Students model fashions from the Encore Career Closet during a Career Design Center Flash Fashion Show. (SUNY Geneseo/Keith Walters '11)
Geneseo’s Career Design Center has earned a Diversity and Inclusion Focus award from the SUNY Career Development Organization (CDO) for its Encore Career Closet, a service that assists students who need professional attire for career-related occasions. Winners will be honored at the annual SUNY CDO conference June 12–14 in Java Center, NY.
“Encore allows students lacking business attire to feel like a customer at a boutique when browsing the items available for borrowing,” said Robert DiCarlo, associate director for internship opportunities in Career Development. “The service is available to all students who don’t own or have professional dress attire with them on campus. We especially encourage first-generation and low-income students to make use of our boutique. By rebranding the service and creating an upscale dressing room, we eliminated any stigma associated with using it. It’s great that our hard work is being recognized by the SUNY Career Development Organization.”
Established in 2016, Encore Career Closet carries both men’s and women’s professional dress items in a full range of sizes. Students may browse, try on items, and borrow what they need free of charge. Manned by student career mentors, the closet is open during drop-in hours and by appointment. In the past year, nearly 120 students used the service for job or graduate school interviews, recitals, networking events, and business attire fashion shows.
Encore has been “a great resource while preparing myself for a dream job interview or an induction ceremony,” said Pema Sherpa '19, a neuroscience major with a pre-medical concentration. “Not to mention, the staff there is wonderful!”
Encore Career Closet accepts donations of clean, gently used, professional attire items in good condition and current styles. Most-needed items include small-sized women’s dress blouses and small-sized suits for both women and men; the closet also welcomes financial donations to be used toward dry cleaning the borrowed items. For more information, contact DiCarlo at dicarlo@geneseo.edu or visit Encore for donation locations and times.