Questions about MFM Course, NIFT

Here is a mail I got from one of my readers. The question is written in red, rest is my answer

Hi,I got a call from NIFT-MFM COURSE.i am very fascinated abt Fashion industry and very curious to go in this field,but my parents says MBA is better and will give me wider scope but i wanna go into glamour industry and wanted to do something different but at the same time i am concerned abt my growth,career prospects,job profile and salary.

Fashion industry is anything but glamor. It is about hardwork, sweat and should I say, tears.

Of course, in NIFT you will find every thing you can dream of. Glamour, friends, relatively slack work hours and of course, the valuable degree.

But out of NIFT and the world turns gray. The garments which looked so fascinating when looked from a window on mall, will become a matter of spec sheet specification, which you have to follow up with people depending on your role. It becomes a rat race, where you will be chasing people. You will be chasing quality personnel to first get your samples then chase them for the results. Or you could be chasing garment manufacturing people about your garments. You will be constantly on phone, mail or in a meeting. The stress will get on you as the deadline arrives, and it is unlike exams happening once in three months and then you will be waiting for results. In fact you will be evaluated daily.

If you like photo shoot, you will be chasing photographers, fashion stylists to get your garment shot.Then you will be chasing IT guys to get them uploaded. Then you chase transporters to put them in stores. Then you chase your sales personnel to sell them. Its a big mirage.

And data, yes you will be crunching a lot of it, you would be spending much more time with EXCEL then you do on your mobile phone and laptop together. You have to be a pro in advanced excel. If you are not they catch you and will put  all types of objections about your qualification.

It is glamor to others, those who are in it is all sweat and tears. Career prospects are specific, you would be dealing more with designs than cash flow in the inital part of your career. Can hope to get a package of 10 lakh within two years of passing out if you are a fresher.

Comparing NIFT and MBA is not valid, for the very fact that orientation of both the type of personnel is different. though they talk about the same language of money, Garments are image oriented products and therefore require lot of imagination rather than hard hitting thinking that normally MBA schools equip you with when they talk about functional or financial products. There are no black and white areas in fashion industry, figuratively.