At the job post · 6 min read
Should I keep a master CV?
A master CV holds everything you've done; each application is cut from it. How to build one, keep it current, and turn it into a tailored CV quickly.
The short answer
Yes. A master CV is one long, private document with every role, project, result and skill you could ever use, written as proof rather than duties. You never send it. For each job you copy it, keep the lines that answer that post's must-haves, put them in the post's order and cut the rest to one or two pages. It makes tailoring faster and stops you forgetting your best evidence.
Key takeaways
- The master CV is for you; the tailored CV is for one employer.
- Write every line once, as a result, so it can be reused without rework.
- Add to it the week something happens, while the numbers are fresh.
- Tailoring becomes choosing and ordering, not writing from scratch.
- Keep each version you send, so you know what an employer has seen.
On this pageWhat goes in a master CV
What goes in a master CV
- Every role, with exact dates, and every bullet you've ever written for it.
- Two or three versions of your strongest bullets, each leading with a different skill.
- Projects, volunteering, courses and side work, each with what you made or changed.
- Numbers, with a note of where each came from, so you can defend it.
- A long skills list, grouped, that you'll cut down per post.
- Short quotes from feedback or reviews, to remind you what others noticed.
How to turn it into a tailored CV
- Copy the master. Never edit the original for one job.
- List the post's must-haves in its own words.
- For each must-have, keep the best line that proves it and delete weaker ones.
- Reorder roles' bullets so the most relevant comes first.
- Rewrite the summary for this post, then cut to length.
- Name the file with your name and the role, and keep it with the date you sent it.
Done this way, tailoring takes twenty to forty minutes instead of an evening, because you're choosing and ordering, not inventing. The words stay yours, which matters when an interviewer asks about any line.
Write lines that travel
| Hard to reuse | Easy to reuse |
|---|---|
| Responsible for social media | Grew a charity's Instagram from 900 to 3,100 followers in six months |
| Helped with month-end | Cut month-end reconciliations from four days to three by rebuilding one spreadsheet |
| Dealt with customer complaints | Resolved about 40 complaints a week, with two escalations a month |
A line with a verb, a scale and a result fits many posts. A duty line fits none well, and has to be rewritten every time.
Keep what you sent
Save each tailored version with the post, or at least the job title and date. When a recruiter calls three weeks later, you can reread exactly what they've seen. When you get an interview, you know which examples to expect questions on.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, rewrites your CV for the post you have open, in the post's own words and order. Every change is checked against the CV you gave it, so it never adds a skill, a number or a job you don't have. You download it as a PDF or Word file.
What happens to the gaps
Applying shows you what employers want that you can't show yet: a must-have your CV doesn't mention, or a question you couldn't answer well. Hand the job from OffLadder CV to Laddie, our AI coach, and it turns each one into three steps:
- Learn the skill: a short lesson on what the post asks for, starting from the basics.
- Try the work: a 15-minute task taken from the job itself, so you have a real example to talk about.
- Practise the interview: a five-question mock interview for that role, weighted to the parts you're least sure of.
The conversation stays in your OffLadder account. Once you've done the work, add it to your CV in your own words, and the next post you tailor for can point to it.
Questions people ask
- How long should a master CV be?
- As long as it needs to be. Four or five pages is normal, because it holds every role, project and result you might use. Length only matters for the version you send, which should usually fit two sides of A4 in the UK or one page in the US for early-career roles.
- Is a master CV the same as a LinkedIn profile?
- They overlap, but a LinkedIn profile is public and broad, while a master CV is private and exhaustive. Keep extra detail, numbers and versions of bullets in the master CV. A LinkedIn PDF export is a good place to start one if you have nothing else.
- How many versions of my CV should I have?
- One master and one tailored copy per application. Some people also keep two or three base versions for different directions, such as one for analyst roles and one for operations. Tailor from the closest base each time.
- How often should I update it?
- Whenever something worth saying happens: a project ships, a number moves, you learn a tool, you get praise in writing. Five minutes on the day saves an evening of trying to remember later.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
Sources
- How to write a CV · National Careers Service (England)
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.