Build a master list of your skills and work history

Alberta alis calls this a master resumé: one document that gathers your work experience, skills, accomplishments, and education or training. You do not usually send the whole master list to an employer. You keep it, update it, and copy the most useful parts into a shorter resume for each job.

Alis says a master resume should include your contact information; education and training; work history in reverse order (latest job first), with duties and responsibilities; skills, split into employability skills and technical skills; accomplishments (results you can describe); volunteer and community activities; awards; and a list of references. It is a living document, so you update it when you finish a course, change duties, or complete a volunteer season.

Use a personal phone number with voicemail and a personal email you check often (Lesson 1). You do not have to put a full street address on a practice sheet if you prefer a town name only. Never add a Social Insurance Number, a password, or a bank number. Those do not belong on a resume you would email, and they do not belong in this course.

If typing in Word is new, *Microsoft Word Basics* can help you start a file, save it with a clear name, and check Canadian spelling. This lesson is about what to collect, not about fonts and styles. A lined notebook works too, as long as you can read it later and copy from it without guessing. The point of the master list is speed: when a posting appears, you should not have to rebuild your history from memory on a library computer.

Alis asks you to identify skills, abilities, and accomplishments at the beginning of a work search, because that list later feeds both the resume and the interview. Employability skills are everyday workplace habits: showing up, listening, teamwork, speaking clearly. Technical skills are tied to a kind of work: using a till, setting up tables, entering names on a sign-in sheet.

Volunteer work counts when it taught you something an employer needs. Alis’s work-search basics page says not to forget volunteer work. Greeting people at a community skate sale is real public-facing practice, even if it was unpaid. So is keeping a hall kitchen tidy after an event.

Accomplishments are stronger when they include a result. Alis prefers a specific line such as what you did and what changed, rather than a vague claim that you are “great with people.” You do not need a corporate percentage. “Set up twelve tables before a Saturday market, twice a month” is clearer than “helped with events.”

Be honest. If you share a duty with a teammate, say so. Do not invent a job title. If your work history has gaps, you will choose a resume layout in the next lesson; you do not need to fill a gap with a story that did not happen. Daily responsibilities can count when they match a posting — for example, greeting people at a school door as a volunteer, or keeping a written sign-in list at a community supper. Write the task, the setting, and one result, then decide later whether that line belongs on the short resume.

Alis says most employers check references. Choose people who know your work and can speak clearly about it. They should be as objective as you can manage — try not to use a family member if you have another choice. Always ask first, and do not leave this until the night before an interview. It may take time to hear back.

On the master list you can write each person’s name, how they know your work, and whether they have already said yes. You do not have to put reference names on every resume you send; many employers ask later. Follow the posting if it asks for references up front.

Keep the master list where you can find it, with a clear file name. Update it after each new role or course. When you write the short resume in Lesson 5, you will pick only the lines that match that one posting — for our sample, greeting visitors, weekend reliability, and setting up a room, not every job you have ever had.

Ask people you trust to help you remember duties you have forgotten. A second pair of eyes is useful, as long as you do not share other people’s private numbers or a SIN. If you cannot think of a second reference yet, leave that line blank rather than inventing a name. You can add it after someone says yes. Store the worksheet with a name you will recognise, such as master-skills-practice, not Document1.

1. Download or copy the master-skills worksheet.
2. Fill in contact details you are willing to share, education, and at least one work or volunteer role (most recent first).
3. Add two skills that match the Sampletown posting and one honest result.
4. Note one person you could ask to be a reference — ask them later, not inside this course.
5. Save the file with a clear name. No SIN or password.

Which unpaid task from your week would look like a real skill on a master list, if you described the result clearly?