When bidding for new business, you need to ensure your consultant's CVs and resumes are up-to-date, consistent, and professionally formatted so that your firm can put your best foot forward. But with hundreds, if not thousands of consultants across your business, keeping tabs on all of their CVs and resumes can be a mammoth task. This is especially true if your firm relies on traditional methods of managing CVs and resumes - ie. storing static Word/PDF documents in siloed systems.
Bid managers are often left to deal with this challenge, and they face two sub-optimal choices. They may work around the clock to ensure every CV and resume used in the proposal is up-to-date, consistent, and well formatted - likely sacrificing other aspects of the bid in the process. Or, they may leave it to chance - trusting that their colleagues have kept their documents in check. Either choice is inefficient and prone to error.
In this blog we’ll cover why having updated, consistent, and professional CVs is so important, and how specialized CV and resume database systems, such as Flowcase can solve the challenge that many bid managers face.
Why having consistent, up-to-date CVs is so important
First impressions are everything, especially in high-cost business interactions. Presenting inconsistent, or poorly formatted CVs and resumes show a lack of professionalism and care for the bid process. Additionally, when information is given in different layouts it adds friction to the key decision maker's job, as they have to work extra-hard to understand the key skills of your consultants. Showcasing outdated CVs and resumes also hurts perceptions. Not only does leaving out recent experience create distrust, it means you could be missing out on relevant skills or projects that could have benefited your proposal.
In summary, having accurate, consistent, and professional consultant profiles is critical for developing confidence in your firm, and putting you on the front foot for the remainder of the process.
Learn how Flowcase is tailor-made for Consulting firms
How CV and resume database platforms can help
As we’ve already mentioned, storing your team’s CVs and resumes in static documents on siloed systems makes it incredibly difficult to quality control their contents - especially at scale. This is where specialized CV database systems can help. With a central platform, everyone can update their profile using standardized sections and consistent terminology. Greater visibility into your team’s CVs improves transparency for sourcing employees for new projects, while increasing the accountability of keeping profiles up to date. Lastly, controlled inputs results in the ability to output data more efficiently - meaning exporting CVs and resumes into templates is a breeze.
Learn more about how Flowcase empowers you to claim control over your CV and resume data.
How Flowcase helps consulting firms
Flowcase is a CV database tool that’s been tailored for consulting firms, helping to solve the three key areas we’ve discussed throughout this blog:
1. Keeping Profiles Up-to-Date
With Flowcase, everyone works within the same system - meaning consultant profiles follow identical structures. This standardized format allows team members to enter new experiences more seamlessly without the reformatting pains typically associated with updating CVs or resumes. Project data is also hosted in the platform, and projects can be synced to profiles, automating CV updates. Admins can even track usage of the platform, and nudge consultants to add new roles or check for outdated content if a period of inactivity is recorded.
2. Establishing Consistency
Flowcase allows bid managers or platform admins to enforce consistent terminology across consultant resumes. For example, they can standardizing input fields for different skills, titles, or accreditations to create a consistent glossary. Terminology can of course be customized to the firm’s language, meaning that everyone across the firm is on the same page. Consistent terminology doesn’t just make CVs and resumes read better - it also helps for searching across profiles to find the best team for the project at hand. Additionally, the project syncs mentioned in the above section ensures project details are standardized across all profiles of team members who worked together.
3. Professionalizing Outputs
Last but not least, Flowcase enables bid managers to export consultant CVs and resumes into professionally styled documents, via integrated templates. With a click, profile data is transformed into either a custom-branded CV, or a template matching the bid requirements. Added features, such as the ability to reorder content, or draw emphasis to especially relevant project experience adds a professional polish that give proposals an extra edge over the competition.
Learn how Knowit, a consulting firm with 3.8k+ employees, utilizes Flowcase to streamline workflows.
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In consulting’s competitive landscape, winning proposals comes down to showcasing the right skills in exactly the right way. Don’t let inconsistent, outdated CVs and resumes hide your firm’s potential and cost you your next big contract.
