Daylong event lets students suit up for professional world

Angelo Mihalyo parted the red curtains of a makeshift dressing room in the Ohio Union on Tuesday and sauntered in his socks to a full-length mirror.

In a navy JoS. A. Bank suit and a backward hat hiding his blond hair, the first-year Ohio State University student assessed his reflection. With a nod of self-approval, Mihalyo strolled back to the dressing room, disappearing behind the red curtains once again.

He emerged a moment later with the suit back on its hanger, headed for his closet. For free. In its third year, the daylong Career Closet event, organized through Ohio State’s Office of Student Life, allows students to sift through donated professional clothing for both men and women, and pick out items at no cost.

In addition to tuition and fees, room and board, books and other higher-education costs, many students find themselves in need of business attire for job interviews, internships and presentations. That can be a pricey undertaking, said Bowen Marshall, associate director in the office of the senior vice president for the Office of Student Life.

“Business attire is expensive,” Marshall said. “When you have your academics, and you have done your internship, and you go to that crucial moment to meet your employer and you don’t have that one piece of attire that makes you feel like you can get that job — or the person judges you on your appearance, not because of your skills set — that’s a critical gap.”

Career Closet “shopping” days are held in the fall and spring semesters, typically a week or two before career fairs.

“A lot of us are working through a lot of deals online or trying to budget our money because we’re not at home with our parents anymore,” said Mihalyo, an astronomy and astrophysics major from Tipp City, near Dayton. “It’s really hard for some of us students to actually find business attire to wear because it’s so expensive nowadays.”

Columbus executive and Ohio State alumnus Laith Khalaf helped gather about 250 donated items for Tuesday’s Career Closet, but he didn’t stop there. In his own gray windowpane suit and electric purple tie, he weaved in and out of the clothing racks, offering students tips on dressing professionally.

He grabbed a burgundy necktie from the counter, where dozens more were piled in a colorful sea of satin snakes. He held it up to a shirt and jacket combination that a student was considering. Next came an icy blue patterned option, then navy.

“It’s like art, right?” he told the student.

Khalaf hopes the Career Closet and a little guidance on how to dress for success can help students in a way he never experienced.

“Growing up, we didn’t have any money. We were so poor, and that stayed with me,” said Khalaf, a financial consultant and senior vice president at UBS Financial Services.

“It’s not just the clothes, it’s, ‘How does it look?’” he said. “It’s such a simple thing, but it makes such a huge difference.”