Storeroom to Boardroom: 7 Jobs In the Sneaker Industry and What They Involve
So, you want to take your passion for sneakers from hobby to occupation – and maybe eventually convert that into a lifelong career. Great!
The sneaker industry is one of the quickest growing fields in the world, with new jobs being created almost daily. For example, at time of writing, employment website Indeed currently has over 8000 sneaker-related jobs open for hire!
While roles and tasks can range from the mundane to the glitzy, each job can largely be broken down into three main overlapping categories. If you’re working in the sneaker industry, you’re making, selling, and/or communicating shoes.
Here are just seven particular jobs you can have in the sneaker industry, and the sort of work that’s involved in each. Good luck!
Product Tester
Before new sneakers hit the shop shelves, they go through multiple rounds of sampling and testing to ensure they meet brands’ stringent quality and performance needs. A lot can be tested remotely, such as waterproofing and weather resistance, but in the real world, things can be wildly different than the controlled conditions of a lab.
This is especially pertinent in performance footwear like running shoes, which go through specific and repeated stresses. So, brands employ product testers to do what the title says: test product. Beyond the simple metrics of comfort and fit, etc., product testers need to identify potential areas that can become defective or poorly designed, such as a misplaced upper seam or flex point. By recognising where things can go wrong, the product designers can then tweak the design to avoid these defects and, in turn, issue fewer refunds.
Recently, Tom Sachs selected members of the public to help wear-test his NIKECRAFT Mars Yard, which provided him with invaluable real-world data about the features and flaws of the design.
The more people involved in the sneaker industry, the merrier! With a larger workforce, there can be even more cool footwear concepts becoming a reality. Search up ‘sneakers’ on your local job hunting site, and see where it takes you…