Why the document matters as much as the candidate
In retained search the shortlist is the most visible thing a client pays for. Months of research, approaches and interviews end up as a document that a chair, a CEO or an investment committee will read — often alongside board papers prepared to a very high standard. If the shortlist looks less considered than the papers around it, the search looks less considered too.
Board members skim, compare and form impressions quickly. A clear, consistent profile helps them see exactly why a candidate is on the list; a messy one creates doubt that has nothing to do with the candidate's ability.
The structure of a strong executive profile
- Header — name (or reference if anonymised), current role and one line on relevance.
- Executive summary — three to five sentences on scope, sector and standout achievements.
- Consultant's assessment — your view of fit, motivation and considerations, clearly separated from the candidate's own material.
- Career history — most recent first, with scope (revenue, team size, geography).
- Board and advisory roles — listed separately.
- Education and qualifications — concise.
- Practical details — notice period, location and remuneration expectations where appropriate.
Typography and layout
- One or two typefaces, used consistently — many firms prefer a serif for headings to echo board documents.
- Generous white space and margins.
- A clear hierarchy: role titles, employers and dates scannable at a glance.
- Restrained colour — your accent on rules and headings, not body text.
- Sensible page breaks — never split a role across two pages if you can avoid it.
Once agreed, build these rules into a template so nobody has to remember them. FormatMyCV's design team can build your firm's profile format as a branded template, typically within 48 hours.
Writing for board readers
- Lead with scope and outcomes, not responsibilities.
- Compress early career into a short summary.
- Be consistent with numbers — the same currency and units across every candidate.
- Keep your voice separate — the assessment should never be mistaken for the candidate's words.
AI tools can help with the first draft — summarising long histories or switching between narrative and bullets — but a consultant should always make the final judgement on what goes in front of a client.
An example executive summary
"Chief Financial Officer with 18 years in listed consumer businesses across the UK and Europe. Currently CFO of a £1.2bn-revenue retailer, where she led a refinancing and a three-year cost programme. Previously Finance Director in two FTSE 250 groups. Non-executive director and audit committee chair at a mid-cap charity."
Notice what it does: scope (revenue, geography), seniority, two concrete outcomes and governance experience — in four sentences.
Handling confidentiality
Many executive candidates are currently employed and cannot be identified early. Anonymised profiles — with names, employers and identifying details masked — let a client assess fit before identities are revealed. Keep one master profile and produce the anonymised version on export, so there is never a second document to keep in sync. See our guide to blind CV shortlists.
Share shortlists through a permission-controlled link rather than email attachments where possible, so documents are not forwarded beyond the people who need them.
Consistency across the whole shortlist
A shortlist is read as a set. If one profile has a summary and another does not, or one uses bullets and another prose, the reader starts comparing documents instead of candidates. Using the same template for every profile — applied automatically — removes this problem no matter how many researchers contributed.
Beyond profiles: the shortlist report
Many firms wrap profiles in a short report. A strong structure:
| Section | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Cover & contents | Assignment name, date, confidentiality notice |
| Search summary | Scope of the search, markets covered, numbers approached |
| Shortlist at a glance | One line per candidate with current role and key strength |
| Candidate profiles | Identical template for each |
| Next steps | Proposed interview schedule and decision points |
Mistakes that undermine a shortlist
- Profiles of wildly different lengths
- Mixed currencies or "k" and "m" used inconsistently
- The candidate's own CV pasted in unchanged
- Consultant commentary that reads like the candidate wrote it
- An anonymised profile with a revealing file name
- A PDF that prints with broken page breaks
A pre-send checklist
- Every profile uses the same template and section order
- Summaries are similar in length and tone
- Dates, currencies and units are consistent
- Consultant commentary is clearly labelled
- Anonymised profiles contain no identifying details, including file names
- Page breaks are clean and the document prints well
- The client receives it in their preferred format — PDF, Word or secure link
None of this is glamorous, but it is part of what a retained fee pays for.
