Best career change for 20something?

April 20, 2008 7:08 PM

I graduated in 2004 from a fairly good university, and since then, I've held a few jobs in the retail/merchandising field. Right now, I'm an associate buyer/merchandiser for a specialty retailer. There isn't any room for advancement right now, I'm bored, and the job is totally unstimulating at this point. I live in the Boston area, where there are very few fashion retail buyer jobs. Can you help me with a career change?

I have a BA in a liberal arts type field from a Top 30 university, and graduated with decent grades. My longest job experience has been at my current position (~2 years), with a few other short stints in entry-level white collar positions before that. I'm not sure where to go with my career; if I lived in New York City (or had the option of moving right now) I would take another merchandising job with the goal of moving up to a senior buyer position. Not many retail companies have buying offices here in Boston.

I don't have a science/math background, but I tend to think analytically and I'm interested in how to make business work better. I might want to go to business school in a few years but the time doesn't seem right yet. I'd like to avoid having to "start over" and take a bottom-rung position and a salary cut, but I realize this might be necessary.

I've been looking into positions in online marketing and search engine optimization- can anyone give me first-hand advice about this sort of job? I get the sense that marketing and advertising might be a good way for me to make use of my work experience so far.

Email address: [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to work & money (4 comments total)

Without knowledge of the specialty retail field you work in, it's difficult to provide advice. But, I think the real issue is whether if you moved to a different area and sought the same kind of position, you might find something stimulating and upwardly mobile. Have you thought of going to your employer and simply saying you need a change of scenery? They might be looking for people who can do online marketing and perhaps you can take your experience to that field. Obviously the rules are different in online marketing but if you know how to follow trends and can pinpoint waves of interest, you could possibly convert your job into something where you are following trends in your industry to corner on new products, build a base for them while advertising them and then be the only option for consumers. Test this hypothesis.

SEO is a hot field, but it's tremendously simple to learn and the market is very saturated with companies that are providing these services at the moment. With the economy as it is, and the advertising market likely to decline further before any improvement, I don't think it's the time to consider a change into this field.

If you like to try to make working better, why not think about taking a few classes in supply chain management and organizational communications and seek ways to streamline the buying process. You can build a rep by beginning to attend conferences and organizing networking events - start a blog - and by evangelizing the issues that you see as limiting retailer's abilities to keep ahead of the market.

Look, I'm 28. Last year, I was the host and producer of a public radio show. Now, I do fundraising full time. I love radio, but I LOVE helping non-profits stay in the black. It's difficult in your 20s because there is a part of all of us that feels like we have a new career right around the corner. You are likely to end up with a shitty, first-timer job unless you begin networking through people you know. If you have had a stack of business cards building up next to your bed since you started work, start calling people back and arrange some conversations.
posted by parmanparman at 7:31 PM on April 20

The jobs in online marketing will work well -- -- if you're a fast talker, greasy, and always watch your ass. It's not a field I would want to get into.

My sister's a fashion buyer in SFO. She's doing well, but she picked a very solid company this last time she moved -- she's watching her friends get laid off left and right.

If you think analytically and are interested in how to make businesses work better, have you ever looked at getting a job in business process management for a manufacturing or production company? It's kind of like buying, but from the engineering side. You use many of the same calculations (ex: economical order quantity, et. al.) ... you're just looking for a higher number in a different spot in the equation. The finance world, oil industries, and software industries all deal with Project Management with the same math that you use to buy goods.
posted by SpecialK at 7:33 PM on April 20

I always recommend temping. If you can afford to do it at this point in your life (i.e. you may not always have a steady job, there may be weeks off, you won't have health insurance or benefits through your employer [at least not for a while]). Taking contract jobs gives both you and the company you're working at a chance to try each other out without making a big commitment. Depending where you end up, you may find a new industry or career that you enjoy, and it could lead to a permanent position (either your contract job becoming permanent, or just getting your foot in the door and making a good impression so they have you in mind when another job becomes available).

My personal story: I also graduated from college in 2004. I’d spent the previous summer and winter breaks temping in different departments of the same large company, and called up my temp agency the day I moved back from school. Within a week they’d placed me at the same company, where I made a great impression on the head of the department I was working in. He moved to a different department, and when he had an opening in his group, hired me (just as my current contract was expiring). I just marked my third anniversary as an employee of this company, and it’s been great – I feel very lucky.
posted by LolaGeek at 5:07 AM on April 21

My story sounds kinda like yours.

Graduated from a decent school in 2000, entered a buyer training program, but seeing as I was joining the dept. store industry at the time of all the most-recent major consolidations, I kind of bounced around positions and found myself an associate buyer with 2 years of experience, waiting for a senior buyer position to open up at the largest dept. store chain in the US, and it wasn't happening, and I was bored. out. of. my. freaking. skull.

I remember I had a boss that showed up maybe 3 days out of the week and did nothing when she was there. I got her and my own jobs done in about the first 4 days of the week on average. I was going insane.

Looked around at a few positions but ended up settling on a move into Management Consulting with one of the bigs - email in profile, I can tell you more about it. I joined their products / retail group and I've never looked back. I have a wealth of learning opportunities open to me, I've worked with clients in numerous states, countries, and industries, and each project has been new and different enough to keep me involved and engaged. I feel like there's real upward mobility now, compared with where I was, and I've even had some opportunity to go back and consult with my former employer, which was incredibly fulfilling, seeing as I had so many ideas to change / improve their operating model when I was there, and no one wanted to listen to ideas from the inside, because most companies are dumb like that.

I'm not sure if our retail practice is on a hiring spurt at the moment or not. I've actually been on a pro-bono project in Africa for the last 8 months (another awesome thing my current employer offers) so I'm a bit out of touch with the commercial practice, and just returning to NYC later this week. But I could of course submit your resume if you're interested - wouldn't be the first MeFite I've done so for.

The fashion industry in NYC is still a joke in my mind, no offense. The Devil Wears Prada nailed it pretty straight on. I've written about it here. I wouldn't recommend that move, but if you want to, I can try to dial up some of my old contacts for you. I'd go vendor-side if I had to go back, however...
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:23 AM on April 21