6. Retail management
This career is ideal if your fashion sense is combined with an interest in working with people. You need to be confident and well groomed because your image will reflect that of your store. Is it going to be a designer outlet, a ready-to-wear boutique or a high-street retailer? There are many ways of starting out – you can enter as a sales assistant, as a graduate trainee or from a course in retail management. Most medium and large companies offer work-based training schemes, which give anyone the opportunity to work their way up to senior management grades.

Retailing is the UK's top service sector, so there are plenty of opportunities, both on the shop floor and behind the scenes. Anyone with additional flair and determination can aim for a more specialised role, such as buyer, merchandiser or personal shopper.

7. Personal shopper
Personal shoppers tend to work their way up to the job – often from a background as retail sales assistants or merchandisers. It's essential to keep up to date with styles, colours, fabric and fit so that you can choose the most flattering designs for your customers. You also have to be beautifully turned out and groomed yourself.

The most structured route to becoming a personal shopper is to aim for a sales or merchandising job with a large retailer. This will give you some retailing experience and some insider knowledge of what you have to do to achieve your ambition. Another option is to look for an opportunity with a company that offers shopping services to housebound people or busy professionals. Or you could go into business yourself as a freelance personal shopper, charging an hourly rate for shopping services or to help someone assemble a wardrobe.

8. Making clothes
There are more opportunities in production than in any other part of the fashion industry, including:
Cutting, using a computerised machine to cut several layers of material at any one time. If you are good at this job you could progress to pattern cutting
Machining, using a high-speed machine to stitch garments together. If you're ambitious you could progress to a management role
Pressing, using steam irons or vacuum presses to make finished clothes look as good as possible. To be a presser or a press manager you need plenty of stamina because you're always on the go
Production work requires an eye for detail as well as nimble fingers. Better not make a mistake, as fabric is expensive! There are opportunities for training on the job, or at part-time or full-time college courses.

9. Merchandiser
Fancy a creative career with a loads of responsibility and a chance to travel? A merchandiser's main task is to maximise profits by ensuring that products are in the right place at the right time. This involves setting prices, predicting trends, planning stock levels, planning promotions, co-ordinating markdowns and checking actual against planned performance.

Sometimes there are opportunities to visit stores, glide round trade fairs, schmooze with the glitterati at fashion shows or fly out to visit suppliers.

A visual merchandiser looks after the appearance of the store, making sure that products look attractive and are easily accessible to customers. They usually work to a design brief, but have some freedom to develop and use their own ideas.

A business-related or maths-based degree is a useful ticket into this career, but it's more important to have commercial awareness, analytical skills and computer literacy. Visual merchandisers often come from a background in art and design. The best way to find a job is to apply directly to the head office of the stores that take your fancy. You could also trawl the recruitment agencies.

10. Garment technologist
Garment technologists play a vital part in developing a product from initial concept to finished item. They ensure that the product is suitable for customers in terms of fit, performance and cost. This could be your ideal career if you've a strong instinct for fashion and enjoy the more practical side of the industry.

You will need to be a good communicator because much of your time is spent talking to people. The hectic schedule demands excellent time management, quick decisions and a capacity for lateral thinking.

There's a huge choice of qualifications, ranging from N/SVQs to HNCs/HNDs and degrees in fashion. It's a competitive environment, but you can succeed if you show determination, organisational ability and confidence.

There are a wealth of other fashion careers that you may like to consider including window dressing and fabric designing. Visit prospects.ac.uk for more information. The world is your oyster!