20 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.
You split time between classroom duties and merchandising work. Mornings might include preparing and delivering lectures, grading, or holding office hours using Microsoft Outlook to schedule students and Blackboard Learn to post assignments.
Afternoons often focus on merchant tasks: selecting textbooks or market materials in Google Docs, meeting colleagues about curriculum or product lines in Microsoft Teams/Outlook, and tracking inventory or sales trends in Microsoft Excel. Evenings can include campus events or committee meetings.
Expect Microsoft Outlook for email and scheduling, Microsoft Word for syllabi and reports, and Google Docs for shared notes with colleagues. Use Microsoft Excel to track sales, inventory, and budgets, and PowerPoint for lectures or showroom presentations.
If you teach, Blackboard Learn hosts course materials, quizzes, and grades. These are the systems named in job descriptions and used day-to-day.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports 47,670 employed in the occupation. The median pay is $79,940 per year, the lowest tenth percentile is $49,180, and the top tenth percentile is $139,340. Those numbers come from BLS occupational data for 2025.
Remember these are national statistics; actual pay varies by employer, city, teaching load, and whether you get external research grants.
Study merchandising, fashion design, retail management, or marketing. Take classes in textiles, buying, and merchandising math. Learn to write lesson plans and prepare lectures, since teaching tasks include writing syllabi and demonstrating techniques.
Practical skills: Excel for sales and inventory, PowerPoint for demos, Blackboard for course management, and experience selecting materials like textbooks. Grant-writing helps if you want research funding.
A buyer focuses on purchasing products and negotiating with suppliers; a visual merchandiser focuses on store displays and in-store experience. A fashion merchandiser mixes both plus analytics: you set assortment, pricing, and track performance with Excel and prepare presentations in PowerPoint.
If you teach the subject, you also prepare lectures, evaluate faculty or students, serve on committees, and write bibliographies—tasks buyers and visual merchandisers don’t usually do.
AI can draft lecture outlines, suggest reading lists, or summarize trends, but always check and correct content. Use AI as a time-saver, then edit syllabi, lesson plans, and bibliographies yourself to ensure accuracy and proper citations.
Don’t use AI to generate graded exam answers or to avoid faculty duties like demonstrations and performance evaluations. Follow your college’s academic integrity rules and disclose AI use when required.