Did you know that an average/fresher fashion designer can start his career at ₹ 4, 00, 000 per year? And, if you are creative and an out of the box thinker, then you can even run your own fashion label and become a billionaire! From selection of fabrics and patterns to sketching and designing of products, a fashion designer is not just about glitz and glamour – it requires the x-factor and a persistent hard work to become a fashion designer of some repute.

Know about yourself

You can choose to become a fashion designer if:

• You have a descent colour, design and aesthetic sense, eye for details and knowledge of fabrics- to count the least. Just check out with the fashion festival going on at Amazon and Myntra.
• You are still at the 10+2 level, want to kickstart your career in the quickest time and have an artistic instinct.

A combination of technical and a creative balance is a must.

How to get started?

Unless you have a miraculous luck, you do need to have a formal fashion designer education to step into this world. You can get a Bachelor’s in fashion designing or fashion merchandising after your 10+2. Here you are taught and trained about different fabrics and designs, usage of computer aided design (CAD), project handling and more. Top fashion designing institutes in India are:

• National Institute of Fashion Technology (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Patna, Hyderabad, Mohali) – through NIFT Entrance Exam

Fashion Design, Accessory Design, Fashion Communication, Textile Design, Apparel Production, Leather Design

• Pearl Academy (Delhi) -through Pearl Academy Entrance Exam

Fashion Design, Media Communication, Fashion Styling & Image Design, Interior Architecture & Design, Fashion Business Management, Marketing & Retail Management Luxury Brand Management, Jewellery Design, Branding & Advertising Management.

Future Ahead

The Indian Textile Market is rapidly growing at 17% per year- thanks to online shopping platforms like Jabong and Myntra which have actively involved Indians to dress up and focus on looking good. Thus, looking at the ever increasing demand, the Indian fashion market is starving out of trained professionals, especially those who have an amalgamation of fashion and designing sense, management, technology awareness and communication.

Job Roles

You generally start as an assistant, attached to a reputed fashion designer, and get about 15k to 20k a month. There are different job roles in the world of fashion designing ranging from fabric quality control manager, apparel production manager, cutting assistant, illustrator, and room and outside sales representative etc. Top fashion companies and houses include big names like Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Sandeep Khosla, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu Jani and others.

Whether you are planning to join a professional course like MBBS, Engineering or MBA or perhaps willing to get entry into the government sector – cracking competitive exams is the only gate and the biggest hurdle for building a successful career. Here’s how you must proceed about it:
1. Know what is required
Download the previous year Advertisement/ Brochure of the exam and jot down all the necessary points – including eligibility, special cases, number of seats/ vacancy, date of exam, syllabus etc. and then you must start planning your routine accordingly.

2. How to proceed?
Be it IIT, AIPMT, CAT, UPSC or other civil/ state or government services exam, you must follow the previous year question papers to know what is being actually asked. For instance, if you see the pattern of UPSC exams for the last two years, then, you would find that you would require stressing on Current Affairs and NCERTs, more than anything else. Therefore, knowing the pattern is of utmost importance so that you can save your time and invest your energy in the right track. In today’s competitive exams, tricks and shortcuts play a crucial role. Giving thorough revisions and brushing each chapter with practice tests, helps you to fetch top scores in competitive exams.
You can purchase all your books and study materials, including those from reputed coaching centres at Amazon.com at a discounted rate.
3. Enrolling into a program
You must know that at the end of the day, it is you who have to study. No online/ offline competitive exam study classes can give 100% attention to each student. What is really important is their guidance, practice test series, reviews and doubt solving classes. Before you enrol into any coaching classes, you should keep in mind that:
• It should be of good repute and the ratio of teacher: student should be minimal.
• You must be provided with a series of practice tests every week and the scores should be compared countrywide.
• The coaching centre should conduct doubt clearing sessions for every student.
• It is always better to do self-study for at least 6 hours a day. Join a test series to weigh where you actually stand.
3. Managing Stress
It’s true that until you actually crack the exam, you would eventually be stressed! But trust us- stress can dislocate your mental peace and hamper your concentration. To combat this stressful exam fever, here is what you need to do:

• First of all, you would need to count on how many days are left for your exam and then accordingly you should start setting your biological clock. Most competitive exams require a preparation time of 6- 8 months at the least, which means you should at least invest 7-8 hours on your studies as a daily routine.
• Though setting time tables generally turn futile, your biological clock won’t! Train your brain to get up at a specific time and never extend your working hours. Good sleep helps you to perform better and apt.
• Keep all your gadgets turned off whilst you study and most importantly, you must constantly assess yourself and strive to improve your scores to be completely stress- free on the big day.
• Spend rest of your time in leisure activity, playing sports, being active and doing ample of exercise to let the oxygen seep into your brain cells and improve your concentration power.
• Eat healthy, eat lots of vegetables and never rely on supplements and junk foods.

So are you amongst those who are participating in the India’s biggest economic revolution? While it has certainly brought about nightmares to the corrupt people, black money holders and terrorists, but, it has also boosted up the will power and hope of the unemployed, jobless, poor, middle income families and all others who are holding white money! Here are the facts that you need to know about Modi’s Demonetization Scheme of ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 Old Series Bank Notes:

1. Ending the Shadow Economy

One of the prime reasons for PM Modi to announce this overnight demonetization scheme on November 8^th 2016 – was to drive away the Shadow Economy. Many of us don’t know about this fact, but in reality, this shadow economy has slowly accounted for a 1/5^th of India’s $2.1 trillion GDP, which isn’t reaching to the hands of the state/ fund of India – thus, giving a major blow to the growth and progress of the Indian Economy.

2. Paving ways for a Cashless Economy

Did you recently see your neighbourhood Chaiwalas and Vegetable Vendors, accepting payments via Free charge or other recharge wallets? Well, Digital Wallets, Online Payments, m-payments, or in short, being cashless – is the new fad. As a part of the revolutionary Digital India Scheme by PM Modi, this is the biggest move to push India’s spending/ saving habits into the cashless mode:

• What?- Digital Wallets helps you to make cashless transactions and online payments for almost all category of products/ services, ranging from Grocery and Household Items to paying Insurance Premiums, Bills and Fees.
• Why? – It’s easy, convenient and hassle free (at least you don’t have to worry for cash in this crisis season of #Noteban). And adding more to it, you can additionally get up to 70% discounts or cash backs from these digital wallets using offers like Paytm recharge coupons.
• How? – You can add up to ₹ 10, 000 (and extend it to ₹ 1 Lac with ID Proof) in your digital wallets like Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge, State Bank Buddy, ICICI Pockets or Oxigen Wallet (Apps or Website). Use the money in your digital wallet to pay across all merchants in India that are affiliated to the wallet site. You can also receive and accept payments with shops and friends.

3. 3. The collections

Did you know that within just 3 days of the announcement, all banks across India were able to receive about 3 Trillion Rupees with about a record breaking 180 million transactions! Well, all of this is certainly not black money, but, this step has at least brought the un-participatory household savings back into the economy – thus, boosting up the value of rupee in the near future.

4. New Security Features (anti-counterfeit)

Here are some new security features that are added to the ₹500 and ₹2000 bank notes, to stop usage of counterfeit money in circulation.

RBI, Government, Members of the Finance Ministry and the Bankers – all are well aware of the grave situation and the crisis. And all of these hardships are being done with a very positive hope of revolutionizing and giving a power boost to the India’s Economy in the near future.