;
• financial budgets.

Buyers source new merchandise and review existing items to ensure products remain competitive. By fully understanding customer needs, they are able to maximise profits and provide a commercially viable range of merchandise at competitive prices. Keeping up to date with market trends and reacting to changes in demand are key elements of the role.

Retail buyers have a considerable amount of responsibility and autonomy in what is often a pressured environment.

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/retail_buyer_job_description.htm

I like the idea of carrying out the following tasks:

• analysing consumer buying patterns and predicting future trends; 
• regularly reviewing performance indicators, such as sales and discount levels;
• managing plans for stock levels;
• reacting to changes in demand and logistics;
• meeting suppliers and negotiating terms of contract;
• maintaining relationships with existing suppliers and sourcing new suppliers for future products;
• liaising with other departments within the organisation to ensure projects are completed;
• attending trade fairs, in the UK and overseas, to select and assemble a new collection of products;
• participating in promotional activities;
• writing reports and forecasting sales levels;
• presenting new ranges to senior retail managers;
• liaising with shop personnel to ensure supply meets demand;
• getting feedback from customers;
• training and mentoring junior staff.