Creating an Effective Master Resume

If you've been submitting resumes for many different types of positions, you could certainly benefit from a master resume. Master resumes allow you to organize the different sections of your resume in a clear way, and let you change out key bits of information or certain sections of the resume before submitting your resume to a potential employer.

A master resume provides a great way to create quick, specific resumes for different jobs, especially if you're applying to positions in more than one field. If this sounds like something you may want to create yourself, here are a few tips to help you get started ...

Create a Headline that "Pops"
Your first order of business is to create a headline for your resume (if submitting online) and make it one that "pops." A plain headline is exactly that--plain--and you'll be far more successful if your headline pops out and gives the potential employer a reason to hire you. A headline that simply reads, "Sales Reprentative" is plain, and is more of a waste of space on a resume than anything else. Instead, try using something with more of a personal, professional touch, such as "Your Sales Representative For A Great Return On Investment." What's great about the master resume is that once you create the headline in your first one, you could use its creative wordplay to create other great headlines.

Setting Up an Expertise Section
The expertise section is another part of the master resume that offers flexibility so that you can switch out information as needed. You can either leave this section titled as such, or change it slightly. In either case, you want to develop this section to show your employers the various skills you've picked up over the course of your career. Your master resume can be used to switch out the subcategories of this section of your resume.

Creating a Section for Your Credentials
Depending on the job you're applying for, your credentials may be relevant in some instances and irrelevant in others. Another advantage of a master resume is that it's easy to create a section where credentials can be changed out or added in, which improves the overall quality of the document.

Titling Your Master Resume
Once you've created the resume that you think could stand as the master that you base your other versions of off, it's good to give it a title such as "DoeJane_MasterResume" so that you'll always know that it is not the copy you should send out to employers and instead it is your resume template.

What's great about a master resume is that you're essentially creating a resume template that starts off specific to you, instead of forcing you to fill in the blanks from someone else's resume. So if you think that this type of resume will help you be able to send out number versions to different employers, then it's not a bad idea to get started on yours today.