Graduate Buyer Success Story

Candidate Background

A recent fashion graduate kept hearing the same frustrating phrase: "You need experience."

Despite having the passion, skills, and drive, every application ended in rejection. They started to believe they weren’t good enough.

Challenges & Goals

Like many others entering the fashion industry, they faced an environment that valued experience over potential.

Their biggest challenge? Getting noticed—having their skills recognised rather than dismissed.

Encore’s Five-Stage Approach

At Encore Recruitment, we don’t just submit CVs—we empower candidates to succeed. We followed our proven five-stage process to guide this graduate to success:

• Knowledge is power: We helped them understand the unwritten rules of hiring.
• Confidence is key: We provided interview coaching to showcase their unique strengths.
• Career Positioning: We guided them on how to stand out in a competitive job market.

The Outcome: A Career Launched

With a renewed strategy, confidence, and interview preparation, they proved their worth on their own terms.

Result: They secured their first job in fashion with our Birmingham-based ladies retailer client—not by conforming to industry biases, but by demonstrating their true potential.

Candidate Testimonial

“Lucy is absolutely amazing at what she does. She has supported me all the way through my job application and interview, which led me to secure my first job in fashion She is so lovely, helpful and very quick to respond. I highly recommend Lucy to anyone looking for a job in fashion. Thank you so much Lucy for everything! You are a star.”

Encore Recruitment: Proven Results:

This isn't just one success story, it's part of a why: 

• Between October 2020 and September 2024, we placed 32 women graduates into their first fashion roles.

Are you ready to take the next step in your fashion career?

For Candidates 
The right opportunity is out there—you just need to know about it at the right time. Explore how we support candidates every step of the way on our Candidate page (link) 

Create a Job Alert (link) to hear about new roles that match your skills.

Browse the latest fashion jobs (link) to explore open roles and take your next step.

For Clients 
Finding the right people at the right time can make all the difference. It’s what we do best—helping businesses bring their hiring plans to life. Learn more about Turning Plans into People on our Client page (link).

And because great talent moves fast, creating a Talent Alert (link) ensures you're always first to know when the right candidates are available.