Everything between "shortlist chosen" and "client impressed."
Templates you can copy, benchmarks you can quote and honest tool comparisons, for recruitment and staffing teams. Nothing here is job-seeker advice: these are for the people who present CVs, not the people who write them.
23 guides · guides, templates, comparisons, and research
Recruitment KPIs for Agencies: The Formulas, Ratios and Targets That Run a Desk
Recruitment KPIs written for agency desks, not in-house HR: the funnel from jobs on to fees billed, the exact formula for every ratio, what each one diagnoses, a calculator that works backwards from a billing target and a weekly KPI sheet to copy.
GuidesRecruitment Agency Software: A Map of the Tech Stack by Agency Size
A map of recruitment agency software by job to be done: the ten layers of the agency tech stack, which ones a solo, 5-person and 20-person agency needs, a buying checklist and a cost-per-seat calculator.
TemplatesInterview Scorecard Template: Score Candidates So the Shortlist Holds Up
A copyable interview scorecard template for recruiters and hiring teams, with a filled-in example, an anchored 1–4 rating scale, a weighted score calculator and a shortlist comparison grid.
GuidesHow to Start a Recruitment Agency: A 90-Day Launch Plan for Experienced Recruiters
A practical 90-day plan for recruiters going solo: covenants, niche, business model, legal setup, the minimum documents and tech stack, a cash-runway calculator and a one-page business plan to copy.
GuidesThe Executive Search Process: 11 Stages and the Deliverable at Each One
The retained executive search process from the search firm's side: eleven stages, who does what, a sixteen-week example timeline, how retained, container and contingency fees work, and what goes in a shortlist candidate report.
GuidesCV Parser vs CV Formatter: How Parsing Works, Where It Fails and Which One You Need
What a CV parser does, how resume parsing software turns a document into database fields, why it trips on columns and scans, a 10-CV torture test you can run on your own ATS, and how a parser differs from a CV formatter.
ComparisonsCV Formatting Services for Recruitment Agencies: Outsource, Hire or Automate?
A buyer's guide to the four ways a recruitment agency gets candidate CVs formatted: consultants in Word, an in-house admin, an outsourced CV formatting service, or software. With a cost calculator, a decision rule by weekly volume and the questions to ask each provider.
TemplatesConsultant CV Template: The House Format for Bids, Proposals and Tenders
A copyable consultant CV template for consultancies, staffing firms and bid teams, with an annotated example, a criterion-to-evidence matrix, rules for tailoring per tender, what Europass and World Bank formats ask for, and a pre-submission checklist.
TemplatesCandidate Profile Template: What to Send Clients Instead of a Raw CV
A copyable candidate profile template for recruitment agencies, with an annotated example, a four-sentence formula for the recruiter's summary and a pre-send checklist.
TemplatesBlind CV Template: What to Redact Before a CV Goes to a Client
A recruiter's guide to producing a blind (anonymised) CV: three redaction levels, a copyable blind CV template, a worked example, how to keep a re-identification key and a pre-send checklist.
GuidesATS-Friendly CV Formatting: Guidelines for Recruiters (2026)
What actually breaks CV parsing in an ATS — columns, tables, headers, graphics — and the formatting guidelines recruitment agencies should apply before every submission.
GuidesGDPR CV Anonymisation: The Recruiter's Practical Guide
What GDPR actually requires when agencies process and share candidate CVs, what to anonymise for blind submissions, and how to run a compliant CV workflow at volume.
GuidesHow to Convert a LinkedIn Profile Into a Client-Ready CV (Recruiter's Guide)
Sourced a great candidate on LinkedIn but have no CV? How recruiters turn LinkedIn profiles and PDF exports into clean, branded, client-ready CVs — manually and automatically.
ComparisonsThe Best Executive Search Software in 2026: An Honest Comparison
Executive search software compared for retained and boutique firms — Clockwork, Invenias, Ezekia, Thrive TRM, Talentis and more — plus the candidate-presentation layer most stacks leave manual.
GuidesCandidate Presentation: How Recruitment Agencies Turn Raw CVs Into Client-Ready Profiles
Candidate presentation is where agencies win or lose the client's trust. What a strong presentation format contains, common mistakes, and how to produce branded profiles at volume.
ResearchBlind Hiring Statistics: What the Research Actually Shows (2026)
The key blind hiring statistics with sources — orchestra auditions, CV callback studies, government trials — including the famous numbers that don't hold up as well as people think.
GuidesBlind Hiring: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Implement It (2026)
A practical guide to blind hiring for recruiters and HR teams: what to redact from CVs, how to run a blind screening process, what the research actually shows, and where it goes wrong.
ComparisonsThe Best AI Resume Screening Tools for Recruiters (2026)
An honest comparison of AI resume screening software for recruitment teams in 2026 — Eightfold, Manatal, Skima, GoPerfect and more — plus the input-hygiene layer most stacks are missing.
GuidesAI Resume Screening: The Complete Guide for Recruiters (2026)
How AI resume screening actually works, where it fails, how candidates game it, and how to deploy it responsibly — a practical guide for recruitment and staffing teams.
GuidesWhat to Remove From a Candidate CV Before Sending It to a Client
A pre-submission checklist for recruitment agencies: contact details, competitor branding, hidden text, GDPR-sensitive data — everything to strip from a CV before it reaches your client.
GuidesHow to Spot AI-Manipulated CVs: Hidden Prompts, White Text and Unicode Tricks
Candidates are hiding prompt injections and invisible keywords inside CVs to game AI screening. A practical guide for recruiters: what the tricks look like and how to detect them.
ComparisonsCVReady vs FormaCV: An Honest Comparison for Recruitment Agencies
CVReady and FormaCV both turn messy candidate CVs into branded, client-ready documents in about a minute. Here is where they differ — pricing, security, workflow — and how to choose.
ComparisonsThe 8 Best CV Formatting Software Tools for Recruitment Agencies (2026)
An honest comparison of CV formatting software for recruitment agencies in 2026 — CVReady, FormaCV, HireAra, Allsorter, CVFormatter and more, with pricing models and trade-offs.