Job Seekers Dress for Interview Success with Goodwill’s Support

Group of diverse job candidates wait to be interviewed.For some job hunters, finding affordable business attire to wear to interviews can put a strain on already-tight budgets. Goodwill® agencies in the Greater Washington-Baltimore region and Pennsylvania are helping area job seekers dress for success, thanks to a regional clothing drive partnership with ZIPS Dry Cleaners.

Called Will2Work, the partnership aims to collect donated suits, dresses, blouses and slacks that adults from disadvantaged backgrounds can wear to job interviews or to the office once they are hired.

“One of the biggest barriers to employment for people with a disadvantage is the lack of professional attire to wear to a job interview,” explains Brendan Hurley, senior VP of marketing and communications for Goodwill of Greater Washington, one of the Goodwill agencies participating in the drive.

“The partnership between ZIPS and Goodwill will give a significant number of people in participating communities access to the clothing that will help secure and maintain employment.”

Through the month of September, residents of the following communities can drop off their gently used business attire at their area ZIPS locations:

  • Virginia: Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Falls Church, Manassas, Norfolk, Fairfax, Dumfries and Chantilly
  • Maryland: Annapolis, College Park, Columbia, Elkridge, Frederick, Gambrills, Kent Island, Laurel, Lanham, Marlow Heights, Pasadena, Pikesville, Rockville, Scaggsville, Silver Spring, Timonium and Towson
  • Washington, DC: Connecticut Ave./Van Ness
  • Pennsylvania: Bensalem, Lancaster, Warminster and York

This is the sixth year that Goodwills are participating in the Will2Work drive. Last year, the partnership garnered more than 5,000 suits and other garments donated to disadvantaged job seekers for free.

If you already have a job and are looking to add to your professional wardrobe without spending hundreds of dollars, don’t forget that you can stop by your local Goodwill store to pick up great clothing items and accessories that can help complete your look. It’s more than a good deal for you, it’s a good deal for your community – 84 cents out of every dollar you spend goes right back into job training and placement programs that help people go back to work.