Kerry Hannon  asked Tony Beshara, author of Unbeatable Résumés (Amacom, 2011), a Dallas-based recruiting and job placement powerhouse and president of Babich & Associates to share his secrets.  Read it.

The last time I was in Dallas, I called Mr. Beshara so I could meet him and to ask him to sign his book for me.  I wanted to watch his radio show, but he said it was too early and it was in his office.  He invited me to come by any time after 10:00 a.m.  I did and he is delightful!  I redesigned my resume based on his book.  Now I have an Unbeatable Résumé.

The purpose of the résumé is to help get you an interview. Then, 40 percent of a hiring decision is based on your personality.  Unbeatable Résumés are no more than two pages because the average résumé gets read in 10 seconds.

According to Beshara,

• Avoid the fancy-schmancy layout, font, and other special effects. Stick to traditional font of Times New Roman, 9 to 12 point size, and black type against a white paper. You might try a different type size for your name and the companies you have worked for, perhaps your title. But try to be consistent. Go easy on boldface type, italics, and underlining.
• Prepare it in a simple Word format that can easily be viewed on most computers. Not a table format or template.
• Use a reverse chronological order. List your present, or most recent job, first, and then work backwards. You state the complete name of the company you work for, or have worked for, and what they do, how long you were there–month and year. Then list the position you held and your accomplishments. You don’t have to use full sentences. Begin with verbs. “Managed company tax reporting, finance, invoicing, purchasing,” for example.
• Get rid of objectives and summary and all that silly stuff. It’s all fluff. An employer doesn’t care about your objective. He cares about his.