The Resume Master List What is it and Why You Need One

A master list is a record of your skills, education, and past experiences that can make your job search a whole lot easier. When all your information is organized in one place, it’s simple to grab what you need for each new application or resume. Plus, it helps you quickly tailor your work history so that every employer sees the strengths and experiences that fit exactly what they’re looking for.

Creating a master list of all your previous work experiences and volunteer roles provides you with a resource to create resumes tailored for each potential job and employer. While some resumes will focus more on certain aspects of your past work experience than others, creating a single list that includes all your previous employment history, education, certification, etc., makes it much easier to create an individualized resume for each employer and opportunity.

A master list can include, but is not limited to:

• Work history
• Education, certifications
• Volunteer work
• Details such as job title, company name, location, tools, software, and date(s).

In addition to providing you with a source document to create a variety of resumes based on the requirements of each employer and opportunity, a master list can provide you with a quick reference guide of your past work experiences. 

This ensures you do not forget key facts, such as job title(s), location, and dates of employment. This can become particularly helpful during times when you may have been employed by multiple companies at the same time, or during periods of time when you may have had multiple job positions simultaneously.

How Tailoring Your Resume Increases Your Chances of Being Hired

The majority of employers today utilize applicant tracking systems (ATS). These systems are designed to review resumes in search of specific words and phrases that appear in the job posting. Therefore, creating a resume that is generic in nature greatly reduces your chance of having your resume reviewed by a human recruiter. By tailoring your resume to the specific job you are applying for, you are highlighting those specific achievements, skills, and/or tools you achieved or utilized in a previous position and, therefore, increase your chances of being selected for an interview.

In addition to increasing your chances of being selected for an interview, creating a tailored resume also allows you to tell a more focused and relevant story regarding your work history.  When you highlight the most relevant and applicable work experience to a specific job posting, you demonstrate both your professionalism and respect for the employer's time.

How a Master List Helps You Tailor Resumes Faster

Having access to a master list of all your previous work experiences, certifications, and other related data provides you with the convenience of having all the necessary data located in one location. Once you locate the data in your master list, you simply copy the appropriate section into a new document and remove the irrelevant data to create a new tailored resume.

The benefit of using a master list to create customized resumes is especially beneficial when you are applying to numerous positions. You are able to streamline the process of applying for various positions by reusing existing data versus recreating it from scratch for each application.

You can also easily switch between various sets of achievements or skills depending on the type of job you’re applying for.

Preserve Important Accomplishments

Important accomplishments are often forgotten over time, especially after working long hours during a busy period or working on a group project. Creating a master list will help you capture your successes while they are still fresh. This will allow you to incorporate your successes into a resume at the most opportune time.

Having a master list of your past work experiences also ensures that you do not miss important experiences, even though they may not be included in every resume. Such examples would include short-term jobs, volunteer work, internships, etc.

The master list also serves as a quick reference guide to fill out online applications that require you to enter your entire work history. This minimizes gaps in your work history and reduces the amount of guesswork needed to accurately represent your employment experience. The result is a cohesive and consistent professional narrative among all of your resumes, job applications, and interviews.

Getting Started with Creating Your Own Master List

• Start by opening a basic document and listing all of your previous jobs, internships, and volunteer work, including their job titles, dates, employers and locations.
• Underneath each job listing, write down your job responsibilities in bullet form.
• Where possible, try to quantify your accomplishments with numbers, percentages, or clearly defined outcomes.
• Include areas for education, certifications, skills, tools, languages, and projects.
• Update the master list whenever you take a new job or complete a significant achievement.

Over time, your master list will become a dynamic record of your career development that will make creating each subsequent resume faster, easier, and more strategic.