Makeovers Bringing Confidence To Job Seekers

The suits are free, but the groups serve only job seekers who are referred by job-counseling organizations. Still, a wide range of people are coming, from penniless men just out of prison to great-grandmothers who support themselves.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 6 million jobs while the unemployment rate has nearly doubled to 9.4 percent.

The Harrisburg office of Dress for Success is in an old brick building in a section of downtown struggling with blight.

Inside is a dressing room, mirrors and racks of donated suits, skirts, blouses, slacks, purses, shoes, jewelry and makeup. They're the tools essential to impressing interviewers and making job seekers feel great about themselves, said Ruth Koup, who directs Dress for Success South Central PA.

It's not just the sharp, new look, but the shot of encouragement they get from Koup and the other women who help them pick out the clothes, say clients such as great-grandmother Elsie "Kymm" Myers, 61.

In Boston, many of the Career Gear clients are men with a criminal history who get a week or more of interview counseling before they pick out a suit. To attend counseling, they are given a shirt and tie if they don't have one.