Job In The Watch Industry

Q: I'm a Computer Engineering student at Purdue U, Indiana. I've been in love with watches since I was a little kid....and have spent most of my 21 years collecting information on Swiss watches and becoming somewhat of a mini-expert on them. The thing is, I love watches. I love everything about them. There could be nothing greater for me than to get a job in the watch industry with one of the bigwigs like LVMH, Rolex, Tag Heuer et al. With my major being Comp. Engg, can anyone suggest possible positions I might be suitable for in a Watch organization? Also, how would I go about applying for one - since most watch sites don't usually have a "career" link? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

A: The US import/distribution arms of the Swiss makers have the same needs for IT as any other company - bookkeeping, payroll, inventory, etc.. Your love of watches might be a talking point during an interview but probably won't get you very far. The people you are talking to may not themselves be particularly interested in watches, having been transferred over from the luggage dept. or jewelry last year. If there are no "links" on the website I guess you just have to do it the old fashioned way and pick up the telephone and find out who you should contact and if they are hiring.

Jeez, have people become so dependent on the computer that they can't figure this out? In terms of getting closer to the manufacturing end where your watch knowledge might actually come in handy, as a non-Swiss citizen and someone who I assume is not a fluent French (or in a few cases German) speaker, your chances are pretty remote. If you really want to make a career of watches and use your knowledge you might consider starting up your own label. Obviously a risky strategy and one that would require rounding up capital, but also potentially very rewarding ( personally, not necessarily in the financial sense). See for example, http://www.koboldwatch.com/company.htm