I bought a used car soon after finishing college.  It was cheap and I loved everything about it.  Except the AM radio. 

Luckily, I had received a high-end AM/FM cassette stereo as a graduation gift (hey - cassette stereos were top-of-the-line back then).  The trouble was, I didn't know how to take the existing radio out, nor install the new audio component. 

But I had a friend who did.  He said it was nothing more complicated than a "shuck 'n' chuck."  He explained that it was relatively easy to pull one thing out and put another in, so long as all the wires were connected.  In fact, he said, it could be done pretty quickly.

Resumes are the same way.  While it's a good idea to have a Multiple Use Resume (see why in Part I, Part II and Part III), some find added success incorporating shuck 'n' chuck into their MUR.  Here's how they do it:

Start with a MUR.  Multiple Use Resumes are great.  They're efficient and, as the name implies, can be used for multiple positions.  It's a handy resume to have when applying for closely-related positions.  It can also be made more specific, however, with a little time to do the shuck 'n' chuck.

Write more than you need.  Chances are, you have many more skills, talents, experiences and accomplishments than you can fit into your resume.  This is a good thing.  When you're writing or updating your resume, you shouldn't worry about censoring yourself.  In fact, the more, the better.  Have six categorized sub-headings under your main "Experience" heading?  No problem.  This will become your "harvest file."

Editing and the harvest file.  Obviously, not everything can fit into your MUR.  But let's say three (A, B and C) of the six sub-headings can fit.  Instead of deleting the other three (D, E and F), keep them in a separate file.  When your MUR needs to be more specific, you'll be able to "shuck" out the less-important sub-categories and "chuck" in the important ones.  Once everything is shucked and chucked, then you should rank them in order of importance to the position (you might end up with: B, F, D).

IN THE CARAVAN: Make your MUR more specific with shuck 'n' chuck

NEXT MONDAY: Transferability

Want more Resume advice?  Check out these posts and The Lion's Pride section of WildJobSafari.com!

Check out last Monday's post on writing techniques for multiple use resumes.

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