Question:
How does a young minority college student break into the cosmetics and
beauty industry?
First Answer:
Three words: network, network, network. Most people get their
jobs through networking. Before you do that, you should define
what "breaking into the cosmetics and beauty industry" means if
you haven't done so already. What do you want to do in the industry?
Sales? Marketing? R&D? Be sure you know what you want to do before you
try to break in. Some aspects of networking that may work for you:
- Make a list of 10-20 companies in the industry that you'd like to
work for and research them thoroughly. Find out what kinds of positions
they offer (not just vacancies, but all kinds of positions). You might
want to seek out beauty and cosmetic companies that particularly
cater to minorities (for example, Vera Moore Cosmetics). See this Guide to Researching
Companies.
- Conduct informational interviews with people in your target companies.
A subset of networking, information interviews will provide exposure
to the field and contacts for your network. You may meet an employer
while you're informationally interviewing who would be willing to
give an unexperienced person a chance. More likely, you'll gain information
that will help you develop a strategy for breaking into the field.
You'll find out exactly what you need to do to get your foot in the door.
Informational interviewing can also help you determine where you fit
in within the industry if you haven't already decided. Try to find
interviewees
who are minorities like you so you can find out about the obstacles they may
have faced. Find out how to do informational interviews.
- Attend meetings of and consider joining professional organizations in
the beauty and cosmetics industries. With enough digging, you may even be
able to find industry organizations for minorities. Talk to members
about your ambitions and ask their advice. Look for associations at General Professional Organizations and Associations.
- Attend meetings of and consider joining organizations for members of your
minority. See Diversity Networking and Professional Associations.
-- Katharine Hansen, former speechwriter and college instructor who provides content for the Web site, Quintessential Careers, edits QuintZine, an electronic newsletter for jobseekers, and prepares job-search correspondence as chief writer for Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters
