The blind CV: what to redact, and what still gives the candidate away

A blind CV is a candidate's CV with the identifying details removed or generalised before a client sees it, so the reader can judge the career without knowing whose it is. How much you remove depends on why you're sending it. Below: three redaction levels, a blind CV template you can copy, a worked example, and the leaks that undo the whole exercise.

What a blind CV is

A blind CV (also called an anonymous CV, an anonymised CV or, in the US, a blind resume or redacted resume) is a CV prepared so that the person reading it cannot tell who the candidate is. The career is all there: roles, responsibilities, results, qualifications. What's missing is the name on top and the details that point back to one specific human being.

It is a different document from the ordinary client-ready CV. Every CV an agency sends should already have the phone number, home address and date of birth taken off; that's routine hygiene, covered in what to remove from a CV before sending it to a client. A blind CV goes further and withholds identity itself.

Two reasons agencies send a blind CV

Recruiters use the same two words for two jobs that have little in common. Work out which one you're doing first, because it decides everything that follows.

The trap is using the first kind of document for the second kind of job. A CV with the name removed and "Finance Director, Halden Foods plc, 2019 – present" left in is anonymous for roughly as long as it takes to type that into LinkedIn.

What to redact on a blind CV: three levels

These levels are a working convention, not an industry standard; name them however you like, but write them down so every consultant removes the same things. Each level includes everything in the one before it.

Generalise, don't black out

A redacted resume covered in black bars looks like a leaked government memo, and the bars themselves leak: their length hints at what's underneath, and the reader spends their attention guessing. Replace the detail with the fact the client actually needs from it.

One limit applies: generalise the label, never the substance. "Listed food manufacturer" is an honest description of Halden Foods. Upgrading it to "leading global FMCG group" is rewriting the CV, and the client will find out the day the name comes back.

Blind CV example: one candidate, three levels

A fictional finance director, presented by a fictional agency. Use the buttons to move between the original and each level; everything that changes is highlighted.

Look at the standard version again. It does its job for bias-blind screening: no name, no age, no university, no netball team. It is also trivially identifiable, because one named employer and a job title is all a search needs. That's fine when the client is under terms and simply wants a fair first sift. It's a problem if you sent it as a teaser.

Blind CV template (copy and paste)

A plain-text blind CV template at the strict level. For standard, put the real employer names and dates back; for light, restore education details and interests as well. Paste it into your house Word template so the blind version of a CV looks like every other document you send.

[AGENCY LOGO]                              Candidate ID: [ID]

CANDIDATE [ID]
[Standard job title] · [Region]
Right to work: [country, sponsorship needed yes/no]
Contact: via [Consultant name], [Agency], [phone / email]

PROFILE
[The candidate's own profile, with employer names, named
clients and personal details replaced by neutral descriptions.]

EXPERIENCE
[Job title], [sector + size + ownership, e.g. "private
logistics group, c. 800 staff"]              [X years, current]
• [Responsibility or result, in the candidate's words]
• [Named client or product → "a tier-one retail bank"]

[Job title], [sector + size + ownership]            [X years]
• [...]

SKILLS
[Skill] · [Skill] · [Skill] · [Skill]

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS
[Degree, subject, grade. No institution, no year.]
[Professional qualification, without membership number]

LANGUAGES
[Only those the role requires — level]

LOGISTICS
Notice period: [...]   Availability for interview: [...]

This CV has been anonymised by [Agency] at the candidate's
request / the client's request. Identity available on
[agreement of terms / selection for interview].
Presented by [Agency] · Confidential · Ref [ID]

If you also write a recruiter's summary on top, the same rules apply to your own words: no "she", no "he", no "recently returned from maternity leave", no "young and ambitious". The structure of the full client document is in our candidate profile template.

Identifiers hiding in the file

You can redact every visible word and still hand over the candidate's name. These are the places that don't show on the page.

In Word, the built-in tool for this is Document Inspector: File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document. According to Microsoft's documentation, it finds and removes comments, tracked changes, document properties and personal information, headers, footers, watermarks and text formatted as hidden. Two things from the same page are worth knowing. Microsoft recommends running it on a copy, because removed data can't always be restored. And it does not detect text hidden by other means, such as white text on a white background.

Keeping a key so you can de-anonymise

A blind CV is only useful if you can reverse it. When the client replies "we'd like to meet B and D", someone at the agency has to know who B and D are, which version each client saw, and whether the candidate agreed to be named.

Candidate ID:        [NT-3107-B]
Candidate:           [link to the record in your ATS/CRM]
Role / client:       [role], [client]
Redaction level:     [light / standard / strict]
Named version:       [file location]
Blind version:       [file location]
Sent on / by:        [date], [consultant]
Candidate agreed to: [blind submission on (date)]
                     [identity released on (date)]
Revealed to client:  [date, or "not yet"]

Three rules keep the key useful. Use one ID per candidate per assignment, so the same person doesn't turn up as "B" on Monday and "Candidate 4" on Thursday. Use the same ID on the CV, in the file name and in your cover email. And keep the key where the team can find it; a key that lives in one consultant's notebook goes on holiday with them.

A short legal note, and not legal advice: GDPR has a word for this arrangement. Article 4(5) defines pseudonymisation as processing personal data so that it can no longer be attributed to a specific person without additional information, provided that information is kept separately and protected. Your key is that additional information. While it exists, a blind CV is still personal data and deserves the same care as the named one. Our GDPR guide goes further.

Common leaks in an anonymised CV

The file-level leaks are above. These are the ones in the content, and they're harder because each detail looks harmless on its own. Identification is usually a jigsaw.

• The small-market employer. "Finance Director at a listed oat-milk producer in Yorkshire" contains no name and describes exactly one person. In a niche sector, widen the description until several companies fit.
• The one-of-a-kind title. "Head of Finance" is safe. "Chief Numbers Officer" is a search query.
• Exact dates. "March 2019 – present" narrows a LinkedIn search more than recruiters expect. Durations do the same work for the reader.
• Anything with a public list. Awards, conference talks, publications, patents, board appointments, regulatory registers.
• Graduation year removed, first job year left in. Age comes straight back. If age signals matter, look at the oldest date on the page.
• Your own cover email. A perfectly blind attachment under a message that begins "Priya is a fantastic FD who…".
• The second document. A blind CV sent with a named reference, a certificate scan or a calendar invite to the candidate's personal address.
• Mixed levels on one shortlist. Four candidates at strict and one at light tells the client which one you were in a hurry with.

A quick test before anything strict goes out: hand the blind CV to a colleague who doesn't know the candidate and give them two minutes with a search engine. If they come back with a name, so will the client.

Pre-send checklist

• Level chosen and recorded: light, standard or strict
• Candidate has agreed to a blind submission for this role, and knows when their identity will be released
• Working on a copy; the named version is saved untouched
• Name replaced by the candidate ID everywhere, including page headers
• Contact details, links, photo and personal data removed; consultant's details in their place
• Every row of the matrix checked for the chosen level
• Search the document for the surname, first name, employer names (strict) and "@"
• Hyperlinks removed, headers and footers checked on every page
• Document Inspector run; comments and tracked changes gone
• Fresh PDF exported, text copied out and checked
• File named with the ID only, for example NT-3107-B_FinanceDirector_Northwind.pdf
• Cover email and subject line use the ID, not the name
• Key record written

Questions recruiters ask

Where to go next

If a client has asked for anonymised shortlists, the process around the document matters as much as the document: where the blind window ends, how screeners score, what to measure. That's in the blind hiring guide. If you're building the named version that follows, start with the candidate profile template.