Use your passion for fashion to create a stylish resume that will impress any hiring manager.
As a fashion buyer, you're the go-to person who determines what items are stocked and selected for different retailers and designers.
In 2019, the Occupational Outlook Handbook projected that there were 526,200 jobs for fashion buyers and purchasing managers and agents. While there is projected to be an industry decline by 7%, there are still tons of jobs available for fashion buyers to show off their passions for fashions.
To wow hiring managers, it's important to showcase an impressive and stylish resume, and here's our guide to doing just that.
The fashion buyer industry qualifies as a creative industry. Therefore, you have more creative freedom when writing your resume than you might think. Presenting your style and expertise in your resume may just be what separates you from other applicants.
In this article, we are going to cover 6 steps to writing a stylish fashion buyer resume that will truly impress hiring managers, even if you don't have a lot of previous experience in the field.
Here's a look at what you'll learn:
Even if you've got lots of experience in being a fashion buyer, the reality is that you need to fit everything you want hiring managers to know about you into a single page.
Given there are hundreds of applicants applying to the job, selecting the right format for your resume is crucial if you want hiring managers to actually go through your resume and consider you for the job.
You can get creative in your resume. Especially as a fashion buyer, it will help you stand out. However, there are still some important qualities your resume should have.
There are three types of formats your resume could follow:
If you have work experience in the fashion buyer field, writing your resume following the reverse-chronological format may be the best option because you can showcase to hiring managers that you are qualified for the position through your experience.
If you have less work experience in the field, using the functional format to write your resume may be more beneficial to you as you can let hiring managers know you have the skills they are looking for in a fashion buyer.
Ideally, if you have both the skills and work experience of a fashion buyer, your resume will follow a hybrid format as it displays to hiring managers that, with you, they'll have an employee with both the skills and the experience needed to work the job.
Still don't know which format is best for you? Check out our guide on how to choose the right format for your resume.
While not required, having a resume summary at the top of your resume may be what gets you a callback and second interview.
Resume summaries are useful because they provide hiring managers a quick glance at who you are, your experience, and what you can offer in 1-2 sentences.
Some items to consider including in your resume summary are:
Tip: Make sure to make your resume summary relevant to the fashion buyer job you are applying for. This will help hiring managers make a decision about moving forward with your application.
Don't feel like you need to include fancy vocabulary, either. You can make your resume summary sweet and to the point.
Here's a good example:
Fashion buyer with a demonstrated knowledge of the fashion industry and researching, evaluating, and buying clothes and accessories per a brand's mission and request.
Here's a bad example:
Fashion buyer for Forever 21.
You can see other examples of resume summaries and learn more by checking out our guide.
When you've worked a few fashion buyer jobs, even if you were just an assistant, it's important to document the work experience you gained.
While people oftentimes bombard their work experience sections of their resumes with small details, it is important to efficiently and effectively showcase hiring managers what you did and learned to do on the job.
All the space on your resume is valuable. Therefore, focus on what you really want hiring managers to know you have done and have experience in, and use strong verbs to do so.
Here are some examples of work experience as a fashion buyer:
Tip: Use strong verbs when highlighting your work experience to show hiring managers that you not only impress with your fashion skills, but your vocabulary, too.
Writing your work experience in this style shows hiring managers that you worked on something meaningful and it also helps them get an idea of what size teams you've worked with and what you can do.
If you want to learn more, take a look at our guide on how to describe work experience on a resume in 2021.
If you haven't worked as a fashion buyer, visual merchandiser, buyer assistant, or even purchasing agent, don't sweat it. There are still many ways you can show hiring managers that you mean business.
If you've worked in retail, even if just as a sales associate, depending on the specific store, you can use this work experience to apply for a fashion buyer job. This shows hiring managers that you have, at least, some knowledge of the field, especially if you're applying to an entry-level job.
Here's an example:
Senior Sales Associate, Forever 21
Doral, FL • January 2013 — November 2015
You can use this space to also include any internships you have completed that are relevant to the field and to the specific job you are applying for.
You can also check out our guide on how to write a resume with no work experience for more information.
Tip: Regardless of your experience, be sure to include keywords in this section of your resume so it stands out in hiring managers' applications folders.
Being a fashion buyer is more than just choosing which clothes should be in style or not. It is actually much more complex.
To become a fashion buyer, a bachelor's degree is typically required. Therefore, having an educational background in business or finance may actually help you get more notice from hiring managers -- although an educational background in fashion is a plus, too.
Here's how your education section on your resume can look like:
Florida International University, 2013 — 2017, Bachelor of Science in Finance, GPA: 3.4/4.0
Take a look at our guide on listing your education for more help.
The skill sets you highlight on your resume play a crucial role in a hiring manager's decision on if you're good for the job.
Using key skill sets in your resume is essential, especially if hiring managers are running their applications through a keyword detector.
As a fashion buyer, the following skills could help your resume get attention and showcase not only your fashion skills, but your business and interpersonal skills, too:
Tip: Be sure to review the description of the job you are applying for and highlight other skill sets you have the job may looking for, like time management and organization.
Having trouble identifying your skills? We have a guide with 100+ key skills you can include in your resume.
It's not often you see hobbies on resumes, but if you have the space for them and they're relevant to the job you're applying for, feel free to include them.
If, in your free time, you like to do things that can translate to the job you are applying for, hiring managers may look at the hobbies section of your resume and think you are a good candidate because it shows your immense interest in the fashion field and what you value about it.
Here are some examples of hobbies you can include in your resume as a fashion buyer:
Tip: Avoid including hobbies that relate to religious or political associations or hobbies that may be considered controversial.
If you want to know about including hobbies in your resume, check out our guide for more information.
We know what you may be thinking: there's more to writing a fashion buyer resume than you originally thought, but with our guide, you'll be sure to turn the heads of some hiring managers in the fashion world.
Here's a summary of what we've covered:
Tip: Before you even begin writing your fashion buyer resume, be sure to read the job description to tailor your resume to the job you are applying for.
Following our guide will surely help you establish yourself as the fashionista and fashion buyer you already are. Good luck!
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