Looking to switch careers from tech journalism to sales/retail - Advice needed!!

[Spong]

Hi guys,

So a bit about my background; I started training to be a journalist when I was in my mid 20's and have now just turned 30, having worked in the field, specifically on mobile tech websites, for that whole period.

I used to love the job and couldn't wait to get out of bed in the morning, but in the last year or so I have really fallen out of love with it and it's now just a bit of a chore.

I don't love tech, for one thing (I fell into it as a job that was going), but I also hate that online journalism has essentially become an exercise in repetitive updates and buzzwords just to trick Google's SEO filters and give your stories good ranking positions on searches. It is soul destroying. I also hate how we don't really produce anything of any real substance or value. It's fugazi. Just a bunch of opinions and words on a page. It doesn't really feel like it's adding anything to the world or bettering anyone's lives.

I got into journalism because I have always had a talent for the written and spoken word and communication generally - I play with English, it's fun and comes easy to me. But really deep down I think 'my thing' is to be passionate and animated about a subject, to be an expert about it, and to espouse the virtues of it to people who will listen in an intelligent, entertaining, and convincing way.

I had friends who picked up on this in school saying I would make an excellent salesman, but I foolishly did not pay any attention.

Being a member of SF, I, like many others here, value quality over quantity, and place importance in the value of high quality physical things and related experiences for having a happy, enjoyable life.

I'm a material guy. I find joy in surrounding myself with a great environment filled with beautiful, quality items and I think I'm good at explaining to people why some things are better than others and why maybe they should want these things too - that's basically what I've been doing as a reviews editor for a phone site. I love giving advice that makes people happy, and friends often ask me for advice on how to dress - it brings a huge smile to my face. I once heard someone say you should do something you can't go a day without thinking about; for me that's quality lifestyle things in general - cars, houses, holidays, furniture, design; your typical iGent Tumblr feed really - but clothes are a big part of it for me.

I guess the long and the short of it is I am considering moving into retail somehow but I don't know where to begin. I live and work in London, UK. I don't earn a lot at the moment (about £21-24k per year with scope for bonuses bringing it up to £27k) and I don't know whether working in a shop helping people dress better (or to buy cool furniture, or antiques, or art) would let me earn similar figures.

My skill-set is obviously communication and other journalistic tools (running a website, social media, generating content, networking, brand management etc.). While the idea of helping people buy things that make them happy thrills me, I can honestly say I am a "can-do" guy who will turn his hand to anything, and I can just as easily imagine myself helping out with other aspects of a retail business; running a website and social media, helping source products and materials, making contacts, and so on. I've also managed staff writers before so I do have that in me.

I'm not under the illusion that I could train to be a tailor. Although I'm creative generally I just don't think I have it in me to do good things with needle and thread. I also don't really want to undertake a very long retraining course/apprenticeship route that ostensibly costs a lot of money.

I'd also love the opportunity to dress nicely for work every day! Tech journo uniform is jeans and t-shirt and it's really not fun.

So I guess what I'm asking you guys is:

• Is it possible to make decent money (or as much as I'm earning already) in this field?
• Where can I start looking for this kind of work?
• How can I leverage my skill-set to get a foot in the door?
• Are there any training or courses I should consider?

Just generally any advice or help on this would be great.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Aleksander]

have you thought about out-sourcing your writing skills, for article-writing, with emphasis on specific topics you're interested in? Like fashion for example.

in America, Retail is not exactly a high paying job. If you make it into a commissioned retail role, you're only as good as your commission structure, and the product makes a difference too.

I made decent money as a salesperson in retail for at&t, until I took a management promotion. This was a few years ago, but Ive learned that most promotions for sales people are usually to decrease on the amount of commission that theyre being paid out on.

How do you feel about selling cars? If you want to get some decent sales training, check out Grant Cardone.

If I were in your shoes though, Journalism would likely call for a large degree of independence, which retail doesnt offer. You should look at copy-writing, or something along those lines.

 

[Spong]

Hi Aleksander, thanks for your response.

I have looked at a number of journalism and copywriting roles relating to menswear, I came close to an interview at Turnbull & Asser for such a role but they decided they wanted someone with more menswear/retail experience. Same with Mr Porter and FashionBeans.

It's a tricky one because just as anyone on this forum will say there is a difference between classic luxury menswear and "fashion". I wouldn't know where to begin in "fashion" as it's so fast-paced and trend-based, and I don't really feel that it would give me what I'm after in terms of what the job involves or helping me to get to the more classic/luxury menswear sector I'm after. I have seen plenty of roles where they specify that they're not interested if you have anything other than "luxury" menswear experience, so working at a high street brand just isn't going to help.

It feels very chicken and egg. I have writing experience but no retail/clothing industry experience. I was always told in my journalism training that if you can write well you can write about anything and it shouldn't matter- you can't get typecast. That doesn't seem to be true, I seem to be only good for tech roles now after five years of it.

I'm not really sure about what roles there are within the menswear industry and all my attempts to contact people for advice have not been responded to.

I mean I see on here and on Tumblr the guys from boutique menswear brands like Armory, or BNTailor, or P Johnson Tailors. I know some of those guys are trained tailors, but there must be other roles within these places like sales/branding/marketing/copywriting. And these folks don't look like they're too badly paid as they're always well dressed and seem to be enjoying life. I guess I just want to work with men's clothes in some capacity but I'm not under any illusion I could be a tailor.

you're right that journalism does call for a degree of independence but if I'm honest I don't enjoy that aspect of the job much, in a way I prefer to just know what needs doing and get on with it with my can-do attitude, whatever that thing is, as long as it contributes to some business or product or service that I'm passionate about.

If there was some course or training I could do I would happily do it. I have seen courses to train as a stylist but I don't know if it would help