FIDM Portfolio Day a Success

Graduate Work Displayed at FIDM Open Portfolio Day

Employers attending the FIDM Open Portfolio Day are always amazed by the emerging talent of FIDM Graduates. "You can measure the success by what happens after Open Portfolio Day," says Gregg Archambault, a Career Advisor for FIDM's Career Services Center, the department that sponsors the annual event. "Some graduates get calls the same day!"

"The purpose of the Open Portfolio Day is to showcase graduates' work to potential employers," Archambault continues, explaining that the grads themselves to do not attend the event. With 120 employers representing 86 different companies, the successfulness can also be gauged by the growth of the program. "We had the highest number of employers ever. And we handed out 880 resumes!" recalls Belinda Haller, Content Manager for the Career Services Center.

Bradley Bayou, a well-known couturier and author states, "I've hired several FIDM Graduates and I always go to the Career Services Center for my employment needs." Bayou is just one of many employers who consider the FIDM Career Services Center their "go to" resource for talented, skilled employees. "This is our first time at this particular event, but we already have two FIDM Alumni working for us" says Ken Sharp, who was on hand to find potential employees for a major Hollywood prop house.

More than 150 portfolios were on display from graduates in Footwear Design, Merchandise Marketing, Interior Design, Merchandise Product Development, Visual Communications, Apparel Manufacturing Management, Graphic Design, Textile Design, and Fashion Design. The graduates can look forward to hearing from employers representing every facet of the fashion and design industries, including retail, wholesale, manufacturing, showrooms, interior design, and advertising agencies.

Archambault says that he receives an overwhelming number of thank you emails from employers after the event each year. "The graduates have worked so hard to get to this point and now it's paying off for them."


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