Unbeatable Resumes

NetGalley User Amy Armstrong :

I know the advice in this book is good because it’s the same advice I frequently give my clients. A lot of it is often stuff that they aren’t interested in hearing, but for candidates seriously interested in learning about what it takes to get a job, this is an excellent resource.

I am extremely picky about resume books, and I had my doubts about this one. Dr. Phil McGraw writing the forward wasn’t a selling point for me, but Tony Beshara was a guest on his show, so at least there’s a reasonable connection there. The other thing that kind of scared me was Beshara’s insistence that what he presented in the book is the “truth” about resumes. Thank goodness he didn’t write it as Truth with a capital T. I think I would have stopped reading right there.

Overall, Beshara’s book contains a lot of sound advice forjob seekers on how to write a resume as well as how to use a resume in the jobsearch. Beshara bases his suggestions on questionnaires he has sent to hiringmanagers and recruiters as well as his own experience as a recruiter. He alsotapped the expertise of other established career management professionalsincluding Joyce Layne Kennedy and KathrynK. Troutman.

Beshara covers a range of resume types and appropriateconventions for each including resumes for new graduates, former military personnel entering the civilian workforce, healthcare careers, Information Technology careers, and academia. In addition to covering the conventions of marketing yourself in various professions, Beshara also addresses common concerns job seekers may have about re-entering the workforce after an extendedabsence, job hopping, etc.

I also appreciated his honesty in response to all the hoopla about video resumes being the future and social media being the magic bulletfor troubleshooting a job search.