Experts Offer Practical, Inspiring Tips for Today's Job Search

Plan a practical approach to get a job -- your passion will only take you so far.

Take a leap of faith. Seize the opportunity and make it work for you.

Show me how you can help me.

This is some of the advice industry professionals offered to job seekers at GIA's 19th annual Jewelry Career Fair last month.

Kathryn Kimmel, GIA vice president and chief marketing officer encouraged attendees to take advantage of the opportunity to learn about today's career choices from these leaders of the industry.

Vatche Fronjian, president of The Jewelers 24 Karat Club of Southern California, a co-founder of the event, said the industry is more vibrant than ever, despite an ailing economy. He said job seekers must actively educate themselves and strategize what their capabilities are based on the needs of the time. "My advice is to constantly educate yourselves through GIA and industry news and associations," he said.

The panelists in the keynote session were, from left, Donna Baker, Doug Hucker, Mary Todd-McGinnis, Kara Erickson and Micheal O'Connor. Photo by Kevin Schumacher.

The keynote session, "Job Success in Today's Market," brought together retail, colored gemstones and fashion experts to offer guidance on how job seekers can "take our industry to creative new heights," said Donna Baker, GIA president and CEO.

She reminded attendees that potential customers are facing a new reality when it comes to making jewelry purchases.

"With money much dearer, people want to feel good about their purchases, not just their products," she said. "And they want something that speaks to their individuality, not just their status."

Baker offered these insights on the state of the industry and what job seekers can do to adapt and thrive:

Create designs at popular prices that complement today's fashion. "Because gemstones are rare and beautiful, the traditional way of the trade has been to design jewelry to showcase them. Today, technology allows us more opportunity to create unique gemstone cuts and settings that can more closely address the wearer's individuality."

Instill confidence in the product. "Consumers want to know they are buying from someone who knows not just the gemological properties of the various gemstones, but how such knowledge translates into the lasting value of the piece."

Stay on top of product knowledge. "Product knowledge and trading skills are at a premium when business has to be hard-won."

People want to feel good about their purchases. "Most of you have heard of blood diamonds and read about the repression in Myanmar that brought sanctions on rubies and jade from that country. Our industry can take pride in that it has been in the forefront of international efforts to eliminate the elicit trade of such material and provide equitable income and opportunity for those who mine, cut and set gemstones in countries around the world."

Take advantage of global opportunities. "While it is a cliché that we are becoming more global, that's exactly what's happening in the jewelry industry -- opportunities can begin in your own backyard and extend to China, India or virtually any place on the planet."

She encouraged attendees to apply the suggestions, wisdom and insights from the guest speakers to create rewarding careers, regardless of the economic times.

DOUG HUCKER, CEO, American Gem Trade Association (AGTA)

"Guys, it is tough out there," said Hucker, who struck at the heart of most job seekers' fears with his opening remarks. "You are entering one of the most exciting and wonderful businesses you could possibly get involved in -- at the worst possible time."

Promising he wouldn't sugar-coat it, he told attendees he was going to concentrate on the wholesale colored gemstone business and anyone interested in it needed to focus on getting a job first. "Your passion and excitement is not going to carry you far," he said. "You must have a practical approach to getting a job -- and you're competing with hundreds of people who are out of work."

He offered the following advice:

Update your resume every week. Make sure it doesn't sound like it was written by a professional resume preparer. Get it out to everyone. Go to AGTA.org, click on membership and download the source directory, which has 1,250 firms interested in colored gemstones. There's also a Gem Industry Guide that lists thousands of jewelry businesses involved in colored gemstones. "You benefit from the fact that it's an electronic age; people are very willing to look at electronic resumes."

Your cover letter is critical. "Give me 2-3 paragraphs that tell me what you can do to make my business better." Think about your skills -- do you like talking to people, do you understand customer service, do you know how you're going to get out there and build that business for them? "You can talk colored gemstones, now you need to think about how you can push those colored gemstones. What are the motivations that make our retail customers buy those stones and what makes the consumer buy them? That's got to be the focus of your cover letter."

Take advantage of electronic tools. Everyone in the industry is getting a Facebook page and going on Twitter. "You guys are hardwired to use social networking. You grew up learning that stuff. That is something that is valuable." Think about how you would use that to promote your business.

Network. "Networking is critical. You cannot be a success unless you network." You have to put yourself in front of successful industry leaders and let them know what you can do to improve their business.

You need to become a colored gemstone professional. Take what you've learned and get paid for using it. Know what the issues are and how they can affect your employer's business. Start thinking globally; subscribe to every newsletter you can. "You have to know what's happening in the world. You have to start living the colored gemstone business."

He offered specific advice for those with dreams of becoming a colored gemstone buyer. "The only way you can become a buyer as an entry-level person, is to have a whole bunch of money and hope it holds out until you know how to buy properly," he said.

"The way you become a buyer is by learning how to sell. What is romantic about the product, what drives the product, what excites people about colored gemstones, what are the particular needs of the retail jeweler that you're working with, who are your customers?

"If you can get that and learn that, then you can become a buyer," he said.

MARY TODD-MCGINNIS, vice president of sales and e-commerce, Ben Bridge Jeweler

Mary Todd-McGinnis, who has worked for Ben Bridge Jeweler since the early 1980s, shared her journey in the gem industry, pointing out the way trends and culture affect how people buy jewelry. She used music, interest rates, fashion accessories and television shows as examples.

She also shared seven things she looks for in people that will make you "irresistible" to an employer:

1. Associate yourself with the best in the industry -- GIA, WJA (Women's Jewelry Association), AGS (American Gem Society), AGTA -- "the best people travel in a clump and are very involved and active" in these groups.
2. Do your very best. "No matter what you're given to do, do it better than anyone else is going to and you'll always get recognized and you'll always get ahead."
3. Use Facebook and Twitter. "Make sure you're putting out there the 'you' you want your employer or potential employer to see -- because we will. Don't have a second page that is the 'business you,' because that's not what this is about. Your customers or the people you do business with want to know who you really are. This is how we are transparent today; make sure you are appropriate."
4. Be the character you are. "We all have unique and individual qualities that make us special -- that make us funny, interesting, sweet, intelligent -- figure out what that is and develop it to the max, because that's the gift you're going to give someone who's going to pay you."
5. Read, continue to learn. "You have to be good at so many things, especially in retail, where you have to be good with people, know gemology, be good with money, have a good business sense, and have customer service skills. You have to rely on people who are expert in only one area and suck the information out from them."
6. Find out what makes you happy. "It's a hard, deep, but important question that shows who you are."
7. Show passion. "The people I've seen within any industry who are successful have a real passion for what they are doing. Find what you love to do and do it with everything you've got and you'll have great success."

KARA ERICKSON, sales manager for Tiffany & Co. Pasadena, California

"Success means something different for everyone," said Erickson, a 1993 GIA graduate who credits most of her success to her education and many industry mentors. "I've realized that success is not status or a title, but a series of choices, hard work and achievements. You can sit around and desire success all day or you can actually do something about it."

She shared five key concepts she used to build her career:

1. Create your vision. "Have a vision of your career and what you want to do and what you want to be. You'll get lost without a map."
2. Stay focused. You may find yourself on a winding career path, but take advantage of those curves. This path "may lead you to various forks in the road, but it is up to you to make them into opportunities."
3. Take action. "If you say you are going to do something, do it, follow through. Actions speak louder than words."
4. Be prepared to make sacrifices. Find ways to overcome obstacles. "Prove to yourself and others that you are ready, willing and able to grow in your career."
5. Get support. The jewelry industry is a very close-knit community. "The people who make up the industry were once in your shoes."

Erickson also offered encouragement to the attendees. "Employers are looking for people like you. Not just because you are educated in gems and jewelry, but because you can reinvent the jewelry industry. Everything is at your fingertips."

MICHAEL O'CONNOR, jewelry and style expert, television commentator, consultant to Platinum Guild International

Seize the opportunity, says Michael O'Connor, known as the "King of Bling" at Hollywood's red carpet events. "All of us are presented with opportunities in our life we have to seize in order to get ahead. Sometimes those opportunities are not really presenting themselves as opportunities," but as obstacles to take advantage of, he said.

He recalled his own experiences in the industry: stumbling into his first job in a jewelry store while on an errand for his father, then moving from jewelry designer to merchandiser and marketer for one of the largest bridal jewelry manufacturers in the country.

Soon after, his boss wanted to get celebrities to wear his jewelry and talk about it on TV. O'Connor found himself in front of the camera doing more and more red carpet events because, he said, that's what people wanted to hear about.

He gets the celebrity to talk about jewelry by saying, "You look great tonight. Close your eyes. If you can take anything home tonight (because I know this is all going back tomorrow), what is it going to be?"

It's always about the jewelry, he said. "The jewelry is what America wants to hear about. They don't want to hear about another red chiffon gown. They want to hear about the million dollar necklace. They want to hear about the diamonds, the rubies and the gemstones. They want to hear about the metal they are set in. That's what really provides glamour to these people."

O'Connor had advice for people who want to get their jewelry on celebrities. "It's a triad," he said. "You've got to have the right product, you have to work hard and you have to seize the opportunities that present themselves."

"All of these opportunities are there for you to take," he said. They don't always have to be opportunities you completely understand. "Don't be afraid to take a leap of faith," he said.

The GIA Jewelry Career Fair, held at the Institute's World Headquarters in Carlsbad, is a free, one-day-only opportunity for attendees to connect with companies through panel discussions, one-on-one career coaching sessions and networking. This fall's event included three panel sessions: "Job Success in Today's Market," "From Design to Finish" and "Creative Careers."