At a glance
By Emma Foster
It’s common for people to put aside the often-dreaded task of updating their resume until they’re ready to look for a new job.
Yet many recruitment experts agree that doing so can be a common obstacle for jobseekers, urging them instead to keep what’s known as a “master resume”.
“A master resume is essentially an all-encompassing record of your career that you update regularly,” explains Salam Akhnoukh, founder of resume writing and career branding business Elevate Career Services.
“We don’t generally think about keeping a record of that kind until we’re at a point of transition, but without it, it’s hard to retain all that information – the outcomes of the major projects we’ve worked on, the quantum of the budgets managed, the software programs implemented, the training courses, the entire breadth of our evolving skill set – as we move through our careers.”
She is quick to point out, however, a master resume is never submitted when applying for a job.
“Your job search resume needs to be very focused and targeted toward the position you're applying for – it’s intended for a very specific audience,” Akhnoukh explains.
“So, the idea is that you pick and choose the most relevant information from your master resume to include in your targeted resume and pitch that to the employer.”
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The career experts agree that a useful trigger is the performance review cycle common in most professional workplaces.
“Performance reviews are generally held either quarterly, six-monthly or annually,” Akhnoukh says.
“That's a good time to reflect on what you've learned, achieved and experienced as you prepare for those reviews, and update your document alongside that.”
Although it may be tempting to submit a master resume to a recruiter, Irene McConnell, managing director of executive branding and recruitment organisations Arielle Executive and Arielle Partners, urges job hunters to resist it.
“People may not feel like they have the time to customise their resume, and they send out the master,” she says.
“But the reality is they need to get really clear on what their direction is and who their target market is to create a tight, tailored, targeted approach.”
McConnell also cautions job hunters to take care to avoid “making it difficult for recruiters to see where your skill set truly lies” when tailoring from their extensive career repository.
“If you’re creating five different versions of your CV to keep your options open, depending on what you’re applying for, that might lead to confusion for recruiters as to which [CV] represents the real you,” she warns.
“You've only got one LinkedIn profile, so if your tailored resume doesn't align with that, you'll create a disconnect. Instead, your overarching narrative should stay the same, but your tailoring should aim to bring in the language of the recruiter, rather than a holistic redesign.”
The value of the master resume can also shine during the interview stages, acting as a personal “crib sheet” to help a jobseeker demonstrate their skills of interest to their potential employer, rather than brainstorming on the fly.
“It's a bit like having your own personal filing cabinet,” says Geoff Balmer, of accounting recruiters Richard Lloyd.
“When you get to [the] interview, you need to be able to confidently articulate what you’ve done, describe the context and tell the story.
“If you’re asked about your management style, for example, you can open your staff management ‘drawer’ and recall that time you had to coach a team member or when your team exceeded all goals for accurate financial reporting,” he says.
“If you’ve captured those examples in your master resume, they’re more likely to be fresh in your mind.”
