You have a keen eye for the latest trends and you know what sells. But if you want to land your next buyer role, you need to sell yourself to the recruiter.
Your first chance to do this is your CV, so it needs to be perfect.
In our detailed guide below, we’ll teach you how to write an application that’s more impressive than a Dior handbag collection. You can also make use of our fashion buyer CV example for inspiration.
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Fashion Buyer CV example
This example CV demonstrates how to structure and format your own Fashion Buyer CV, so that it can be easily digested by busy hiring managers, and quickly prove why you are suitable for the jobs you are applying to.
It also gives you a good idea of the type of skills, experience and qualifications that you need to be highlighting in your CV.
Fashion Buyer CV layout and format
In today’s fast-paced job market, recruiters and employers are often short on time. If they can’t locate the information they’re searching for within a few seconds, it could result in them overlooking your application.
To avoid this happening, it’s critical to structure and format your CV in a way that allows them to quickly identify your key skills and offerings, even when they’re pressed for time.
Tips for formatting your Fashion Buyer CV
- Length: While there’s no ‘official’ CV length rule, the majority of recruiters agree that less is more. Aim for two pages of A4 or less. This is just enough room to showcase your suitability to the role, without overwhelming recruiters with irrelevant or excessive content.
- Readability: To help busy recruiters scan through your CV, make sure your section headings stand out – bold or coloured text works well. Additionally, try to use bullet points wherever you can, as they’re far easier to skim through than huge paragraphs. Lastly, don’t be afraid of white space on your CV – a little breathing space is great for readability.
- Design: While it’s important that your CV design looks good, it also needs to be functional (which means easy for recruiters to read) Keep the design simple to achieve a good balance between looking good and reading well.
- Photos: Don’t add profile photos to your CV unless you work in an industry or region which prefers to see them. Most employers in the UK will not need to see one.
Quick tip: Creating a professional CV style can be difficult and time-consuming when using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. To create a winning CV quickly, try our quick-and-easy CV Builder and use one of their eye-catching professional CV templates.
CV structure
For easy reading, write your CV to the following CV structure:
- Contact details – Make it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you by listing your contact details at the top of your CV.
- Profile – A short and snappy summary of your experience and skills, showcasing what makes you a good fit for the position.
- Work experience / career history – Note down all your work history, with your current position first, then working backwards.
- Education – A short list of your academic background and professional/vocational qualifications.
- Interest and hobbies – This is an optional section, which you can use to highlight any relevant hobbies or interests.
Now you understand the basic layout of a CV, here’s what you should include in each section of yours.
Contact Details
Tuck your contact details into the corner of your CV, so that they don’t take up too much space.
Stick to the basic details, such as:
- Mobile number
- Email address – It should sound professional, such as your full name.
- Location -Just write your rough location, rather than your full address.
- LinkedIn profile or portfolio URL – If you include these, ensure they’re sleek, professional and up-to-date.
Fashion Buyer CV Profile
Your CV profile (or personal statement, if you’re an entry-level applicant) provides a brief overview of your skills, abilities and suitability for a position.
It’s ideal for busy recruiters and hiring managers, who don’t want to waste time reading unsuitable applications.
Think of it as your personal sales pitch. You’ve got just a few lines to sell yourself and prove you’re a great match for the job – make it count!
CV profile writing tips:
- Make it short and sharp: The best CV profiles are short, sharp and highly relevant to the target role. For this reason, it’s best to write 3-4 lines of high-level information, as anything over might be missed.
- Tailor it: Before writing your CV, make sure to do some research. Figure out exactly what your desired employers are looking for and make sure that you are making those requirements prominent in your CV profile, and throughout.
- Don’t add an objective: Career goals and objectives are best suited to your cover letter, so don’t waste space with them in your CV profile.
- Avoid generic phrases: If your CV is riddled with clichès like “Dynamic thought-leader”, hit that delete button. Phrases like these are like a broken record to recruiters, who read them countless times per day. Hard facts, skills, knowledge and results are sure to yield far better results.
Example CV profile for Fashion Buyer
What to include in your Fashion Buyer CV profile?
- Experience overview: Demonstrate your suitability for your target jobs by giving a high level summary of your previous work work experience, including the industries you have worked in, types of employer, and the type of roles you have previous experience of.
- Targeted skills: Highlight your skills which are most relevant to Fashion Buyer jobs, to ensure that recruiters see your most in-demand skills as soon as they open your CV.
- Key qualifications: If you have any qualifications which are highly relevant to Fashion Buyer jobs, then highlight them in your profile so that employers do not miss them.
Quick tip: If you are finding it difficult to write an attention-grabbing CV profile, choose from hundreds of pre-written profiles across all industries, and add one to your CV with one click in our quick-and-easy CV Builder. All profiles are written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
Next, you should create a bullet pointed list of your core skills, formatted into 2-3 columns.
Here, you should focus on including the most important skills or knowledge listed in the job advertisement.
This will instantly prove that you’re an ideal candidate, even if a recruiter only has time to briefly scan your CV.
Important skills for your Fashion Buyer CV
Trend Analysis – Analysing fashion trends and forecasting future ones.
Market Research – Researching and analysing the fashion market, its competitors, and its target consumers.
Negotiation – Negotiating prices, delivery dates, and terms with suppliers.
Strategic Planning – Developing and executing long-term business strategies to increase sales and profitability.
Product Development – Developing new product lines and enhancing existing ones to meet customer demands.
Data Analysis – Analysing data, identifying trends and patterns, and making informed decisions based on findings.
Financial Analysis – Analysing financial data, understanding budgets, and forecasting sales.
Creativity – Thinking creatively and generating innovative ideas to differentiate the brand and increase sales.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy CV Builder has thousands of in-demand skills for all industries and professions, that can be added to your CV in seconds – This will save you time and ensure you get noticed by recruiters.
Work experience section
Next up is your work experience section, which is normally the longest part of your CV.
Start with your current (or most recent) job and work your way backwards through your experience.
Can’t fit all your roles? Allow more space for your recent career history and shorten down descriptions for your older roles.
Structuring each job
If you don’t pay attention to the structure of your career history section, it could quickly become bulky and overwhelming.
Get in recruiters’ good books by creating a pleasant reading experience, using the 3-step structure below:
Outline
Start with a brief summary of your role as a whole, as well as the type of company you worked for.
Key responsibilities
Next, write up a punchy list of your daily duties and responsibilities, using bullet points.
Wherever you can, point out how you put your hard skills and knowledge to use – especially skills which are applicable to your target role.
Key achievements
Lastly, add impact by highlight 1-3 key achievements that you made within the role.
Struggling to think of an achievement? If it had a positive impact on your company, it counts.
For example, you might increased company profits, improved processes, or something simpler, such as going above and beyond to solve a customer’s problem.
Sample job description for Fashion Buyer CV
Outline
Work in the buying department of leading UK department store, Marks & Spencer’s, conducting extensive market research to optimise sales and sourcing products from over 120 local vendors in Europe and the USA.
Key Responsibilities
- Curate and execute merchandise assortment that aligns to with current fashion trends and consumer buying habits
- Develop and maintain working relationships with suppliers and stakeholders, negotiating wholesale prices
- Deliver weekly reports to ensure the buying activity achieves financial targets for sales, profitability, and inventory turnovers
- Conduct research of competitors, social media trends, and markets to identify emerging trends, categories, and promotional campaigns
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy CV Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education and qualifications
At the bottom of your CV is your full education section. You can list your formal academic qualifications, such as:
- Degree
- GCSE’s
- A levels
As well as any specific Fashion Buyer qualifications that are essential to the jobs you are applying for. Note down the name of the qualification, the organisation at which you studied, and the date of completion.
Hobbies and interests
This section is entirely optional, so you’ll have to use your own judgement to figure out if it’s worth including.
If your hobbies and interests could make you appear more suitable for your dream job, then they are definitely worth adding.
Interests which are related to the industry, or hobbies like sports teams or volunteering, which display valuable transferable skills might be worth including.
A strong, compelling CV is essential to get noticed and land interviews with the best employers.
To ensure your CV stands out from the competition, make sure to tailor it to your target role and pack it with sector-specific skills and results.
Remember to triple-check for spelling and grammar errors before hitting send.
Good luck with the job search!