Although laundries and drycleaners prefer entrants with previous work experience, employers routinely hire inexperienced workers. Apparel workers need good hand-eye coordination and the ability to perform repetitious tasks for long periods. Knowledge of fabrics and their characteristics is sometimes required. Regardless of setting, workers usually begin by performing simple tasks. As they gain experience, they are assigned more difficult operations.
Further advancement is limited, however.
Some production workers may become first-line supervisors, but the majority remain on the production line. Occasionally, a patternmaker may advance to designer, but usually only after additional training at a design school. Some experienced custom tailors open their own tailoring shop. Custom tailoring is a very competitive field, however, and training in small business operation can mean the difference between success and failure. Machinery operators are usually trained on the job by more experienced employees or by machinery manufacturers' representatives.