After learning that some students were unable to participate in professional networking and job search opportunities because they didn’t own professional attire, associate dean of Poole College of Management Shannon Davis decided there must be something the university could do to help.

Davis took her observations to the Poole College of Management’s (PCOM) Career Development Center (CDC), spurring them to create a closet full of professional business attire free for students to borrow to prevent them from missing out on experience-building opportunities. 

“At the time, we have faculty members who are retiring and students moving to another stage in their career who were finished with their professional part of their wardrobe and were eager the find a place for their clothes to be reused,” Davis said. 

Since the launch of the project three years ago, the collection has grown to two separate storage racks, one for men and another for women, filled with various items of professional attire, such as blazers, dresses and ties.

“For the first years, it was just various things,” Davis said. “The PCOM Career Development Center shared our project with the faculty and faculty members who then brought in their gently used professional clothing.”

When the CDC shared the project, it also invited contributors to write a small note to place it in the pocket of the item of clothing, so the student borrowing it could learn where it came from. 

“It’s become a support system,” Davis said. 

Every year, the racks move from their location in 2150 Nelson Hall to the McKimmon Center Career Fair. Volunteers from the PCOM ambassador program and Alpha Kappa Psi man the stand and rent out any articles of clothing a student may need.

“It has also become a learning tool in a way,” said PCOM career coach Janet Rakes. “Our volunteers or our staff tell students what is acceptable and unacceptable dress, and then they help them if they need help tying a tie or finding more professional slacks. We used to have to send students home to change, but now we can lend them clothes on the spot.”

In all colleges at NC State, the PCOM especially, professional attire is a must. The college itself hosts its own career development center that is separate from the university’s career center. 

“During our orientation program and their first-year student experience, we stress the importance of business attire because students will need attire for interview and internships,” Davis said. “To get an internship or get a job, you need to the look the part during the recruitment process, and our students need professional business attire as early as their freshman year. If students are disadvantaged during networking or the early stage of the job search project, they are going to be disadvantaged later. ”

Senior studying business administration Brittney Pickler said professional attire is crucial for students in PCOM.

“It is very important, especially if it is your first impression on a company,” Pickler said. “You want them to take you professionally so you can make a good impact.”

A student who wishes to rent out any professional attire can see a career counselor or advisor, leave their student ID with the advisor and sign out the items they want to borrow, along with when they plan to return the item.

“Over 50 students used it for the career fair,” Raker said. “And for this year, over 60 items have been borrowed for this semester. All the students were very appreciative of the project.”

This project is currently working to ensure it has clothing in all sizes for both men and women. Due to the limited space for clothing storage, excess clothes in popular sizes are given to the University Center Clothing Closet and Goodwill.

“The best for me is when a student who borrows this clothing comes back a year or two later and donates to this closet,” Davis said. “To see the cycle go full circle and have a student who benefitted from the process comes back to help, that is how I know this program is great, and that is a sustainable program.”