University employees collect, organize and distribute professional attire for students in need of appropriate clothes for job interviews
A good education and a solid résumé aren’t always enough to make a positive first impression. To bridge the gap, a group of Kent State University employees have come together to establish the Kent State Career Closet, a project to collect, organize and distribute professional attire for students in need of something suitable to wear for a job interview.
Tabitha Martin, venture initiatives advisor at LaunchNET Kent State, said the idea came up during a conversation at the grand opening reception for the Women’s Center at Williamson House last year.
“You can’t go on an interview if you don’t have anything appropriate to wear,” Martin said. “Someone at the gathering said, ‘I have all these clothes I don’t wear anymore, and we have this great, new Women’s Center.’ So we said, ‘Let’s just do it.’ We have such a huge campus full of faculty and staff, who I am sure would be happy to have a vehicle to contribute and help the students like this.”
The Kent State Career Closet is housed in the lower level of the Williamson House on the university’s Kent Campus. But the free boutique also will host pop-up shops around campus to raise awareness and take its inventory to a wider audience.
Martin said she and her Kent State colleagues – Lori Bodnar, senior advancement officer in the Division of Institutional Advancement; Alicia Robinson, assistant director of the Women’s Center; and Kristin Williams, executive director of Career Exploration and Development – were motivated to open the Kent State Career Closet by memories of their own college-age wardrobes: heavy on sweatshirts and sneakers, light on suits and briefcases.
“This isn’t something students are going to ask about,” Martin said. “It’s just kind of a gut feeling we’ve all had.”
The founders of Kent State Career Closet envision a welcoming place where anyone with a FLASHcard (Kent State’s identification card) – student or employee – can go to find pieces of clothing to round out a professional ensemble. Shoppers will be asked to sign in, but there will be no requirement to prove financial need.
Robinson, who is an alumna of the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising, said she hopes to engage the Fashion School in the Kent State Career Closet project. She said students could gain valuable experience by designing displays, organizing style shows and repairing and altering clothing.
Williams said the Kent State Career Closet also will offer tip sheets with advice for boutique patrons about how they can best present themselves to potential employers and information about other career-preparedness resources on campuses.
“We want to make students feel comfortable so they can come in, pick some clothes and feel comfortable going to career fairs and expos and job interviews,” Bodnar said. “We want them to know there is no stigma.”
Kent State faculty and staff members dedicate themselves to helping students obtain the knowledge, skills and experience they need to achieve their career goals. By supporting Kent State Career Closet, they can help give students the additional boost they need, Martin said.
“We have to reinforce the idea that college isn’t just about preparing you skill-wise for being out in the career world,” Martin said. “All of these other pieces go into it – knowing how to dress and act and how to present yourself in general.
“As much as we would love for no one to ever be judged by how they look, the fact is, how you look when you walk into an interview makes a difference,” Martin continued. “There are so many of these soft skills that go around what students learn in class to help them be successful when they leave here or even maybe while they are here.”
The Kent State Career Closet is seeking donations of new or gently used professional clothing, including blazers, shirts, blouses, skirts, pants and ties. The project also is in need of hangers, clothing racks, storage items and gift cards or donations for laundering. The Kent State Career Closet is unable to accept donations of undergarments, shoes and any clothing item that is damaged or outdated.
All donations will stay within the Kent State community, Robinson said. Anything that is deemed unsuitable for the Kent State Career Closet will be donated to other local nonprofits.
In observance of Women’s History Month, the Kent State Career Closet will launch a Donation Drive on March 20-24. Details about donation drop-off times and locations will be available at the Kent State Career Closet website.
Sponsors of Kent State Career Closet include Kent State’s Women’s Center, LaunchNET Kent State and Career Exploration and Development.
For more information about the Kent State Career Closet, visit http://ksucareercloset.strikingly.com or email careercloset@kent.edu.
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Media Contacts:
Tabitha Martin, tmarti51@kent.edu, 330-672-6783
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595