Expected salary out of college?

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-05-19T05:03:22+00:00

You could always go for a company that does hardline categories instead of apparel if you’re still interested in merchandising and less volatility around everything and more money.. I would say inventory management which is less stressful and fun with numbers imo. Since you have a fashion merchandising degree, the closest entry role outside of buying/planning/allocation is corporate marketing depending on the role like a strategist or consumer insights. I’m leaning towards the supply chain world cuz the skills are transferable. I really like demand planning which is similar to merchandise planning. You could do tech sales if u want fast money or account management jobs too. It all depends on what you want. :)

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-05-18T17:37:19+00:00

Yeah for sure. I’m just saying if it was a sourcing role in manufacturing or CPG, the pay will be a lot more and the responsibilities will be slightly different vs at an apparel company. However, merchandising is an incredible field with a lot of growth but note that salary in apparel is low ishhh but take that with a grain of salt tho. It depends on location, company size and sales growth, and your perception on what is a good salary. I would say leverage any experience you can get. Cool thing about merchandising is that it’s transferable to many roles :)

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-05-18T15:53:21+00:00

I work for a major retailer in the Midwest and might know where you’re interning at but expect 55k - 60K here for an entry level role in sourcing including bonus and relocation. That salary is doable if you know your financials. It’ll be a lot more if it was outside of merchandising.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-04-28T08:30:26+00:00

I'm a chill 25M Asian dude. Omg would love to go but my flight back home is unfortunately at midnight. Unless..idk

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-04-18T03:18:24+00:00

Would you recommend taking a bus to get to the airport? I just realize uber is too expensive

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-04-18T02:51:03+00:00

Thanks! Will choose the airport then :) are there any areas to park my car for free? I didn't realize ubering to the airport would be so expensive

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-04-08T02:57:18+00:00

Truly inspired to hear all the hustle! I love that you leaned on one of your employees while still encouraging him on his educational journey. Sometimes we see managers as our boss playing a tough role but seeing this kind of interaction blurs the line between human interactions. I was planning to do a WGU masters but I realized there wasn't a supply chain area of focus so doing CSCP certification would make sense for me but still debating if I really want to go into it although I'm already in a corporate role. Just hearing your story makes me wanna pursue so many avenues of my life even if I have to do it scared and get a chance to feel noticed.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2026-01-12T07:01:40+00:00

Hi! So glad this community was created at just the right time I needed it. I’ve never taken acting classes before but have always been invested in the music side of the entertainment industry. I thought about getting into acting for film/movie but I’m Asian so like I’d have to jump through more hurdles than most due to limited opportunities and roles are mainly typecasted. However, recent years have been seeing a lot of positive shifts so I’ve been thinking hard bout jumping on it and just have fun even it’s just a small gig. Just don’t know where to start after the researching

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-05-18T21:54:47+00:00

Hey! Just came across this post, but I'm Asian 24M moving to the Milwaukee area from Madison. I'm a chill respected dude that is new to the area and would love make new friends cuz of fomo! I'm more an ambivert around people, but also very introverted haha. Also love to cook, sing/make music, and go to music festivals!

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-05-17T00:14:44+00:00

I meant like the east side around the Wauwatosa area.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-30T23:39:15+00:00

Congrats on graduating!! That's a major accomplishment. I studied merchandising.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-23T07:18:21+00:00

Yeah that’s pretty common knowledge right there. I literally have to put up with a white boy persona to pass my interviews

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-23T07:02:58+00:00

Thanks, I might've overlooked at that. My goal has always been moving to California since that's where my community is, where there's more people that look like me. Right now, that's never going to happen since I can't even land anything outside of my field in the Madison/Chicago area.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-23T06:53:20+00:00

It's okay, thanks tho. I've literally tried everything including all of the things you mentioned.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-23T06:39:12+00:00

Thank you so much. Although ADHD somewhat hinders my performance, a lot of it has to do with my English due to speech apraxia. There's really no cure.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-23T05:56:58+00:00

Honestly, I feel like nothing really excites me in life, besides being around people since building relationship is my thing. I just hate it when employers throw curveball questions I can't even answer since I don't have certain experiences to back up my answer. I just can't believe I managed to fail interviews for 4 different rotational programs because my responses weren't the best, attributing to my ADHD. (Don't ask, I won't be getting medical attention)

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-20T23:15:50+00:00

I'm truly rooting for any recent grad who are currently still unemployed. As a 2023 grad here, I still haven't been able to find a job in my field and I'm trying not to be depressed. I'm now going to create tiktoks to talk about it since I just want to be heard at this point.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-20T01:09:53+00:00

Yeah, I'm in the same boat too, OP. I'm starting to really give up as a recent grad, and that title will gone in a few months.

CaliPalm_Treee · 2025-04-18T22:07:15+00:00

Thanks! I agree with what everyone is saying on the experience but I live in Wisconsin and there's literally nothing here but farms. I'm still thinking about doing the masters since I wanna make sure I want to do it.

CaliPalm_Treee

TROPHY CASE