Six seconds to impress

Finding a job is difficult for anyone, but imagine looking for one while homeless, after suffering domestic abuse or while undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

Nearly 200 women will have the chance to become more confidant job candidates after a day of pampering and career help at Working Wardrobes’ Women’s Day of Self-Esteem in Fountain Valley on Sunday.

Working Wardrobes started as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women and men coming out of crisis by providing free career assistance.

The organization has helped more than 50,000 participants through a number of programs, including interview and resume assistance, certification programs, a professional wardrobe and information on job openings.

The organization started in 1990 after Jerri Rosen, founder and chief executive of Working Wardrobes, read an article about a store owner who saved unsold clothes for abused women going to court.

The article inspired Rosen to hold her own event where women could get their hair and makeup done, get a business outfit and do a career-skills assessment.

“It was just going to be a one-day event, can you imagine?” Rosen said.

The organization grew to focus on helping men and women get back to work and become self-sufficient.

The 20th anniversary of Women’s Day of Self-Esteem will bring together women who are making a transition out of residential homeless shelters, drug and alcohol treatment centers and domestic abuse shelters, and are preparing to join the workforce, said Megan Harless, vice president of client services.

The women have already completed a six-week career success workshop before they are invited to the event.

Finding a job might seem like it would be based on the qualifications of the candidate, but “the fact of the matter is you have about six seconds to make a good impression on a recruiter,” Rosen said.

To give them the edge in that first judgment, the women will be given a professional makeover with hairstyling and makeup tips, business clothes and a chance to show off their new professional image in a fashion show.

The day is a celebration of themselves and a chance to have their outside match the work they have been doing on the inside, Harless said.

“It’s kind of amazing, the power of an outside transformation,” she said.

There will also be a motivational seminar and a career fair after the makeover.

The day leaves the women visibly changed with increased confidence, Rosen said.

“You absolutely see this transformation as the hours go on,” Rosen said, adding, “It just makes them feel like all the possibilities we talked about really are available.”