Libraries Give Résumé Help

From the Wall Street Journal |  July 26, 2009

By JONNELLE MARTE

Many
job seekers have been paying big bucks to have professionals rework
their résumés, but when it comes to career counseling, free help
abounds.

By visiting a government-sponsored job center, your alma mater and
even your local library, you can tap into a pool of professionals who
will help you create or critique your résumé.

At the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, for instance, people
can learn the basics at Résumé 101 classes or have one-on-one sessions
with a staff member who reviews their résumés.

"More people are looking for those kinds of resources, and I think a
lot of them are surprised to find them at their local library," says
Rebecca Sullivan, manager of the library's career-information center,
where attendance at career lectures has doubled.

College alumni are often able to turn to the career-services
department of their school -- in person, over the phone or via email --
to get tips on how to improve or refocus résumés.

And the U.S. Department of Labor sponsors over 3,000 One-Stop Career
Centers across the country where job seekers can get free help writing
and improving their résumés, among other career advice. Find your local
center at ServiceLocator.org. Guidance is also available online at
CareerOneStop.org.

Write to Jonnelle Marte at jonnelle.marte@wsj.com