How to Analyse a CV Like a Sales Pro: Turning Data into Business Growth
Recruiters read hundreds of CVs every week, but if you’re just looking for the perfect candidate then you are missing one of the most important Business Development tricks that there is. The smartest recruiters know that CVs contain far more than just candidate details.
Every CV and application that lands in your recruitment CRM is a goldmine of hidden commercial insights. Recruiters that know what they are looking for will see past the candidates to uncover potential new clients,upcoming vacancies, and warm leads. This early insight, if used wisely can give you the jump on competitors and open business development conversations before the client even starts looking for a solution.
Let’s dive into the hidden detail in a CV so you can uncover new business opportunities from every CV.
Step 1: Look Beyond the Candidate — Companies and Teams
When reviewing CVs it is important to look beyond the person. The CV will list a huge amount of detail about the companies and teams that they have worked in. They will give insight into budgets, performance, desired skills, and even details about team and company size. This rich information can give you a wide range of conversation starters for businesses development, but often the benefits are even more obvious.
One of the best things you can do to boost your BD is to keep track of companies whose staff are looking for new jobs. If several candidates from the same company appear in your inbox, you will immediately know that something is happening in that company. This could be a process of restructuring,growth, or redundancy. Whatever the case, there is often an opportunity for business development where you spot a pattern of repeated company departure. The company in question is highly likely to need to rehire, or possibly in need ofa senior hire to help resolve issues leading to employee churn.
💡 Action: Track company names in your CRM and set alerts. If you see three candidates from the same business in a month then you have a hot lead to go after. You will also be armed with some key information about the company and conversations with the candidates could help you to learn even more.
Step 2: Decode the Role History — Who Might Be Recruiting Next?
CVs can also give you an indication of roles that are likely to appear on the market very soon. If you have a candidate who is looking to depart from a company, then it is highly likely that the company they are leaving will be looking to recruit to replace the role. The more senior the position, the more likely it is that the company will be looking to recruit a replacement straight away. This can be a perfect signal to reach out to a company, with the obvious caveat that you cannot reveal the candidate who is leaving to the company.
Signals like these create BD leads if you know to look out for them:
🔹 If a candidate who“left in last month” → that company likely needs a replacement.
🔹 If a candidate has been made “redundant due to merger” → this signals potential disruption and future hires as the new structure settles.
🔹 If a candidate’s “fixed term contract ended at X agency/company” → then the employer might be open to flexible or freelance support.
💡 Action: Pick up the phone once the candidate has left the company. A simple “I am working on a number of [relevent position] roles at the moment and I have and up to date picture of the salary levels and current suply in this skill set. Would this be of interest if we could grab 30 minutes to talk through what is happening in the market at the moment?”. This approach can open a warm, credible conversation.
Step 3: Match Key Skills and Employment Types to Companies - Identify Strong Candidates to Spec
In most cases CVs will list multiple previous employers over several years, and there is a high chance that these employers fit your target sector and target location. Alongside each company will be a list of key skills and competencies, as well as the terms of employment, enabling you to build a clear picture of what this employer is looking for in a candidate.
By building patterns from CVs you receive, you can:
🔹 Spot which businesses are serial hirers
🔹 Identify which companies are happy to use temporary resource, and which only hire permanent employees.
🔹 Identify what key skills their employees have
🔹 Understand their typical job titles and pay bands
🔹 Learn about company structure and the breadth of roles they recruit for
With some consideration, this gives you a business development cheat sheet providing insight into where opportunities exist before they’re publicly advertised. Using the key skills that you have highlighted, and your understanding of what terms the company uses to hire, you will be excellently placed to open a conversation with a Spec CV from an ideal candidate.
💡 Action: Create a simple tracking system that logs company names, sectors, contract or perm employment, the number of candidate mentions, and the key skills that their employees list. Over time, you’ll see which companies appear most often and these businesses should become your warmest targets as new clients. By using simple talent pools to match these skills, you will easily identify when you have a strong list of candidates suitable for the employer.
Step 4: Read Between the Lines — Spot Organisational Change
There are certain phrases that are commonplace in CVs and in interviews that should get recruiters thinking about BD. There are many reasons for leaving employment with a particular company, but often it is because of an internal change that can signal an opportunity for business development. Lookout for the following phrases in CVs and when you speak to candidates:
🔹 “Company restructure” →A restructure often indicates a period of redundancies followed by new hires.
🔹 “New division created”→ This is a clear indicator of expansion and the potential for multiple vacancies.
🔹 “Short-term contract”or “interim cover” → The end of a contract or the end of a cover period can signal a full-time role coming soon.
💡 Action: These insights arm you with information to make well timed and tailored outreach. When you know why a company is changing, you can tailor your pitch to offer the right support at the exact time that they need it.
Step 5: Understand the Candidate – Future Prospects
Some candidates are great at building and expanding teams,and if this is the case it will be clearly stated in their CV. For many this is a pattern, where they will jump into new roles, restructure and expand to make the team more effective and efficient. Spotting candidates with a team building mentality will set up potential opportunities for the future. Even if you are unable to place this candidate now, keeping in touch and checking in when they are in their new role may just open an opportunity for new business.
💡 Action: Keep track of a promising candidate’s career progression, even if you are unable to place them yourself. Having had some conversations during the job-hunting stage, you’ll be well positioned to start a sales conversation when they are in their new role.
Step 6: Turn Insights into Conversations - Not Cold Calls
A recruiter who can successfully decipher the valuable information within a CV is set up and ready for Business Development success,but the real magic happens when you use this information to create natural, insight-led sales conversations. The work done in steps 1-5 will put you in a position to start a genuine conversation with potential clients at the right time. Instead of opening with “Are you hiring?”, you have the opportunity to open with some rich insight.
Instead of opening with a pitch, you can now open with a relevant,informed approach that positions you as a market insider.
💡 Final Thought: Every CV is a Sales Opportunity
A CV is more than a document, it’s a signal. A CV will tell you where people are moving, which companies are growing or losing talent, and where your next opportunity might come from.
Recruiters who learn to read CVs commercially don’t just fill roles with candidates; they also develop their lead list and create new clients.
So the next time a CV lands in your inbox, don’t just ask,“Is this the right candidate?”, ask, “What does this tell me about the market,and who should I call next?”
