The right professional outfit that can score points with employers is not always attainable for cash-strapped students who are ready to launch their careers.
However, for two days at Niagara College, hundreds of students shopped for attire that could help land them a job, and it came at the perfect price point – free!
This was thanks to an initiative called Dress to Impress, organized by staff at Career Services. Since 2017, they have been organizing annual clothing giveaways at both campuses to help students put their best professional image forward before meeting with potential employers. The events are intentionally held a week before the College’s Career Fair when students have an opportunity to meet with employers from various industries on campus.
Human Resources students Catherine Wirkkunen, Kristine Bout and Jillian Nadeau were among hundreds who gained a few new professional outfits to wear at Dress to Impress.
Human Resources students Catherine Wirkkunen, Kristine Bout and Jillian Nadeau picked up a few new professional outfits to wear at Dress to Impress at the NOTL Campus.
“This is awesome,” said Wirkkunen with a blouse, dress pants and a black dress in her arms as she browsed through the racks and tables of donated items. “Dress clothes are more expensive to buy, so this is a good chance for students to get the clothes we need.”
“I think this great way for students who may not have the money or may be away from home, who need certain clothes for projects that they have,” agreed her classmate Nadeau who found two dresses and pants.
“I love it. I’m very surprised that everything is free. It’s really cool,” said Bout. “This will help me a lot because we have to dress up for many things in our courses this semester.”
They were among more than 350 students who picked up attire at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus event, held on January 29, while more than 200 students attended the event the following day at the Welland Campus.
For Marsha Fiorino (co-op career consultant and employer support, Career Services) who led the NOTL Campus event, her favourite part of the experience was telling students they couldn’t accept their debit or credit card because the clothing was free.
“This event is very rewarding to me and brings me so much joy. It feels good to be able to have a positive impact on students’ success,” said Fiorino. “I’m thankful to those awesome people on our team who helped and also one of the students who helped the day of the NOTL event.”
“I spoke with quite a few students who were preparing for placement interviews and who were in need of clothing, and so they were super appreciative,” said career consultant Monique Morin who led the event at the Welland Campus, and noted that she found more students were making the connection between the clothing drive and the career fair.
Career Services staff at both campuses had been collecting donations since September and were grateful to all who contributed to the event’s success. Donations were collected from college employees and retirees as well as community residents, local businesses and charitable organizations who heard about the initiative and wanted to help – including the St. Catharines Meridian Branches and Corporate Office, and Niagara-on-the-Lake-based Newark Neighbours.
Staff members Nimisha Sumathi, Marsha Fiorino and Dana Brown assisted students at the NOTL Campus Dress to Impress event.
“We were completely overwhelmed with the number of donations this year and the quality,” said Morin. “We still had staff walking by and going back to their offices to grab things [during the event].
“We had some [students] say they would clean out their closets of clothing that was either too big or small to donate for next year.”
Dress to Impress was one of many student-focused events and initiatives planned for Career Month at NC. Resume clinics, speed interviewing sessions, professional headshot photo shoots, and more are available for students throughout the month, leading up to the College’s Career Fair in early February.
NC’s largest career event of the year, the Career Fair will bring employers from a variety of industries on campus to recruit students for co-op, seasonal and full-time positions. The Career Fair will take place at the Welland Campus on February 5, and at the NOTL campus on February 6 and 7. Visit www.niagaracollege.ca/careermonth/
