Nobody enjoys putting resumes together, and I’ve never met someone who enjoys the part where you have to tailor your resume for every job you apply to.
Yes, you have to do that part too. I’m so sorry.
I’ve helped thousands of people write good resumes, and there IS a science to doing this without pulling your hair out.
Introducing: The Master Doc
I’ve discovered that having ONE long document with all of my achievements listed and organized allows me to easily pull lines and organize tailored resumes much faster.
Think of it as the story professional you: Every couple of months, go back through this master doc and add recent achievements/updates so that you’re ALWAYS ready to throw together a tailored resume. In this job market, that could be any moment, and you want to be doing this in a calm state of mind.
Here’s what mine looks like:
Step 1: The Key
Not all of the jobs you apply to will prioritize the same skills, so think of the top 5-6 competencies that you embody/are looking to use, and organize them at the top of your master doc.
Here are mine:
Being Type A has saved my life because color-coding things and making lists runs in my blood, and it can make your life easy, too.
We’ll come back to this soon.
Step 2: The Summary Statements
At the top of most resumes, we’ll see a quick summary statement, but that might look different depending on the job you want and the company you’re trying to align with.
So, every time I write a new summary sentence or statement, if the sentence is new, I’ll throw it into a list in my master doc in case I can use it another time.
A summary statement is 2-3 overview sentences of your overall expertise and what you’re looking to achieve in this new role.
Examples of sentences on my list include:
I thrive in environments where I can identify and implement process improvements while focusing on quality and client satisfaction.
As a consultant and strategic partnerships leader, I’ve helped organizations (from startup to Fortune 100 level) navigate scaled hiring and transform their talent solutions.
Step 3: Your Actual Achievements
Next, you can list all of the roles you’ve had (the same way it would look on a regular resume). The great thing about the master doc is that you can take up as many bullets as you want here!
Color-coding them by competency will allow you to use this to copy and paste the MOST relevant/helpful bullets into your resume template anytime you need to tailor a resume in the future.
It’ll look something like this (obviously I need to keep my specifics private):
Step 4: Key Feedback
This step is optional, but I recommend it especially for roles where you’re customer-facing in any way, or leading teams.
Testimonials work in sales, and they also work for hiring!
Documenting key feedback from your customers or peers is always helpful for your master doc.
I wouldn’t add it to your resume, but you can definitely throw it onto a portfolio or use it to remember who to ask when you need a reference check.
Step 5: Links
Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of relevant links for your application materials.
Aside from the obvious (LinkedIn), adding a section for links in your master doc lets you easily find your materials.
Examples of key application links include portfolios, published work, blogs, press.
Remember… we did all this work upfront to spend LESS time on resumes in the future.
This has saved me time and I hope it saves you time in the future!
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