I am working on my GG right now-only have the 500 stones left to do-but I am looking for employment almost anywhere in the US. I've been looking for months and cannot seem to find anything. I do not do sales well as I am too technical. GIA is only hiring diamond graders in NYC and I already have worked for them. I've scoured everywhere I know for a position (including gia.edu's job postings).
I'm open to do diamond grading, admin work for appraisal labs or a company in this industry in general, inventory control, production specialist, shipping and receiving or merchandising. If anyone knows anything, please let me know.
Assuming the US scene is similar to the UK, there are three types of role in the industry that make up 99% of what you will see on the jewellery-related recruitment sites:
(1) "Designing stuff" - Self-explanatory.
(2) "Making stuff" - Bench-based jewellery work (resizing, repairs, etc.), but not gem-cutting as - elite, self-employed lapidaries aside - this step is usually carried out in Asia.
(3) "Selling stuff" - Self-explanatory. Dress smart, smile, compliment, hit your targets and pocket the commission.
If you can't/won't do any of the above, go over to Asia to get closer to the beginning of the chain. The "technical" part of the gem industry has usually been long carried out in countries with lower labour costs before the stones reach the retail-dominated west.
However, be careful about chasing the "technical", as labs may be looking for PHD-level hires in the hard sciences. In today's high-tech industry, it's easier to turn a scientist into a gemmo than visa-versa. The major gem schools have threatened to try and bridge this knowledge-gap with Gem-A twice pitching "post-grad" courses (the Kingston one fell through, but not sure what the situation is with the one I saw them publicize on LinkedIn around a year ago) and, as far as I know, AIGS is still in the process of designing a Master Gemologist program.
Every industry is over-saturated, and the oft-quoted advice to "create your own job" probably applies as much to gemstones as it does to everything else.
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