A blind CV template, and what to take out.
A blind CV lets a client judge a candidate on their experience without knowing who they are, and stops them going around you. Here is a layout that works, and a checklist of everything that can still give a candidate away.
01When to send a blind CV
- To protect your introduction. A client who can’t identify the candidate can’t approach them directly.
- For a confidential search, when a candidate’s current employer mustn’t find out they’re looking.
- To keep the focus on the work. Without a name, a photo or an age, a client reads experience first.
02The template
Copy it into your own branded template, or download it as a text file. Everything in [square brackets] is yours to fill in.
Candidate [reference] · [Role title]
Presented by [Agency name]. Contact details held by [Agency name] until interview.
Consultant’s note
[Two or three sentences on why this candidate suits this role, in your words.]
Profile
[A short summary of their experience and strengths, without their name, age or anything personal.]
Experience
[Role title] · [description of employer, such as “ASX-listed food manufacturer”] · [Month Year] to [Month Year]
- [An achievement, with a number where there is one]
- [Another achievement]
- [Scope: team size, budget or region]
[Role title] · [description of employer] · [Month Year] to [Month Year]
- [An achievement]
- [Another achievement]
Qualifications
- [Qualification], [institution or type of institution], [year]
Strengths
- [Strength]
- [Strength]
- [Strength]
Availability and work rights
Notice period[for example, four weeks]
Work rights[for example, Australian citizen]
Referees
Available on request.
03What to take out
- Their name, everywhere it appears, including headers and footers. Use initials or a reference instead.
- Contact details: email, phone, street address and suburb.
- Links: LinkedIn, portfolios and social profiles, which lead straight to them.
- Employers, if they’d identify the person. A small company, a niche role or a well-known project can give someone away. Describe the employer instead: “ASX-listed food manufacturer”, “Tier 2 builder”.
- A photo, date of birth, age, gender and marital status. None belongs on a CV sent to a client.
- Referees’ names. Say references are available on request.
- The file itself. Rename it, and check the document’s properties: the author field often holds the candidate’s name.
04Check before you send
Search the finished document for the candidate’s first name, last name and any nickname, for “@”, for “linkedin”, and for each employer’s name. Send it as a PDF, so tracked changes and comments can’t come with it.
05How Koho does it
Switch a profile to blind and Koho replaces the name with initials, first name and last initial, or a candidate reference, and leaves out their location. Contact details are never printed on any Koho profile, and a blind one says they’re held by your agency until interview. Before you download, Koho warns you about anything that could still identify the candidate: their name, an email address, a phone number, a LinkedIn link or an employer. It warns rather than removes, so you decide how to describe each employer. More on the resume converter.
Blind profiles, checked for you.
Koho lays out any CV in your template, takes the name and contact details off, and warns you about anything identifying before you send it.