Career Management Tip - The Master Resume

The new Information Age environment (mentioned in previous posts) means we change jobs more often than previous generations and, more importantly, we make no effort to hide that fact. Changing jobs is often the only way to get a promotion or keep your salary in line with the market.

For many, the only "chore" associated with changing jobs is producing a new resume. A resume is required whether you are applying for a new role within your current company or planning to move to a new one, and consultants need resumes even more often, since they are often submitted when a project is in the staffing phase.

I've found a solution to the resume challenge. I keep a "master resume" in a Word file. Every time I change jobs, learn a new skill or complete a project, I add it to the master resume. Every organization I've ever joined is listed. I've even maintain my address history in it, ever since I had to complete the background check to work in the gaming industry. (You wouldn't believe the amount of data required to get approval even if you are just being hired to provide IT advice.)

When someone calls me with a lead on a job that I might want, I can easily go into my master resume, make a copy, and delete all the items that do not apply to the new job. When a recruiter says, "send me an updated resume", I can do it in five minutes instead of hours. (I'm including procrastination time when I say "hours".)

Start your master resume now. No matter how far along in your career, it's never too late to start. As you think of special projects or additional details about a job from your past, go into the master resume and add them. Before you know it, you'll have 20 pages of raw material and you'll be ready for the next opportunity.