Peirce College offers career advice - and interview suits, too!

At Peirce College in Philadelphia, career advisers offer job-seeking male students tips on resume-writing and interview techniques.
Oh, and a spiffy suit to wear on the job interview, too.
The college for years has referred female students and alumni to the non-profit "Career Wardrobe" where they can borrow interview attire free of charge. But they could find no similar organization for men, so over the last two years, the Philadelphia-based college that caters to adult learners has been building its own wardrobe for its male students and alumni.
"We wanted to be able to offer the same type of services for men," said Robyn Dizes, director of career development.
Now celebrating its 150th anniversary, Peirce is making a push to upgrade its collection. It wants  150 suits.
 The college is looking for donations of all sizes, big and tall, small and medium, light-colored, dark-colored - whatever would be appropriate for a job interview.
"We've also put the push on for additional ties and belts," Dizes said.
Peirce career counseling officials are hoping to land the suave stash by the end of December.
"It's a really big need that we have," said Amanda Hill, supervisor of marketing and communications at Peirce, which enrolls about 2,200 students, average age about 35. "We've seen the success of students when they come in and find a suit that fits and they go out on an interview and can put all their skills to work. It's a really great thing."
Peirce has turned an office into a makeshift dressing room with blinds and racks of clothing. They call it the "Career Closet."
 Clothing can be borrowed for up to two weeks, free of charge, by current students and alumni. (The clothing is available to those trying to land a job. Once the job is landed, individuals must begin building their own wardrobe).
Since July, 72 Peirce students have borrowed from the closet.
It's not a unique program. Other colleges have started career closets, too.
At the University of Arkansas, the Sam M. Walton College of Business Career Development Center Closet (Career Closet) opened in August 2010.
Kansas State, Delta College in Michigan and Santa Monica College all house closets, too. More recently, two UCLA seniors opened one in April.
"It made me pause because we go to UCLA to get higher education to go to graduate school or get a good job, and attire shouldn't be the one thing holding us back from achieving our goals," Amir Hakimi said in an interview on UCLA's web site.
New to the interview world, students don't always know what they need, Dizes said. Her office hammers on the importance of appearance.
"The first impression is often the last impression," she said.
At Peirce, students will be charged $50 if they don't return the clothing - but that's not happened in the last two years, Dizes said.
"They check it out like a library book," she said. "They are pretty good  about returning it."