As the mid-semester grind hits, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development showcased “The Runway to Career Success Fashion Show” on Monday to help students ease into looking for jobs and internships.

Hosted by the Center’s student staff, “The Runway to Career Success Fashion Show” was the first event of its kind on campus, featuring a fashion show, a photo shoot for LinkedIn profile pictures and networking opportunities. The Center emphasized gender inclusivity throughout the show, which was co-sponsored by the Q Center, along with Residential Life and the Student Association (SA). It also featured collaborations from the Binghamton University Business Fashion Society and Dickinson Community Players (DCP). The event took place in the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center (C4) Multipurpose Room, where the audience gathered on the sides of a red carpet lined with fairy lights while students shared their various outfits for conferences, interviews and networking.

Ifrah Hassan, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said they found the runway outfits helpful for understanding what employers mean when they set a dress code.

“I never knew the difference between business casual and business professional,” Hassan said. “I’m going to be doing interviews in the future, so that really helped me.”

Kristiana Deur, a senior peer consultant for the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development and a sophomore majoring in psychology, was part of the programming team that put on the event. She said to promote it, runway models were given the opportunity to wear anything they were comfortable in and wanted to showcase.

“On the projectors [behind the red carpet], we had their names and their pronouns because we really wanted to emphasize that this was an inclusive show,” Deur said. “So based on religion, sexual orientation, whatever it may be, everybody had their chance to see what they would need to wear in a professional setting.”

This emphasis extended into the networking portion of the event as well, where attendees had the opportunity to speak with peers and career consultants from the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development.

“We also had professional development resources available for students on a variety of topics, including resources specifically for young professionals who identify as LGBTQ,” said Lexie Avery, assistant director of early engagement and exploration for the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development.

Gabriel Osei, a model for the event and a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, said he used the runway as an opportunity to bring creativity and personality to his business professional outfit by adding pins on his lapels. One of them was a heart-shaped crocheted pin featuring the flag of Ghana.

“People often think that when you go to an interview, you wear black and white, but with this event, you got to see so much more,” Osei said. “You got to see the spectrum of what people wear, like sweaters, scarves, grandad collars, no collars. It gives you hope that you don’t always have to have the best suit, you can always switch it up.”