Helping GU students dress for success
Published: November 07, 2022
Author: Kelli Pryor
Carleigh, a senior in college, just landed her first job interview. Her excitement began to turn to worry as she considered what to wear. She didn’t own any business outfits and couldn’t find anything professional enough or that was her size on a trip to the thrift store. And a brand-new outfit? That can be a major hit to the wallet for a student on a budget.
Helping students like Carleigh is why the Career Closet launched at Greenville University.
The Career Closet is a program established by the Career Services Office at GU. Our goal is to provide our students with business attire for professional events, networking, career fairs, and interviews. Business attire donated by faculty, staff, alumni, and community members will help our currently enrolled students be prepared for their next steps within their career journey.
If there are certain unavailable items or sizes, the Auxiliary Thrift Store - HSHS Holy Family Hospital has agreed to honor vouchers we provide our students for business attire. We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Auxiliary Thrift Store-they are a valuable resource within our community, and we want to continue to support their mission.
The Career Closet will be a wonderful asset for our current students. As our students engage in professional events, it’s incredibly important that they look and feel confident as they enter their professional experiences. Students will be able to set up appointments with our office to select business attire with their student ID.
“Having access to business attire is an equity issue,” says Gret Tindall, GU student success team manager. “This is a way to ensure that those students who might not have the money to acquire clothing needed to attend these types of events do not have that barrier keeping them from success in their chosen field.”
The Career Closet exists because of donations, so if you would like to help, here are the items the closet currently needs (all sizes, new or gently used):
- Dress pants
- Dresses (suitable for a business setting)
- Blouses
- Button-up dress shirts
- Men’s ties
- Suits (Men’s & Women’s, especially women’s suit jackets)
Clothing or monetary donations may be dropped off at the Career Service Office in the Experience Hub located on the second floor of the library on GU’s campus.
Contact Kelli Pryor at kelli.pryor@greenville.edu for more information or to make other drop off arrangements. Kelli is the assistant director of Career Services, an office on campus that provides resources to help students with job searches, networking, and applying and interviewing for jobs.
