Bridging ‘the Gap Between the Classroom and the Boardroom’

Less than 48 hours before the Robert H. Smith School of Business’ first Undergraduate Career Fair of the year, students streamed into an unassuming room in Van Munching Hall, flipping through racks of crisp white button-downs, smart black blazers and timeless A-line dresses.

“Do you think I need a tie with this?” Zach Soderstrom ’27, a finance and accounting double major at the University of Maryland, asked Justin McKendry ’27 as he reached for a colorful array of options. He’d already found a jacket and pants that fit perfectly, and he was feeling confident about meeting employers to secure an internship.

That’s the goal of Smith’s new Career Boutique, which offers new and gently used professional outfits for students to borrow. 

“Employers are looking for graduates who are prepared, polished and proactive,” said Smith School Assistant Dean Kimberly DeGross, head of the Office of Career Services (OCS), at the Sept. 9 launch event. “The Career Boutique has been designed to help bridge the gap between the classroom and the boardroom.”

A collaboration between OCS and the Business, Society and Entrepreneurship (BSE) College Park Scholars Program and funded by a grant from the Enterprise Mobility Foundation, the boutique was created by BSE students, who gathered clothing donations and purchased new items as part of their capstone project in the spring. BSE students and teaching assistants, like computer science and finance major McKendry, will also be staffing throughout the school year. 

The boutique at 2530 Van Munching Hall is currently open two days a week, mostly by appointment. Currently, Smith students can borrow suits, blouses, dresses and accessories like ties, belts and purses for free as they prepare for interviews, internships, and more. Most items can be kept for a semester, while others, like the purses donated by Affordable Luxury Group (COO Adam Protass ’05 is an alum) must be returned in two days. 

Clinical Professor and BSE Director Oliver Schlake donated the Hugo Boss suit that got him through a doctoral dissertation, wedding and Smith interview, and encourages community members to contribute too. 

“We’re giving the suit or dress to our students saying, ‘This (outfit) was magic for me, we’ll have your back when it counts,’” Shlake said.

As the semester goes on, the boutique will offer styling consultations and workshops, as well as expand the selection of clothing to offer socks, undershirts and other garments for students to keep, said BSE Assistant Director Obioma Akaigwe. She also hopes to bring in companies like Sephora and Cover Girl to do makeup demonstrations and product giveaways. 

“It can get really expensive” to buy interview clothes, said international business major Gabriella Miele ’28, browsing before the Career Fair. “This is great because it makes it more accessible for students to feel professional and feel their best.”

Every student that comes in also gets a “Interview Survival Kit,” which includes lip balm, mouthwash, a notepad and pencil, stain remover (“for when you had that burger just before when you shouldn’t have,” joked Schlake) and a sheet with tips for interview success. 

“To be part of this—and what you are offering to the students—is unbelievable,” said Jim Strack, vice president and general manager at Enterprise Mobility, who also highlighted the dozens of Smith School students the company has hired for full-time jobs and internships in recent years. “I’ve seen a lot of different things in my career … but this is as unique as I’ve seen.”

The student-led initiative is a shining example of the Smith spirit, said Dean Prabhudev Konana. “Ideas are a dime a dozen. There’s no better example than seeing how our students learn to create something on their own, make it self-sufficient and make it a business.”