Job Openings in Clothing Industry

There are job opportunities in large factories and in small workrooms, with large wholesaling firms and in small family businesses, and production lines may turn out high-fashion clothes where designs change radically and frequently, or more conservative lines such as underwear where the demand is fairly steady. The most important sections of the industry are men's and boys' outerwear, women's and girls' outerwear, children's clothing, bespoke tailoring (made to measure) and dressmaking. More specialised areas like millinery and glove making are relatively small.

Skilled workers are generally in great demand in most areas; main craft jobs are pattern cutting and grading, lay-making (how to position the pattern so.as to make the best and most economical use of the cloth), cutting, marking or fixing (putting the different pieces of an individual garment together and marking the stitch lines), hand-sewing and pressing. There are also plenty of opportunities for semiskilled workers and operators, particularly machinists. Much of this work is repetitive — frequently production lines are arranged so that each machinist sews only one part of a garment — but there may be opportunities to move up to more skilled work later (such as sample machining).

Technology is making itself felt in the clothing industry and more advanced sewing machines, computer-controlled pattern laying and die cutting of bulk quantities are only a few of the more recent developments. The industry in the future will need more skilled mechanics to maintain and care for the increasingly sophisticated machines. More and higher-skilled operatives will also be required. The clothing industry also employs people in its commercial sections — marketing and sales, for instance, or purchasing and supply — where there are often very close links with the major textile and fibre companies.

Qualifications and Training

Formal educational qualifications are not always needed to train for the craft skills. These are traditionally learnt by courses leading to City and Guilds examinations. Trainee tailors and cutters normally serve a four and a half year apprenticeship. Machinists are trained on the job by the employing company.

For more senior or technical jobs GCSEs are needed. The London College of Fashion and Clothing Technology runs a four-year full- time course for would-be managers (entry requires candidates to be over 18 with a minimum of five GCSEs and two A levels). There is a three-year full-time course (requiring five GCSEs to include maths and English) in tailoring as well as two-year courses in clothing and tailoring and one-year courses in clothing production and garment making. No formal academic qualifications are needed for the garment making course. The Mabel Fletcher Technical College, Liverpool, offers a three-year full-time diploma course in tailoring.

Personal Qualities

These vary according to the particular sector of the industry concerned. It is generally advantageous to be deft with one's hands and have high standards of neatness and precision. In factories a willingness to be part of a team is needed, while in bespoke tailoring a candidate should have a pleasant manner and be able to put potential customers at their ease.