Future hiring practices and required competencies for professional positions within the apparel industry

The purpose of the study was to determine the future hiring practices and required competencies for professional positions (those requiring a bachelor's degree) within the U. S. garment industry. Telephone interviews were administered to persons responsible for recruiting and/or hiring college graduates for 91 firms, which were randomly selected from the membership of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association (69% response rate). The sample companies represented all sales volumes, sizes, apparel categories, and geographic regions.

Manufacturers opinions of the level of industry preparation provided by college programs, of faculty awareness of industry's needs, and of the value of faculty as resource persons for industry were generally low. In all cases, four-year colleges received higher ratings than two-year colleges.

In the near future, 56% of the manufacturers planned to hire at least one college graduate and 41% planned to hire two or more graduates for positions in areas other than accountancy and finance. Most positions were in management and sales. The majors in greatest demand were business, marketing, computer science, apparel production, and engineering. Manufacturers favored majors related to apparel and home economics significantly less than other majors. A significant number of manufacturers also said that they would consider hiring someone without a bachelor's degree for the positions mentioned

Manufacturers rated 37 apparel-related competencies, 16 support or minor competencies, and 16 personal competencies on the basis of their importance for the next-available professional position. Personal skills received significantly higher ratings than content (apparel and support) competencies, and support competencies rated significantly higher than apparel-related competencies. Although competencies in oral and written communications rated significantly higher than content competencies, they did not rate significantly higher than other personal competencies asa group. The highest-rated competencies were teamwork, listening, motivation, problem solving, and leadership. The highest-rated apparel competencies were computer applications, costing, industry internships, garment quality evaluation, and apparel production assembly processes. Company size, sales volume, and product type did not significantly affect the ratings. Thus, persons aspiring to careers in the apparel industry should be motivated, acquire a broad-based education, and possess excellent problem solving, communications, and people skills.