Dress for Success Southwest Florida wants to help women in our community prepare for the SWFL Virtual Job Fair coming up in just two weeks.
Executive Director Nickole Hendra said the non-profit helps women prepare for the interview process in various ways.
"We can offer women interview outfits for the job fair and once they’re employed we can help them with outfits for whatever field they go into," she said.
Dress for Success will provide women with professional clothing plus job counseling so they can thrive in the work place. Their services are free and are geared toward helping women who may be financially struggling while trying to get back on their feet.
"Everything is free for them," said Hendra. "This helps them get the clothing in case they can’t afford it, resources they need for resume writing.”
Now the pandemic has changed the Dress for Success process slightly. Women fill out a form about their size, skin tone, and clothing preferences, and then the organization puts together a style kit for the customer. The entire process is contact free in order to keep everyone safe.
"We pull the clothing that they’ve requested from our boutique, we package it into a nice little box," explained Hendra. "Then we schedule a time, and they come to the boutique and their package will be waiting for them outside of the doors."
The pandemic has had an impact on many companies--- including taking the interview process from being in-person to in front of a computer screen. However, Hendra said doing interviews virtually shouldn't change much when it comes to how you prep.
"Treat the zoom interview exactly like a real interview. There is nothing that has changed when it comes to interviewing.”
Click here to sign up for the SWFL Virtual Job Fair.
Click here to contact Dress for Success SW Florida about their services.
Here is a full list of interview tips from Nickole Hendra with Dress fr Success SWFL:
1. Dress as if the interview was in person
2. Have a copy of your resume close by for reference if needed
3. Research the company you are interviewing with prior to the interview
4. Silence your cell phone
5. Make sure you will have no distractions during interview (ex: Barking dogs, crying children, TV noise in background etc)
6. Be prepared for possible interview questions, have your answers written down for reference
7. Direct eye contact
8. Speak slowly and clearly
9. Check your computer camera and audio prior to interview
10. Test the site and your connectivity
11. Log on early (2-3 minutes) so you will not be late
