In today's competitive consultancy market, your CV (resume) is more than just a document—it's a powerful tool to showcase your expertise and win new business. But how do you make your CV stand out in a sea of proposals? Let's dive into the art of tailoring your CV for maximum impact in bids and tenders.
Why you need to tailor your CV or resume
Imagine you're a bid evaluator, sifting through dozens of CVs. You have limited time and a mountain of information to process. This is the reality of proposal evaluation.
As a consultant (or proposal professional), your challenge is to grab attention within the first 5 seconds. You need to show why you, and only you are the best person for the project at-hand. Likewise, if you’re showcasing a wider team, you need to show why you have the most relevant set of skills to meet the RFP’s criteria.
In fact, tailoring your CV for each bid isn't just a nice-to-have—it's essential for success. It shows you understand the client's specific needs, highlights your most relevant experiences, and demonstrates your attention to detail.
But what exactly do you need to tailor? We’ve got you covered:
Checklist for tailoring CVs for bids and proposals:
- Use the client's own terminology for roles, industries, and skills. You can learn more about this here.
- Showcase the most relevant experiences on the front page (find out how later in this blog)
- Include years of experience or competency levels in the most relevant industries or skills
- Include up-to-date certifications and courses
Alongside the above, you should follow other general rules to ensure your CV is fit for the proposal:
- Ensure your photograph looks professional
- List projects in reverse chronological order
- Include measurable results from similar projects
- Use consistent terminology and format across team CVs
- Get a quick impression test from a colleague
How to tailor your CVs efficiently
So how do you efficiently tailor your CV without starting from scratch each time? Put simply, you need a CV or resume database that’s designed for this sort of task.
Let’s take an example to show how easy it is to tailor CV content in Flowcase. Say you're bidding for a project that requires Project Managers with experience in Sustainability. You’ve found someone who fits the bill, but their CV also contains a host of information that’s irrelevant to the RFP. With Flowcase it’s easy to surface the most pertinent data:
Using templates to fast-track the process
Lastly, as seen in the video above, having a flexible CV template is key to producing the submission-ready document. With Flowcase’s you can quickly build rule-based templates that pull in your relevant skills, experiences, or certifications for each proposal. They can be set up to give precedence to highlighted sections, condense information to one page, change the design, and much more.
Planning ahead: building your CV repository
Don't wait for the next big proposal to start thinking about your, or your team’s CVs. Build a library of tailored summaries, key points, and project descriptions and choose the most relevant sections in seconds when the RFP comes in. This saves you time and gives you peace of mind when the deadlines are looming.
Remember, your CV in a proposal or tender isn't just about compliance—it's about selling your unique value. By tailoring your CV effectively, you're not just ticking a box; you're positioning yourself as the ideal solution to the client's needs.
Want to learn more? Book a personalized demo with one of our experts today.
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