Nicole Arrowsmith

The Course

Before going to university, I took a year out to work as a merchandiser. I then moved to Manchester to study Fashion Buying and Merchandising. When joining I was lucky enough to have some experience as a merchandiser, but the course gave me the opportunity to explore different modules such as fashion buying, product development and logistics. Each module highlighted important issues in the fashion industry and I was able to discover what I was passionate about and where I wanted to make a real difference in the fashion industry after graduating. The projects I got involved in gave me a lot of knowledge of the fashion industry and I learnt valuable skills such as how to manage my time and how I worked best to achieve high results. I also gained experience of taking feedback from my tutors and not letting a grade I did not expect dishearten me, I learnt to instead focus on the feedback which made me work harder. Having this experience helped when securing a job after university as I was able to know how prioritize tasks and the best way for me to do this. During my time at university I also got the opportunity to meet people I would have never had the chance to before. This then allowed me to work with a range of different people in group projects and gave me experience of learning how to use each of our individual strengths to our advantage to achieve a high grade.

Industry Placement/Internship

I completed an industry placement at Charles Clinkard, my position during this year was as an assistant buyer and merchandiser. I found this year in industry to be extremely valuable as it made me more prepared for what responsibility and pressure I could face after graduating. I got the opportunity to attend trade shows and network with other people in the fashion industry. I gained a lot of confidence during my time at Charles Clinkard as I was given my own responsibilities such as being the point of contact for brands such as Clarks, managing a budget and allocating stock across various stores. I was able to use theory I had been taught at university in my day to day role such as considering external factors which could influence shopping habits in different stores across the country. I would always recommend other students to consider doing a placement year, as this year was valuable for me to understand which path I wanted to take when graduated. I also found when attending interviews my placement year was highly respected and they valued the experience I brought from both university and my time in industry.

Student Support

All the tutors who teach on the Fashion Buying and Merchandising course are extremely helpful and approachable. They always have your best interests at heart and care a lot for their students. Trying to find time to sit with a tutor to discuss your assignments (or even just a chat) was never an issue.

Victoria Markham supported me a lot during my final year and has continued to help me after leaving university. She gave me the courage to go after what I wanted and to always believe in myself.

After Graduation

After graduating I continued to work at Charles Clinkard as an assistant buyer. I worked here full time for 6 months before securing a job at Nike as a Marketplace Operations Lead for the Sports Direct account. I only had to attend one interview for my current role but I decided to take along one of my final year projects to show the interviewers that although I did not have industry experience in a supply chain role it had been an important module in my final year at university. I previously wanted to be a buyer and had never considered working in supply chain, but after my final year at university I sparked a real interest in logistics. I have been at Nike for 15 months now and have recently been offered the opportunity to move to the headquarters in Holland through hard work and determination. I have found a real passion for logistics and although I never dreamed this would be where I would be after university, I am now planning on moving to Amsterdam in summer to continue my journey at Nike. Over the last 15 months I have been exposed to a complex supply chain and had the opportunity to be a part of various projects which have made my role and the wider teams more efficient. I have been given a lot of responsibility since starting and have enjoyed the opportunity to take part in off-sites with the wider operations team. Although I have had an exciting start to my Nike career, I have also faced many challenges as I started working from home after 2 months of joining Nike. I therefore had to ensure I was proactive and learnt many tasks through Zoom calls. However, my manager has been extremely supportive and I am gaining more responsibility every day in my role. I am looking forward to getting back into the office and seeing the headquarters.

Advice for Future Fashion Graduates

The best advice I could give to any student is to always believe in themselves. If you ever get rejected from a position do not doubt yourself and question whether you are good enough, instead believe everything happens for a reason. When you come to secure a job this will be because it is the right job for you and the company has seen potential in you as a person. Always be passionate, go for what you want and no matter how many times you are rejected keep aiming high, hard work always pays off. When attending an interview be prepared, take a university project that will make you stand out from the other candidates and be authentic.

Nicole Arrowsmith is now working as a Marketplace Operations Lead for Nike over in the Netherlands.