Career

Donate a handbag and help someone back into the workforce

Dress for Success is a not-for-profit organisation that assists Kiwi women back into the workforce by dressing them head to toe for job interviews - and they need handbags.

When Averil Wills found herself out of work at the age of 50, she got on with looking for another job.

While it didn’t take the then-Wellington-based mother of one long to secure an interview with a bank, her problem was that she literally had nothing to wear.

During the previous year she had lost 33kg – slimming down from a size 20 to a size 8. And the only clothes she had were casual, because she had been working at a daycare centre.

Averil’s before and after pics. She lost 33kg in the space of just over a year.

“So suddenly I was in a situation where I needed professional clothes and I was like ‘oh my goodness, I’m out of work – what do I do?’” she says.

It was Averil’s daughter, who had used Dress For Success after completing a bartending course, who suggested that Dress For Success might be able to help.

A visit to Wellington’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau secured the referral letter from an agency that she needed, and then it was “down to the wire” with her appointment scheduled for the same day as her job interview.

Dressed for success: Averil Wills in the outfit that Dress for Success gave her for her job interview… She got the job!

“It was just incredible,” she says. “I was made to feel welcome right from the get-go . They talk to you about what sort of job you’re going for so they can get an idea of the type of clothing you’ll need – they spend a whole hour with you – and then they bring you various pieces of clothing to try and on.

“Once I was dressed I went straight to my interview in the clothes they gave me. I had a beautiful skirt with a matching jacket, a lovely top, shoes, a brooch to wear on my lapel and a handbag. I just felt like a million dollars.”

Averil got the job – a temporary stint working for Kiwibank at their call centre in Wellington – and was then made permanent, later moving to Hastings and joining the bank’s lending operations team.

“Once you secure permanent work you’re able to go back to Dress for Success for a second fitting, so that you’ve got a few sets of clothes to work in,” Averil explains.

“And they invite you to join a professional women’s group, where you meet once a month and listen to guest speakers and have the chance to get together with others who’ve returned to the work force or changed jobs and been through the Dress for Success process.

“They’re really just about sharing our stories and nurturing and encouraging one another with that self confidence to keep achieving.”

Through the professional women’s group, Averil was offered the opportunity to attend an annual success summit in America. There she completed a project management course and was set with the task of returning to her community, identifying a need within it and then running a project.

She ran a project with the Wellington Women’s Boarding House – an accommodation facility to help women in need get back on their feet – in which she secured funding and provided 20 women with bedding packs that they could take with them when they found somewhere to live.

“My project was in the top 10, so it was pretty awesome,” she says proudly.

Averil Wills has been employed ever since Dress For Success dressed her for her job interview four years ago – she’s now working as a court registrar and “absolutely loves it”.

Averil still wears the clothing she was given for her job interview, and uses her handbag every day.

She has a special interest in social justice and is now working as a court registrar for Napier District Court; she is also a committee member for the National Council of Women.

“I’m absolutely loving it. My involvement with Dress for Success has just opened up so many doors. Gosh, I’d love to be able to set one up here in Hawkes Bay. I keep thinking about it.”

Watch this space.

Desperately seeking handbags

One of the items Dress for Success needs the most is handbags!

So, for two weeks from Monday 24 July – Sunday 6 August we’re inviting you to have a look in your wardrobe; find a new or gently used handbag, donate it and swap it for a Caci facial!

All handbags will be donated to Dress for Success, to support their mission of helping women achieve economic independence, and helping them back into the workforce.

You can donate your handbag (new or preloved and in good quality) to any Caci clinic nationwide, just remember it needs to be in good condition and suitable for a job interview (so no clutches, or canvas tote bags please).

Just drop your handbag into your local Caci clinic between 24 July and 6 August and receive your 30 minute facial voucher.

More about Dress For Success

Dress for Success is a global organisation that has helped more than one million women back into the workforce. Since launching in New Zealand in 1999, Dress for Success has assisted nearly 45,000 women – and up to 72 per cent of Dress for Success clients have gained employment.

Dress for Success empowers women with skills, confidence and clothing – and this includes dressing them for an interview, from top to bottom, handbag included.

Dress For Success offers women a transformational, “wraparound” service, with three key programmes:

• Dressing/suiting programme which equips each woman for her job interview; once she gains employment, she returns for a 2nd complete outfit; 60-72 per cent of clients gain employment after being referred to, and served by, DRESS FOR SUCCESS®

• Career Centres, which provide CV assistance, interview tips and job search support;

• PWG – Professional Women’s Group, job retention and leadership programme; over 75 per cent of PWG members are still employed after one year.

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