Explore the possibilities of combining programs and courses
to prepare for industry careers

By Emily Stegman

GIA Education, internationally renowned for its signature Graduate Gemologist (G.G.) program, wants you to know there are a variety of ways you can continue to enhance your career through specifically targeted or advanced coursework.

This means that once you've completed one of the core programs in gemology, jewelry manufacturing arts or business, you may decide to further your knowledge of the retail or wholesale business or pursue a more creative route in design or manufacturing. There are a number of ways to combine classes and programs to meet your interests and goals.

"We see our core programs – the G.G., Applied Jewelry Arts (A.J.A.), Graduate Jeweler (G.J.) and Jewelry Business Management (J.B.M.) – as the foundation to a GIA education," says Duncan Pay, director of the Institute's Course Development department. "Then you can build on that foundation according to where you want to go with your career."

Pay says that now, more than ever, GIA can give students a comprehensive skill set for their specific goals. And, the implementation of the School of Business in 2003 offers students a way to combine occupational skills with the essential knowledge to run a business – which is useful no matter what avenue they follow.

"In looking at which fields our job-seeking graduates choose to go into, we've come up with the idea of creating a 'track' of coursework for each student to follow to prepare for their specific career objective," Pay says.

He lists retail, wholesale, manufacturing and design as the four main categories students decide to pursue. Within those, there are countless career avenues that can be tailored to meet your career goals, he says.

Retail, for instance, is the biggest segment of the jewelry industry and one of the most popular fields GIA graduates choose to enter, Pay says. One way to prepare for it is to earn GIA's Accredited Jewelry Professional (A.J.P.) diploma. This program, which includes Diamond Essentials, Colored Stone Essentials and Jewelry Essentials, gives students practical product knowledge that will help them approach customers on the sales floor.

GIA's gemology courses help you further your product knowledge, says Brook Ellis, vice president of GIA Education. The G.G. and Graduate Pearls programs offer detailed gemstone knowledge, and accompanying Lab classes, such as Diamond Grading, allow for hands-on practice.

"In a retail or wholesale environment especially, knowing all you can about your product is beneficial to both your own and your company's success," Ellis says. "That knowledge adds credibility, facilitates business dealings and ultimately helps you close more sales."

If you would like to work in wholesale, where gems and jewelry are bought and sold, you can take a combination of the A.J.P., G.G., Graduate Diamonds or Graduate Colored Stones to learn how to identify, grade and assess the quality of the stones you're working with.

If you decide to go into jewelry manufacturing or design, you may decide to take the A.J.A. program, which delves into the creative side of the industry, or the G.J. program, which teaches bench work.

"By combining our programs and courses, students can really progress through their career," Ellis says. "As they take more and more classes, their product knowledge, business know-how and familiarity with the industry will grow tremendously and that's going to enable them to pursue whatever career they want."