Thijmen Raateland
24 Apr 2025
Present CVs that win over clients
Recruitment agencies spend a lot of time finding great candidates, but often miss opportunities when it comes to presenting them. A CV is usually the first thing a client sees.
"CVs are the business cards of your recruitment agency."
Yet many agencies still work with Word templates, format their CVs inconsistently and manually copy-paste work.
That wastes valuable time, it looks unprofessional and whilst a messy CV might not lower the chance of a first interview, it certainly doesn’t improve it.
In this guide, we show how smart recruitment agencies turn their CVs into their strongest marketing tool.
This way, you:
present candidates more convincingly and clearly
leave a consistent, professional impression
make it easier for clients to find the right info quickly
and save time in the process
The best part? It can be done in less time and with less effort.
Why CVs represent your brand
Every touchpoint with a client is a chance to present your agency as professional and distinctive. The CV is the very first one.
Clients receive dozens of CVs every day. If yours stand out with clarity, visual appeal and consistency, it communicates trust and quality.
It shows that you don’t just deliver great candidates, you also work with care and attention. A clean and well-formatted CV silently says: “If this is done with such care, then the screening and interviews must be thorough too.”
A strong CV layout (see our library for examples):
reflects your brand identity (logo, color palette, fonts)
helps clients quickly find key details (skills, experience, availability)
increases the chances your CVs stand out from the competition
Every CV you send is a chance to strengthen your brand.
The 3 building blocks of a strong CV layout
A convincing CV does more than just communicate information. It brings structure, clarity, and trust.
These are the three core elements every CV from your agency should include:
Consistent Formatting Make sure every CV follows the same layout, structure, and style. This helps clients know exactly where to look for what. Think: a fixed location for contact details, experience, skills, and availability.
Visual Clarity and Readability Too many fonts, colors or design tricks create visual clutter. Use white space, a clean color scheme and clear headings. A calm layout = less distraction = more focus on the candidate.
Branding and Recognition Subtly include your logo, brand colors and tone of voice. This builds brand recognition and shows professionalism. Each CV becomes part of the client’s brand experience.
Get this right, and you’re not just presenting the candidate, you’re showcasing your agency.
Common mistakes made my recruitment agencies
Even top recruitment agencies fall into these traps. They waste time, weaken your presentation, and hurt your brand, but they’re easy to fix.
Mistake: Every recruiter uses their own format
Without a shared layout, every CV looks different. This confuses clients and appears unorganized. Fix: Use one professional layout across your entire agency.
Mistake: Inconsistency in fonts, headings and structure
Multiple fonts and inconsistent layouts distract from what matters. Fix: Standardize your layout so clients always know where to look.
Mistake: Manual copy-paste work in Word
It’s time-consuming and error-prone. Small edits often mean redoing the whole file. Fix: Automate CV formatting so it’s fast, consistent, and stress-free.
Avoid these mistakes, and you’ll save time while instantly improving your candidate presentation and your brand.
Smart recruitment agencies do it differently
More and more recruitment agencies are switching to automatic, professional and consistent CV formatting without the hassle of Word.
Today, more than 200 recruiters use our platform daily to instantly transform CVs into clean, branded documents.
They save time and money, improve how their candidates are presented and ensure every CV matches their agency’s look and feel.
Ready to take your CVs to the next level?
Request a free demo today and discover how your agency can send stronger CVs in less time.