HUGO:Hi Chantal. What did you think of the talk, then?
CHANTAL:Hi Hugo. I thought it was good once I’d moved seats.
HUGO:Oh were the people beside you chatting or something?
CHANTAL:It wasn’t that. I went early so that I’d get a seat and not have to stand, but then this guy sat right in front of me and he was so tall!
HUGO:It’s hard to see through people’s heads, isn’t it?
CHANTAL:Impossible! Anyway, to answer your question, I thought it was really interesting, especially what the speaker said about the job market.
HUGO:Me too. I mean we know we’re going into a really competitive field so it’s obvious that we may struggle to get work.
CHANTAL:That’s right – and we know we can’t all have that ‘dream job’.
HUGO:Yeah, but it looks like there’s a whole range of areas of work that we hadn’t even thought of – like fashion journalism, for instance.
CHANTAL:Yeah I wasn’t expecting so many career options.
HUGO:Mmm. Overall, she had quite a strong message, didn’t she?
CHANTAL:She did. She kept saying things like ‘I know you all think this, but … and then she’d tell us how it really is.
HUGO:Perhaps she thinks students are a bit narrow-minded about the industry.
CHANTAL:It was a bit harsh, though! We know it’s a tough industry.
HUGO:Yeah – and we’re only first years, after all. We’ve got a lot to learn.
CHANTAL:Exactly. Do you think our secondary-school education should have been more career-focused?
HUGO:Well, we had numerous talks on careers, which was good, but none of them were very inspiring. They could have asked more people like today’s speaker to talk to us.
CHANTAL:I agree. We were told about lots of different careers – just when we needed to be, but not by the experts who really know stuff.
HUGO:So did today’s talk influence your thoughts on what career you’d like to take up in the future?
CHANTAL:Well, I promised myself that I’d go through this course and keep an open mind till the end.
HUGO:But I think it’s better to pick an area of the industry now and then aim to get better and better at it.
CHANTAL:Well, I think we’ll just have to differ on that issue!
HUGO:One thing’s for certain, though. From what she said, we’ll be unpaid assistants in the industry for quite a long time.
CHANTAL:Mmm.
HUGO:I’m prepared for that, aren’t you?
CHANTAL:Actually, I’m not going to accept that view.
HUGO:Really? But she knows it’s the case – and everyone else says the same.
CHANTAL:That doesn’t mean it has to be true for me.
HUGO:OK. Well – I hope you’re right!
CHANTAL:I thought the speaker’s account of her first job was fascinating.
HUGO:Yeah – she admitted she was lucky to get work being a personal dresser for a musician. She didn’t even apply for the job and there she was getting paid to choose all his clothes.
CHANTAL:It must have felt amazing – though she said all she was looking for back then was experience, not financial reward.
HUGO:Mmm. And then he was so mean, telling her she was more interested in her own appearance than his!
CHANTAL:But – she did realise he was right about that, which really made me think. I’m always considering my own clothes but now I can see you should be focusing on your client!
HUGO:
She obviously regretted losing the job.
CHANTAL:
Well, as she said, she should have hidden her negative feelings about him, but she didn’t.
HUGO:It was really brave the way she picked herself up and took that job in retail. Fancy working in a shop after that!
CHANTAL:Yeah well, she recommended we all do it at some point. I guess as a designer you’d get to find out some useful information, like how big or small the average shopper is.
HUGO:I think that’s an issue for manufacturers, not designers. However, it would be useful to know if there’s a gap in the market – you know, an item that no one’s stocking but that consumers are looking for.
CHANTAL: Yeah, people don’t give up searching. They also take things back to the store if they aren’t right.
HUGO:Yeah. Imagine you worked in an expensive shop and you found out the garments sold there were being returned because they fell apart in the wash!
CHANTAL:Yeah, it would be good to know that kind of thing.
HUGO:Yeah.
To be continued…