CVs Have To Be Heroically Specific

A Top Tip - CVs Have to be Heroically Specific

Often when bidding we find that if you ask one of your technical delivery people to provide a CV for the submission, they’ll likely send you a couple of pages of general information about their past achievements, which may not be particularly relevant to the client and the opportunity you are looking to win.

My professional bidding friends will get this. They spend a significant amount of time crafting CVs and case studies for bids, trying to match the requirements of the client with the experience of the candidate or the content of the case study 

When it comes to CVs, have a concise and engaging introduction that provides a brief overview of their career. Highlight their relevant experience and achievements. But keep it to three to four lines. 

Do include some data on qualifications etc but be cautious about the length of your service or career history. Due to the Equality Act, in theory we shouldn’t include any identifiers that could lead to discrimination.

A personal commitment from the individual can be appreciated - ideally a one or two-line statement expressing their excitement about the opportunity. This could be related to their local community, a specific project or delivery they’re passionate about, or something else that aligns with the client’s drivers.

Ideally, they will have worked with similar clients on similar projects and can provide three or four bullet points highlighting why this person is the best fit. Hopefully, they've consistently delivered value to clients on this type of project and are experts in this particular aspect of delivery, helping to mitigate risks.

Reflect on the client’s priorities, risks, and hot buttons identified through your research and strategy work and incorporate them into the CVs. These are the people the client is buying, so we want the CVs to be beautifully crafted and show our people can be trusted with their clients’ objectives 

Be critically specific to the opportunity you’re bidding on. Demonstrate experience by provide two or three case studies of where the individual has delivered exactly the type of service you’re bidding for. These should be either for the client you’re bidding to or clients that are extremely similar in their DNA - similar type, geography, size, etc. Don’t just describe the project or contract; delve into the details. Highlight the specific actions taken and the value added. Include a quote from a satisfied client expressing their appreciation for the value created.

Confidence and trust come from personal experience and demonstrating value, not just a list of past achievements. A CV should be easily digestible, allowing you to quickly assess the candidate’s suitability.

Why this person? Make it quite overt. Clearly state why this person is the right fit for the client and this aspect of delivery. When presenting examples, don’t just say what they were; describe their actions, the value they added, and explain why that’s relevant to the deal you're bidding for.

Keep it concise and avoid making the reader guess. The goal is for the content to resonate deeply.