4 reasons your careers service should start a 'Clothing Closet'

Many UK graduates struggle to afford professional clothing for interviews. Solent University has brought in an initiative to tackle this, while also providing invaluable work experience to other students

1. It helps graduates with the cost of job interviews

Alongside the rising costs of tuition fees, increasing cost of living, and fears surrounding Brexit, graduates are also facing uncertainties concerning their employment prospects. According to the Student Money Survey 2018, '78% of students worry about making ends meet'.1

The expense of a new outfit for job interviews, careers events, or starting a new job can put pressure on tight student budgets. Solent Futures - Solent University's careers service - created the Clothing Closet to ensure that free professional clothing and accessories are accessible for students and recent graduates in need of them.

Recipients are always incredibly grateful for this initiative, with some using it for job interviews and others for clothing to wear during job placements.

2. It's environmentally friendly

The Closet is stocked by donations collected in bins placed strategically around the university campus. All smart clothing is placed in the Clothing Closet and other items are given to our charity partner, CLIC Sargent. This partnership was initiated by a graduate intern who assisted in the Clothing Closet's planning and launch. We recently donated 15 bags of clothes to them in exchange for a number of smart suits and shirts.

In March 2018, The Times reported that 'Britons binned clothes worth £12.5billion last year as the rise of 'throwaway' fashion led to 300,000 tonnes of textiles ending up in landfill.'2

By accepting donations, reusing professional clothing and donating clothes to charity, Solent is providing a valued service for students and graduates in need, while also doing its bit towards reducing the amount of clothing that is discarded each year.

3. It provides work experience for current students

Students and graduates can also get advice from Solent Futures on how to best present themselves in interviews - what to wear to an interview, including styling tips, and how to act.

As well as providing access to free clothing, the Clothing Closet is also fulfilling another need within the university as a work experience provider. So far several students have come forward to offer their services:

• a first-year Applied Human Nutrition student has set up the Closet's Instagram page
• a second-year Fashion Styling and Creative Direction student is creating a 'lookbook' for the Closet's users to peruse
• an MA Creative Enterprise student is doing a photo shoot using clothing from the Closet to be used for marketing purposes
• two Film and TV Production students have also registered their interest in creating a promotional film about the Closet.

This provides fantastic hands-on experience for these students, improving their employability prospects while also improving those of the students using the Closet.

4. It will be embedded in the curriculum

It is hoped that in the future, all of the Closet's marketing initiatives will be student-led.

We are also looking to utilise, and provide an outlet for, the talents of our fashion and other creative students in 'upcycling' donated clothing with either embellishments or alterations.

We are looking forward to the Clothing Closet going from strength to strength and elements of its planning, organisation and marketing being embedded into the curriculum for some of the university's courses.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of HECSU/Prospects

Notes

1. Student Money Survey 2018 - Results, Save the Student, 2018.
2. Clothes worth £12.5bn are thrown in bin, The Times, 2018.

Written by

Jude Hanley

Careers adviser

Solent University