How Can I Harness my Creative side?

I've just graduated from college with an accounting degree but I'm not sure if it's the job for me. I've always loved fashion, and dreamed of being a designer or stylist. Are there any jobs that would combine the two, or let me harness my more creative side.

First of all, congratulations on qualifying with your accountancy degree – a very flexible degree to have career-wise.

Given your interests, you have a broad range of areas you could go into, although I wouldn’t advise creative accounting!

You could use your qualification to go into the commercial or the finance side of business – perhaps aiming at commercial, operations or finance management roles further down the line. If you’re keen on fashion, maybe you could think of going into retail, which at the moment needs some careful financial management to prosper!

Clothing retail would fit your interests better, but you can also move sideways to food or homewares retail. Another option to suit you would be to do finance or management within a fashion or design house. If you really are keen on retail/fashion, it may help to do a PG Diploma in Retail Mgt or Fashion, just to get your bearings on the commercial set-up of the sector.The ITS do some good courses here – see DIT or WIT.

Sales or business development, perhaps within retail or design can also be an innovative way to utilise an accounting degree. This is also an option for you in accountancy practice too.

It’s good you have so many choices, but then that’s what creative brains are keen on.... Good Luck