Esther Mudie

Title: Buyer
Employer: Accessorize
Degree: Fine Art

I joined Monsoon Accessorize in the entry-level position of Buyer Admin Assistant. I spent two and a half years as an Assistant Buyer, before becoming a Senior Assistant Buyer and then Junior Buyer. It took me six years to become a fully fledged Buyer.

To succeed in this role you need tenacity, persistence, determination and thick skin. And you need to know that this is what you want to do and start early. I had a lot of interests outside of my course and became interested in retail when I worked part-time for Miss Selfridge. From then onwards, I had tunnel vision.

When you leave uni, you might get a job that you could have done when you were 15. So don’t be shocked when your main task of the day is to get the sandwiches! The best advice I can give is to not go in with any preconceptions. Unless you’re doing a profession, you need to be prepared to start at the bottom. Be receptive and ask for feedback, be it good or bad. And be confident but not arrogant.

When I told my lecturers I wanted to be a fashion buyer, they thought I’d sold my soul! So I turned to the Careers and Employment Centre. They helped me create three different CVs: one related to my degree, one to fashion and one to picture editing (which was another area of interest at the time). Your CV is your foot in the door, so get as much advice as possible. You need to get the balance right between being creative and not too wacky.

Work experience and placements are essential. I did two weeks’ at The Times as an Editorial Assistant and two weeks’ in Miss Selfridge’s Head Office, shadowing a Buyer Admin Assistant. I now offer people at Brookes work experience because I know just how important it is. In fact, I think all degrees should offer placements - they give you so much insight into a job.

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