The Professional Women’s Association of the Mid-Ohio Valley (PWA) and the Parkersburg Area Jaycees are proud to be sponsoring the “Attire 2B Hired” Event at Ohio Valley University on Thursday evening, March 29th in Room 139 of the Stott’s Administration Building.  The event begins at 6:00pm and is focusing on assisting area college students navigate the waters of interviewing and hopefully landing their first real job upon graduation.

DeAnn Cummings, Past-President of the PWA had been approached by several schools and businesses in the area asking if there were any programs like the “Dress for Success” programs that existed in the 1980’s and 90’s, that taught job-seekers the proper attire to wear when interviewing.  Finding no such organization in the area, DeAnn approached the Leadership Team for the PWA and inquired if they would be interested in putting on such event.  The PWA was delighted to organize this event and invite area College Students to attend.

It seemed like a perfect fit for the PWA as they were also looking for ways to publicize their Professional Women’s Clothing Closet, now known as Betsy’s Closet as it is housed at the Betsy Mills Club at 300 4th St, Marietta, Ohio.  The Clothing Closet was designed to help students, by giving them an option for free clothing and accessories for interviews, competitions, or any other event where professional attire is needed.  The PWA also opened this closet to serve women in need of clothing for work or an interview due to a natural disaster, funds being limited when starting a new position, or perhaps someone who was removed from their home quickly, such as with a domestic violence case.  Any reason is acceptable.

When planning began for this event, organizers did not want to exclude the men that were in a similar situation.  The organizers approached Dave Boone of Hornor and Harrison’s, 2709 Murdoch Ave, Parkersburg, WV and asked if he would provide clothing for the male models to be included in the show.  Mr. Boone was happy to oblige, and even asked if there was a Professional Men’s Clothing Closet in the area.  After researching the answer to that question, Ms. Cummings could not find any such service in the area, so she approached Ohio Valley University to see if they could possibly house one.  Dr. Dan Blair, Dean of the College of Business responded, and the school is currently clearing an area on campus to house the first Professional Men’s Clothing Closet, and are looking for another organization to help sponsor it.  Hornor and Harrison will help stock the closet with donations of gently used clothing from their customers.  As soon as it was decided that the event would be for both males and females, PWA member, Megan Hardway quickly recruited fellow Jaycee member, Christian Wilcox to assist in planning from a man’s perspective.

The Attire 2B Hired Event will be offering a fashion show with a peek in Betsy’s Closet for women, as well as current professional clothing for men, provided by Hornor and Harrison.  In addition to the fashion show, complete with Professional Fashion Consultant, Courtney Smith serving as Emcee and Fashion Coordinator for the show, the attendees shall be greeted by several quick “Tipsters” offering topics of concern to attendees as the models will be coming on stage.  Those tipsters and their 5 minute, quick-topics are as follows:

  • Debbie Cunningham, Evergreen Business Strategies,“3 Steps to Prepare for Your Interview”
  • Sherry Long-Stevens, Advance Sourcing Concepts, “Your Attire Speaks Volumes Before You Open Your Mouth”
  • DeAnn Cummings, White Caps Creative Group, “Your One Chance to Make a Good 1st Impression”
  • Megan Hardway, Parkersburg Area Jaycees, “Why Should You Get Involved?”
  • Rhonda Poling, HR Solutions, “Fashion Savvy Ways to Shape Image to Score Business Success”
  • Dave Boone, Hornor and Harrison, “Tips for the Men in the Room”
  • Mary Barbara Hanna, Mid-Ohio Valley Toastmasters, “Getting Paid to Learn”
  • Christian Wilcox, BB&T, “The Phone is Ringing, Now What?”
  • Sandy Swisher, WVU-P, “Do the Research!  Who is Interviewing You?”

Several organizations will be on hand at information tables to discuss their tips in more detail, or to offer information on getting involved with their entities.  Those planning to participate are Ohio Valley University, West Virginia University at Parkersburg, American National University, Advance Sourcing Concepts, the Professional Women’s Association of the Mid-Ohio Valley, Betsy’s Closet, HR Solutions, Parkersburg Jaycees, Generation MOV, and Clutch MOV.
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