Career Closet opens doors to employment possibilities

A career counselor in the Purdue University Fort Wayne Career Development Center, Melody Monday's favorite part of her job happens when she’s nowhere near her Kettler Hall desk. She likes to get more personal with students.

For almost two years, Monday has also been the Mastodon Career Closet coordinator, with about 40% of her work happening in Neff Hall, Room 361. With a room full of donated and new items placed on department store racks, she helps students coordinate their outfits for job interviews and career fairs, changing outlooks inwardly and outwardly.

“You can see the difference in the students,” Monday said. “I’ve watched them put on a blazer and feel so much more confident and look so much better. It’s amazing! I love my job.”

Like other Career Development Center services, 60-minute appointments to the closet can be made through Handshake. The whole idea to allow students to obtain free professional attire on a first-come, first-serve basis started in the spring of 2020 as Gigi Goshorn’s senior honors project. Clothing is acquired through faculty and staff donations, grant money from the Student Government Association, and the center’s Day of Giving focus. The center also has a donation box, and Monday makes pickups initiated by emails to [email protected].

Along with business suits and dresses, shoes, purses, neckties, pocketbooks, belts, and scarves are available. Each student is permitted one outfit per semester.

“They can get a full wardrobe of professional clothing by the time they graduate if they plan ahead,” Monday said.

The next goals are to add shelving for more accessibility and study the potential of offering merchandise online. Monday has helped more than 120 students since the current academic year started, with the busiest season coming around the time of the popular fashion show and career expo.

“We’ve talked about moving to a bigger space quite a bit,” said Tracey Hanton, associate director of career development. “One goal is to make it look less congested. We’d like to make it look like a boutique.”

Monday also takes some clothing to the center’s career fairs, which are held in the fall and spring, and assists students for the annual spring fashion show.

“At first, it was a little overwhelming, especially with sizes,” Monday said. “Trying to think of ways to de-gender it because I don’t like to have separate spaces for folks who may not fall into binary terms. I want everyone to feel comfortable here.”