wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

all excellent points, shana. in spite of whatever alyson has seen on television (not really a good barometer of anything authentic in new york), the fashion industry, as a whole has been shrinking over the past decade. what remains is the small, rarified space of labels like jacobs', or the larger, more quotidien swath of companies that make clothes for the masses. people make careers of the latter in greater volume than the former, and those that thrive do so with a cluster of skills, rather than just one. more than likely, those people you describe as having fewer academic credentials than you are those who could teach you how to survive in the business.

graduate school is probably not for you, alyson. it's not a place where someone looks for another career to inspire them, or to wait out an economic downturn of uncertain length. it is, more often than not, a place where people have a very specific career goal in mind following the experience, not just tacking on another credential.

more than likely, someone would value your job more than you do, alyson. but you might consider why you find the work that most do when they are on the younger side of their career boring and unchallenging. if you begin another kind of career, you will no doubt visit plenty of boring and unchallenging tasks on your way to whatever glamourous illusion you have about "career satisfaction". even marc jacobs asks people to do the mundane, and they would probably do them, gladly, three years out of school.

I totally agree with the first commenter.

I certainly would nopt hire Alyson with her lack of communication skills. And as someone that worked in the fashion industry, I am a bit offended by her complaining about the work being one dimensional and complaining about all those people with two year degrees. Frankly, there is no good reason to get a four year degree in this industry. Would you say that a painterr, photographer or a novelist is required to get a Bachelor's to be good at their job? It is pretty skilled work despite the misconception. I have worked with many people that think it is sitting around drawing all day and are quite disappointed to find out thatt they need computer skills in addition to creativity and then there is all the patternmaking and other craft skills. I can totally understand the frustration that comes with working for wholesalers. It takes a lot of creativity to create something that looks the same, but different and resist the urge to just design whatever fits your own taste and try to think of what would appeal to a middle aged mom living in Wyoming.

I am unemployed for the first time in my life. I have degrees and over 20 years experience in computer and data network support and management. I haven't been able to find a job in 8 months of searching, and I have been applying for everything from equal to my last salary to far less. And I know that companies are lobbying their congress people for emergency visas for IT employees.

My dad just b----- me out and told me to join the army. Both he and my mom had their hours slashed and my sister is unemployed too but if I don't go to Afghanistan and get blown up I must be lazy...

At least when I hear this segment I don't feel like the only person who can't get work right now.

alyson might consider stepping up her verbal communications skills. if an interviewer has to tease her story out of her, it's a significant problem.