In my real life, when I am not volunteering for the GHTC Library or writing reviews like this, I am a corporate headhunter. This little volume from the Armed Services is actually one of the most useful and practical books that I have ever seen on resumes.

The entire concept is to provide "power" words and "power" phrases -- methods of describing yourself, your experience, and your skills in such a way as to have real impact. The author considers active versus passive ways of expressing yourself. There is a list of "Fixed - Lasting" adjectives -- something that relates to the now popularized "stickiness factor", making you memorable. And it provides literally pages of sample bullets and phrases to cover areas of personality, leadership, management and performance.

Naturally, there are inevitably segments of this book that has little or no application to job search in the corporate world. After all, it was written for the military service. Still, there is an amazing amount of extraordinary content that would be helpful to almost anyone trying to strengthen their resume and accompanying cover letters to prospective employers.

If you are looking for a new job or contemplating a change in your career, try to get your hands on one of these.

John Hornbeck / GHTC Library / July 2008