HUGO: Hi Chantal. What did you think of the talk, then?
CHANTAL: Hi Hugo. I thought it was good once I’d moved seats.
HUGO: Oh- were the people beside you chatting or something?
CHANTAL: It wasn’t that. I went early so that I’d get a seat and not have to stand, but then this guy sat right in front of me and he was so tall!
HUGO: It’s hard to see through people’s heads, isn’t it? Q21
CHANTAL: Impossible! Anyway, to answer your question, I thought it was really interesting, especially what the speaker said about the job market.
HUGO: Me too. I mean we know we’re going into a really competitive field so it’s obvious that we may struggle to get work.
CHANTAL: That’s right – and we know we can’t all have that ‘dream job’.
HUGO: Yeah, but it looks like there’s a whole range of … areas of work that we hadn’t even thought of – like fashion journalism, for instance. Q22
CHANTAL: Yeah – I wasn’t expecting so many career options.
HUGO: Mmm. Overall, she had quite a strong message, didn’t she?
CHANTAL: She did. She kept saying things like ‘I know you all think this, but …’ and then she’d tell us how it really is.
HUGO: Perhaps she thinks students are a bit narrow-minded about the industry.
CHANTAL: It was a bit harsh, though! We know it’s a tough industry.
HUGO: Yeah – and we’re only first years, after all. We’ve got a lot to learn. Q23
CHANTAL: Exactly. Do you think our secondary-school education should have been more career-focused?
HUGO: Well, we had numerous talks on careers, which was good, but none of them were very inspiring. They could have asked more people like today’s speaker to talk to us. Q24
CHANTAL: I agree. We were told about lots of different careers – just when we needed to be, but not by the experts who really know stuff.
HUGO: So did today’s talk influence your thoughts on what career you’d like to take up in the future?
CHANTAL: Well. I promised myself that I’d go through this course and keep an open mind till the end. Q25
HUGO: But I think it’s better to pick an area of the industry now and then aim to get better and better at it.
CHANTAL: Well, I think we’ll just have to differ on that issue!
HUGO: One thing’s for certain, though. From what she said, we’ll be unpaid assistants in the industry for quite a long time.
CHANTAL: Mmm.
HUGO: I’m prepared for that, aren’t you? Q26
CHANTAL: Actually, I’m not going to accept that view.
HUGO: Really? But she knows it’s the case- and everyone else says the same.
CHANTAL: That doesn’t mean it has to be true for me.
HUGO: OK. Well – I hope you’re right!
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CHANTAL: I thought the speaker’s account of her first job was fascinating.
HUGO: Yeah – she admitted she was lucky to get work being a personal dresser for a musician. She didn’t even apply for the job and there she was getting paid to choose all his clothes.
CHANTAL: It must have felt amazing – though she said all she was looking for back then was experience, not financial reward.
HUGO: Mmm. And then he was so mean, telling her she was more interested in her own appearance than his! Q27/28
CHANTAL: But – she did realise he was right about that, which really made me think. I’m always considering my own clothes but now I can see you should be focusing on your client!
HUGO: She obviously regretted losing the job.
CHANTAL: Well, as she said, she should have hidden her negative feelings about him, but she didn’t. Q27/28
HUGO: It was really brave the way she picked herself up and took that job in retail. Fancy working in a shop after that!
CHANTAL: Yeah – well, she recommended we all do it at some point. I guess as a designer you’d get to find out some useful information, like how big or small the average shopper is.
HUGO: I think that’s an issue for manufacturers, not designers. However, it would be useful to know if there’s a gap in the market – you know, an item that no one’s stocking but that consumers are looking for. Q29/30
CHANTAL: Yeah, people don’t give up searching. They also take things back to the store if they aren’t right.
HUGO: Yeah. Imagine you worked in an expensive shop and you found out the garments sold there were being returned because they … fell apart in the wash! Q29/30
CHANTAL: Yeah, it would be good to know that kind of thing.
HUGO: Yeah.