education

Change is inevitable in the fashion industry. Everything is consumer-driven and fast-paced. Here, it is important for fashion merchandisers to have knowledge and skills to handle everything that relates to the fashion industry. A fashion merchandising degree equips students to develop necessary skills for the entry-level jobs or to enhance their already established career in fashion merchandising.

Bachelor's and Associate's degrees are offered in the field. The curriculum involves imparting knowledge about the global industry of fashion along with the fundamentals of creation and design of various fashion items that includes everything from clothing, accessories to footwear.

Besides, the course also provides a strong hold to students over the necessary business skills for a bright career in merchandising that also includes retail management, understanding the psychology of consumers or consumer behavior, modern business technology and retail management.

In these degree courses, a student studies about famous designers, fashion history, display and textiles. They indulge in marketing seminars, buying sessions and growth of the in-house promotional methods so as to gain good experience in the field. Furthermore, these courses also provide great opportunities for students to interact with known professionals of the fashion industry, gain knowledge and develop contacts with them.

Promising careers await students once they have completed their study and research of the fashion industry in these degree courses especially if they are careful about the design and color schemes. Creativity is a big add-on that can help a fashion student to achieve the zenith of success.

Store manager, merchandiser, fashion buyer, catalog manager and fashion event planner are some of the positions that you can hold once you have completed a merchandising course. Good salary packages are offered to students in accordance with their talent and ability in the world of fashion.

However, if you lack resources or time to pursue these degree courses on a regular basis, you may also pursue an online degree course in fashion merchandising.

Nonetheless, the course curriculum and skills that are developed in these courses remain the same but online courses are mainly based on self-study. So, if you are disciplined enough to study on your own, this is a great option available. In case of problems, you need not worry at all as there are online professors always available for your guidance.

Furthermore, whether it is an online institute or a traditional one, it is important to make sure that your fashion institute is accredited so that your fashion merchandising degree is recognized by everyone in the fashion industry. It also proves to be helpful to know about the assistance relating internship and jobs provided by the institute. So, a careful selection of the fashion institute and hard work in pursuing the degree course finally pays off to contribute to your bright future in the fashion industry ahead. …

When I am writing (and in a creative groove), I have no concept of time. When I conduct statistical analysis for my research (and results are interesting), I forget to sleep. When I speak to a group (and really connect with the audience), I forget that I am introverted. Does this sound odd, or can you relate? Have you ever been so engaged with your task that you lose track of time, any sense of hunger or fatigue? If so, you have achieved a state of flow.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “flow” to describe the state people achieve when they are so enjoying what they are doing that they become completely absorbed in an activity. Flow occurs when your skill-level and challenge-level are both high – and it is the key to happiness according to Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues.

If you’ve never reached this in your career, I want you to enjoy this heightened state of fulfillment. Many people do. You can too.

How do you get there? The keys to experiencing flow are opportunities to use your skills at a high level at a high-level challenge. Both of these, your skills and the challenge, are within your control. When considering your skills, try to identify your natural abilities. What are your talents? Your natural abilities, when leveraged and practiced over time, can become your high-level skills. When considering your level of challenge, you want to push yourself without setting unattainable goals. You want to maintain the efficacy and confidence that you can — and will — be successful. If your challenge is too low for your skill-level, you’ll be bored. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that at some point in our careers.

What income generating experience can you create for yourself that would leverage your skills on a stretch challenge? You can start a new career act (e.g., a new business or project, a profitable hobby ), one that leverages your skills at a high-level, to offer you a commensurate high-level challenge.

The greatest barrier holding us back from finding career acts that will bring us to this state of flow is the perception that we don’t have enough time to start something new. Time, however, is often embedded in perception rather than reality. How many hours per week do you work? Those who are most happy with their careers often have difficulty answering the question with accuracy or full confidence. They value their time but often don’t count the hours they work. Not surprisingly, many talk about enjoying themselves and losing track of time. AKA “flow”.

In researching the careers of many people who are both truly happy and financially-secure in their careers, they share this concept of flow across their income-generating career acts. They enjoy the emotional buzz of doing what they enjoy and continually shed the aspects of their multiple-act career they do not find fulfilling. Flow is a state you’ll experience, but the career that brings you to this state is a …