Wanted: Attention-Grabbing Resumes

You’re out of work. Or you hate the job you have and want to get into a new career. Or you love the job you have, but it’s time to move on.

All you need to do is sit down and put together that resume.

ARRRRGH!

Or, on Tuesday, you can go attend the workshop, “How to Write a Damn Good Resume,” at Women at Work, a job resource center in Pasadena.

And in this job market, you’ve got to have a good resume.

“It’s the most essential tool you have in today’s market,” said Kate Pope, Women at Work director of counseling.

A good resume is not all you need, Pope added. You also need to “network.” But that’s a different workshop.

“Resumes today need to be very action-oriented, very accomplishment-oriented,” Pope said. “We are currently encouraging a chronological resume,” which means you put your last job first, then next to last, and so on, as opposed to a functional resume where you list your skills first.

“I think it has to do with the recession,” Pope explained. “The people who are reading the resumes are getting very stressed for time. They just want to know what you did and where you did it. They’re getting very task-oriented.”

This doesn’t mean a functional resume won’t work for you, Pope pointed out, especially if you’re changing careers. But there is a way to write so that it’s action-oriented.

That leaves getting started, which Pope said is the main obstacle for most people.

“The biggest help for that is to have a format, or an example,” she said. “That’s why I think a workshop like this is so helpful because you get started.”

The workshop takes place from 7 to 9 p.m. at the resource center in the Pasadena YWCA building, 78 N. Marengo Ave. There is no sign identifying the center; just look for the YWCA. Admission is $12 for center members, $15 for non-members. And men are welcome.