Expert: Christine Fader - 4/6/2010

Question
Hello Christine,



I recently graduated with an associate's degree in Fashion Merchandising in New York and moved to Miami to continue my education and explore the industry in this growing city. I am not sure about how to continue with my studies. I do not know if I should transfer my credits and obtain a bachelor's in the same program (Fashion Merchandising)or if choosing another major, one that is related to the one I already have and want to do in the future, would be my best option. I have already been to a school that offers my program, but they have not shown real interest on helping me figure out what would be the best path for me to follow. I actually feel like I am being rushed and pressured by them.

My ultimate career goal is to become a fashion/trend forecaster which is, basically, researching and reporting for the fashion industry (magazines, trade publications.)I figured that a journalism degree, in combination with my Fashion Merchandising degree, could help me tremendously. Writing has always been a passion of mine and it could, also, present a challenge since English is not my first language.

The down side of pursuing this second major is that the classes I took for my Associate's are not transferable and I would have to start as a freshman to obtain the very needed Bachelor's degree.

Any advice??

This situation has been making me very stressed and preoccupied. I would appreciate very much any suggestions or insights on this.



Thank you,

Iraylys"

Answer
Hi Iraylys,

Congratulations on graduating with your associate's degree!  Many people go to work after achieving this level of education and others, like yourself, contemplate going further.  I can offer some general advice as well as some ideas about where to get more specific information.

Sometimes it's helpful to have a bachelor's degree as, in some fields, it has become the new "minimum".  This can also mean that many employers don't even really care what the subject is, just that you have the piece of paper, before they will even look at the rest of your qualifications and experience.  So in this sense, it may be helpful to continue on to complete a bachelor's degree.

With regard to which discipline -- journalism or fashion or something else, I would suggest that you might want to set up some information interviews with people working in the field of fashion trend forecasting/reporting to see what their backgrounds are.  Information interviews are simply little meetings you set up with people in your desired field (use the phone book, internet etc to find them) where you ask them all kinds of questions about their work, preparation for it, best things about it, etc.  They are in the best position to give you the most current, accurate advice about what background would be best for you to pursue since they are working in the field and should know the lay of the land quite well.  

One thing I would mention is that approximately 50% of people working in journalism have a journalism degree and the other 50% don't.  The people who don't have either developed writing portfolios by submitting articles, editorials etc to magazines and newspapers or else they have some expertise and a lot of experience in a certain area (e.g. fashion) that makes them attractive to editors wanting to quote someone or have someone comment on a particular topic.  So, journalism is not necessarily the only way to achieve the job you are interested in and you may be able to write for publications initially that are in your native language and then later transfer to english outlets.

You may also want to investigate whether any of your associate's degree courses would be transferrable at a later time in your bachelor's degree or if different schools offer more credit.  Some schools will give you at least one year's credit for your associate degree so you don't have to start at the very beginning of a bachelor's degree.

What's preventing you from starting to work right now in your field of interest?  It may be that you can start working towards the kind of job you'd like to do right now and be on your way to becoming one of those "experts" I was referring to.  Or, if you are finding that organizations won't even look at you until you have a bachelor's degree, then I would encourage you to look for programs that will give you at least a little bit of credit for what you've already done and then, as a last resort, go for a program that starts from day 1 of your bachelor's degree.  If you don't feel you have the knowledge or inclination to pursue writing on your own, it may be that some kind of english degree, journalism degree or communications degree would be a good bet and would complement your specific knowledge and education in fashion.

I hope that gives you some ideas to get you started.  Your future sounds exciting.  Good luck!

Christine
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Christine Fader
Career Counsellor
Author, "Career Cupid:  Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job"
www.careercupid.com
Follow my blog at:  careercupid.blogspot.com