Practical ideas for recruitment teams
Guides, models and checklists to help recruiters spend less time on admin and more time placing candidates — from AI CV formatting to blind shortlists.
Featured guide
AI CV formatting: the complete guide for recruitment agencies
What AI CV formatting is, how a four-stage pipeline works, how it differs from CV parsing and general chatbots, an evaluation checklist and a four-week rollout plan.
Guides and deep dives
AI CV formatting: the complete guide for recruitment agencies
What the technology does, how the pipeline works, how it compares with parsing and chatbots, and how to evaluate a tool.
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Recruitment workflow automation: what to automate first
An automation priority matrix, how to build the internal case and how to measure success.
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Blind CV shortlists: how to run them without breaking your workflow
Which fields to remove, which to keep, and how to reveal candidates at the right time.
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The economics of CV formatting: hours, cost and placement rate
A simple model — with worked examples — for what manual formatting really costs.
Read article
How to present executive shortlists that are ready for the boardroom
Structure, typography, confidentiality and a pre-send checklist for retained search.
Read article
The one-week desk audit: where recruiters' hours actually go
Categories to track, a log template and how to read the results.
Read articleFind the right guide for your problem
| If you want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| Understand AI CV formatting and choose a tool | The complete guide to AI CV formatting |
| Put a number on the time and money formatting costs | The economics of CV formatting |
| Find out where your consultants' week goes | The one-week desk audit |
| Decide what to automate next | Recruitment workflow automation |
| Run fair, anonymised shortlists | Blind CV shortlists |
| Present senior candidates to a board | How to present executive shortlists |
Not sure where to start?
Agency owners
Start with the desk audit, then the economics model to build a business case.
Start the pathOps & team leads
Read the automation guide, then the AI formatting guide for tool evaluation.
Start the pathSearch consultants
Read the executive shortlist guide, then blind CV shortlists for confidential searches.
Start the pathTemplates and checklists inside the guides
Desk audit log
A six-column time log with categories. In the desk audit guide.
Get the templateFormatting cost model
A one-page business-case template. In the economics guide.
Get the modelBlind shortlist checklist
Seven checks before sending. In the blind CV guide.
Get the checklistExecutive pre-send checklist
Consistency checks for board-ready shortlists.
Get the checklistKey terms explained
Terms that come up across our guides. The full list is in the glossary.
- CV formatting
The process of converting a candidate's CV into a consistent layout — usually a recruitment agency's branded template — before sending it to a client. Traditionally manual; now commonly automated with AI.
- Blind shortlist
A shortlist of candidates presented with identifying information removed, used to reduce unconscious bias or to keep a confidential search discreet until the client is ready to meet candidates.
- RPO (recruitment process outsourcing)
An arrangement where an employer outsources all or part of its recruitment to an external provider, which often handles high volumes of CVs for many hiring managers.
- House style
An organisation's rules for how documents should look and read: fonts, colours, logo placement, section order, date format and tone. In recruitment, the house style defines how every candidate CV is presented.
About the blog
What does the FormatMyCV blog cover?
Practical, vendor-neutral guidance for recruitment agencies on AI CV formatting, workflow automation, blind CV shortlists, executive search presentation, the cost of manual formatting and desk productivity — each with templates or checklists you can use straight away.
Who writes the articles?
The FormatMyCV editorial team, drawing on what we see across 200+ recruitment teams that use the product.
Can I use the templates and checklists in these guides?
Yes. The log templates, checklists and cost models are free to copy and adapt for your own agency.
How often are articles updated?
We review guides regularly and show the last-updated date at the top of each article.
Ideas are cheaper than time
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