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There are lots of varied career opportunities

posted by Caroline Grant
16 October 2014

My first job with Clarks was part time. I was just 16 when I joined the Factory Outlet store. That got me interested in the thinking behind the product and the brand and I knew I wanted to get a job in Clarks Head Office where I could learn more and work for an amazing global brand.

Now I’ve been at Clarks for 3½ years and I won’t be leaving any time soon. In January 2011 I joined Head Office as a Consumer Advisor and within a year I moved up again to be a Duty Manager in the Customer Care team. While I was there, I learned a lot about other areas of the business and decided to pursue a career where I could work closer to the product.

At the moment I’m in the Buying team. It’s our job to research the relevant season’s trends and select the stock that we believe will drive lots of footfall and generate sales and profit. We work alongside the Merchandisers to decide which product should be part of our season’s collections and we decide how to distribute those products to the stores. We have over 450 throughout the UK & ROI region, all selling different types of shoes at different speeds.

But simply choosing the right products isn’t enough. How they’re displayed is also vital, which is why creating a Trading Plan at the start of a season is also a big part of the Buying role. High quality products need a high quality display and it’s our job to make sure our products are in the right area of the store and are displayed at the right time of the year.

In my first few weeks of being an Assistant Buyer, I was sent to a retail conference where I had to present some of the key styles from our range to around 90 Store and Regional Managers. I spoke about the trends behind the product, the technologies and the leather used in making the product. It was pretty daunting because I’d come straight from being an Assistant Merchandiser for handbags and had never worked with our shoe collection before… I was even still learning the products’ names! However, it went really well, I received some great feedback and I’m now looking forward to my next retail conference.

At this early stage, I’m just concentrating on getting fully trained and gaining experience. Moving forward I’d like to take complete ownership of one of the women’s collections and be solely responsible for researching the season’s trends, selecting the styles, deciding the relevant store distribution and making sure the product sells.

The great thing about Clarks is that there’s plenty of help to do what you want to do and get where you want to be. I’ve attended a “Leading in Clarks” course, an ‘In-Season’ training course and two Excel courses and now I’m looking to go on a Social Media course which will help me learn how the digital team and I can work together. Soon I’ll be doing the British Footwear Association course and I’m really looking forward to getting my qualification.

There are lots of varied career opportunities and it’s a brilliant place to progress if you have the drive. Clarks has really looked after me, allowing me the time to get to know many areas of the business and giving me the opportunities to progress. It’s a global brand with fantastic growth plans but you’re also looked after as an individual.

Probably my favourite thing about Clarks is the people I work with. They’re all so passionate about the brand and really want to see it succeed. The culture is fantastic – every one of us works really hard but there’s also a real team ethic. We’re all in this together.

Clarks’ benefits package is really good. You get 33% off 20 pairs of shoes every year. There’s also the opportunity to set up a really generous pension scheme. I also have shares in Clarks.

Brilliant as my job is, I do have a private life, too. My main interests are running, going to the gym and keeping fit. Quite recently I took part in the Bath Half Marathon and raised over £400 for CLIC Sargent. I completed the race in 1 hour 42 minutes which is my PB. I also enjoy spending my evenings looking at all the latest trends in women’s fashion, reading magazines including Elle and Look and reading fashion blogs – to see what’s hot! I enjoy cooking for friends at weekends and thoroughly enjoy an occasional girly night reading trashy novels and watching rom-coms!

Rosie - Assistant Buyer (Women's Fashion Shoes) - Street, Somerset, UK