Week 10: My Plan

I plan on continuing my education here at the Art Institute and graduating with a B.A. in fashion design.  I want to stay in Las Vegas, I believe we are at a cross roads where the fashion industry is starting to move here as opposed to L.A., countless fashion houses are moving here and I feel like this community has a chance a to grow and support an entire new fashion industry.  I would love to be apart in making that happen and really put Las Vegas on the map as a fashion capital. To do that I have started my own publication, AVANT GARDE Magazine- Las Vegas to show the world we have an industry here that is creating new and innovative things in the world of fashion. My plan is to continue to grow that out to become a highly respected high fashion magazine not only in Las Vegas but the world.  I also like being on the creation side of fashion so I don’t want to limit myself just at publishing I’d like to produce my own garments as well. I love costuming so I plan on continuing to hone my craft and really perfect being able to produce theatrical Hollywood grade costumes.  I would love to work in movies as a lead costume designer and to see my work on the big screen.  I then would like to stay in the entertainment side of designing and produce garments for musicians world tours.  Most importantly I see my future as limitless and without boundaries I don’t want to confine myself to just one project I want to continue to push myself and new learn things in this industry. I live and breathe fashion, it’ll never be work to me.

Week 9: The Apartment

The apartment was chalk full of harassment, sexual harassment in particular was the biggest issue. There was a male employee that slapped the elevator woman on the butt which she should have reported to human resources. The man then proceeded to make sexual comments about the woman and other female employees which should have been reported by the male employee he was talking to but he was currently receiving quid pro quo harassment from him so he can move up in the company. “Managers should use zero-tolerance harassment policies to take action even for offensive conduct that does not meet the legal standard of a harassing environment. The reason is that even mild forms of harassment that go unchecked can disrupt an operation through decreased morale and productivity and increased employee turnover” (P. 355). Just the way the boss would talk to his employees was degrading and sexist in itself.

 “According to the book, Sexual Harassment is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.”(P.336) That being said, spanking another employee on the butt with a newspaper is a form of sexual harassment.

 The employees were also victims of favoritism. Many employees were able to move up due to managers liking them, while other employees who had seniority had difficulty moving up. Whether it be bribery to avoid for others to find out about his affairs, forgery by having his secretary sign all of his paperwork, or plagiarism by stealing another person's idea and presenting it to his superiors, all of these acts created a hostile work environment. Everybody working there was either busy seeking revenge or simply keeping to themselves after they have been mentally or physically abused. In this case for the movie, the manager would have been "held liable for a hostile work environment [because he knew] that the harassment was occurring and [he] did not take reasonable action to stop it." (P. 353).

Week 8: 9 to 5

Watching 9 to 5 was the perfect example of unethical behavior from both men and women in the work place.  In many cases the behavior is what attributed to someone else acting unethical so really the movie was almost a domino effect of one issue effecting the other.  Our textbook describes harassment as such, “From a legal perspective, if harassment is established under the quid pro quo version, the employer automatically is liable and will be held accountable for whether or not steps were taken to correct the situation…an employer's liability in a hostile work environment case must be established by showing not only that the harassment occurred, but also that the employer did not take appropriate action to stop it” (P. 351)  A few of those wrong doings being many sexual comments that were said and sexual advances that the boss made with his employee. According to the book, sexual harassment is: "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. "(P.349) This was seen quite frequently with the boss and Dolly Parton's character. He would push things off his desk and have her pick them up just so he could look down her shirt. He also bought her gifts when she told him many times that she was married and not interested. Another example I wanted to point out was during the movie a woman was fired on the spot based on something his “assistant” heard in the bathroom while the woman and a coworker were talking. On top of that they had a security guard escort to woman from her desk which was completely unnecessary, it was clear the progressive disciplinary program was not used at all. “A commonly used four-step progressive disciplinary includes documented oral warning, written warning, suspension, and dismissal” (P. 311)

Week 7: Personal Statement

An educated Fashion Designer who understands the concept of the Technical and Creative side of Industry. I am a consistent hard worker who looks for new opportunities to gain more skills and knowledge. A outstanding individual who completes a given project to its end result

Creative and innovative professional fashion designer, offering 5+ years of extensive knowledge of the latest fashion trends and familiarity with fashion history, well versed in color combination/code, manual designs, marketing principles and CAD.

As an experienced fashion designer or Fashion executive, I would like to use my artistic and creative approach in making and managing designs that would suite the new as well as old generation people. My ability to get along with other people with ease will help to work with people from different levels.

Week 6: Job Analysis

 A fashion magazine editor works closely with writers, photographers and advertisers to ensure that readers are given the most up-to-date information regarding fashion trends. These professionals must adhere to strict deadlines and work diligently to maintain the publication's style, editorial guidelines and publishing requirements.  A Fashion editor must possess the ability to oversee the allocation of print space for story text, photos, illustrations and captions. These decisions are based on space parameters and copy significance. Other duties include maintaining the integrity of the publication by ensuring the quality of artwork and meeting budgeting requirements. Fashion editors need to be keen on budgeting time and adapt very well to change as a magazine is a growing living thing. Our book gives a great example of how to change happens in the industry itself, “Some change is gradual; other change is more dynamic. In effective organizations, much change results from purposeful management planning, but even the most resourceful and insightful managers cannot anticipate all change that will be necessary, or they cannot provide well-thought-out and proactive ways to adapt to it.”( P.367)

Fashion Editor- Teen Vogue Magazine

Job description: The Digital Fashion Editor will manage TeenVogue.com’s Fashion vertical with emphasis on style news, service, market, trend inspiration and celebrity stories geared at teens and college students.

Teen Vogue is a Condé Nast brand, a division of Advance Publications, which operates in 25 countries—is the number one source of fashion and beauty news for style-conscious teens and twentysomethings everywhere. The Teen Vogue brand brings the sophistication and authority of Vogue to a new generation of savvy young women who desire to be on the cutting edge of fashion, beauty, and culture. Teen Vogue, launched in February 2003, publishes 10 issues a year and has a circulation of more than 1 million readers.

Primary Responsibilities:

•             Strategize about the fashion vertical’s approach and content, with an emphasis on metrics-based results

•             Write a minimum of 2 stories per day for TeenVogue.com

•             Assign and edit additional news stories as they arise each day for TeenVogue.com for a total of at least 4 new stories each day.

•             Manage team and workflow of freelance writers, from ideation to story completion

•             Conduct photo research

•             Build stories in Condé Nast’s CMS

•             Coordinate photo shoots for website when necessary

•             Attend short lead market appointments when possible

•             Ideate fashion and celebrity style-related social ideas and work with Social Media Manager to implement

Desired Skills and Qualifications

•             3-5 years relevant digital experience, preferably with a magazine or website

•             Strong writing and editing skills 

•             Ability to work in a deadline driven, fast paced environment

•             Interest and familiarity with Teen Vogue

http://condenast.avature.net/careers/JobDetail/New-York-Digital-Fashion-Editor-Teen-Vogue/6693

The position of a fashion magazine editor is highly competitive and extremely challenging. Professionals who aspire to work in this field can expect great demands on their time and energy. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), (www.bls.gov). The BLS also reports that the average annual wage for periodical, book and newspaper editors was $62,800 in May 2013. It requires a person with a very organized person who is very adaptive just like a human resource manager, “Organizational change is ongoing, and it must be effectively managed to the extent possible. Human resources managers in large organizations are members of their property's executive committee, and they participate with their top-level peers in decision making that impacts their entire organization. “ (P.368)

Teen Vogue would be a very great company to work for as they have a very professional reputation in the fashion industry a job like this has the potential to open a lot of doors to further a career in the Fashion Magazine world.

Week 4 EOC: Physical Attractiveness Based Hiring

Physical attractiveness is a huge factor when it comes to landing a hospitality job especially living here in Las Vegas we see a lot of hospitality positions that tend to be almost solely based off of physical attractiveness.  This can be very risky in my opinion for the Human Resource department. It all comes down to wording and advertising the wrong way for a position can get them in a lot of trouble.  Here in Las Vegas hospitality positions on the strip often aren’t called what you would normally find in a small town.  Here we have a thing called “model waitress” and “model bartenders”.  This is how the casinos and hotel’s get around having to hire not so attractive people.  Also instead of job interviews they are referred to here as a “casting call” and treated as such. 

Employing based on physical attractiveness has its pros and cons according to the textbook, “In the hospitality industry, successful managers focus on two very different, but related tasks. These are:

• 1.Securing and keeping an adequate customer base

• 2.Securing and keeping an adequate number of qualified employees to serve the customer base”(P.103)

• If having attractive employees helps them accomplish such goals then of course that’ll be what is sought after in an employee.  Again using such tactics when hiring employees is risky and all comes down to how said position is advertised.  The textbook stated, “Experienced managers directly address industry-related constraints when publicizing their jobs by clearly stating the attractive features of the jobs they are offering. The goal is not to promise falsely, but rather to better educate those who do not fully understand the advantages of a career in the hospitality and tourism industries.” (p.104) Physical attractiveness however should not be the only quality one is looking for upon hiring.  Hiring solely based on appearance can lead to inadequate workers who are not properly trained to perform such tasks as the job demands.  The textbook gives a great list of things to consider upon recruiting the perfect candidate which includes, 

“▪Stability of employment

▪Variety of work

▪Ability to utilize personal creativity

▪Team environment

▪Rewards of serving others

▪Pleasant work atmosphere” (p.105)

Week 3 EOC: Workplace Fairness

The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) sponsors the site for one main reason, it educates employees of their rights as workers and informs them of options and steps to take if they are being treated unfairly.  As described on their website, “Workplace Fairness is a non-profit organization working to preserve and promote employee rights. This site provides comprehensive information about job rights and employment issues nationally and in all 50 states. It is for workers, employers, advocates, policymakers, journalists, and anyone else who wants to understand, protect, and strengthen workers’ rights.” Lawyers need clients and having educated clients that have know they have a case against their employer is key. 

The workplace fairness website has many different resources employees can use to their advantage such as, websites for employment lawyers, a news-letter, attorney databases, and as well as an employee rights and employment policy journal. 

An example of why one would need to refer to this website is if an employee is working overtime hours and not being paid adequately for said overtime.  Another example of why someone would need to refer to this site is to understand the unemployment laws before filing against an employer.  Every employer has a set employee handbook detailing their company policies HR can avoid having such issues be keeping an updated employee handbook that clearly states the companies policies. Another way HR can avoid issues is by giving their employees an adequate orientation.  As stated from the textbook, “Even experienced employees who need little or virtually no skill training will still need to learn much about their new employer. Information about items such as organizational rules, regulations, and goals of the organization, department, and work unit will need to be communicated. Procedurally, questions of who will do the orientation, when it will occur, and what specific topics will be addressed are all HR policy and/or procedure issues.”(p.68) However in my opinion and as well as the textbook’s, the most full proof way HR can minimize issues is by, “Ensuring an adequate pool of qualified applicants to maximize the operation's chances to hire an outstanding candidate.”(p.69)