// Business Development

The return of the speculative CV in modern recruitment

The speculative CV is dead. Long live spec CVs!

Business development is the heart and soul of any recruitment agency. The more successful you are, the less business you have!

And with so much competition, not just from other agencies but from internal hires, continued success is not easy to achieve.

The role of a speculative CV

So where does the speculative CV fit in with this picture? Is it a product of 90s recruitment that’s destined to live next to that Enya record you purchased and were too embarrassed to tell anyone? Or can it be a useful tool to further help grow your agency.

We’re going to discuss exactly how speculative CVs can become one of your highest returning business strategies and the tools you are going to need to use to deliver this sales strategy.

The end of ‘spray and pray’

But before we begin talking about growing revenues, let’s put one thing to bed.

Spraying and praying is dead

Let me share a story from my time as co-founder of ProSapient.

As a tech guy, you won’t be surprised to learn that I looked after a team of 25 and regularly hired engineers and product professionals.

On average, I received three to four speculative applications per week. There was a lot of public info available. I talked about our tech stack publicly and elaborated in various job descriptions.

Despite that, 90% of the spec resumes I received weren’t even the right tech stack with relevant skills.

As a potential customer (we used an agency extensively for product hires), I didn’t feel my needs were met.

Throwing CVs at the wall (like my son throws spaghetti) in the hope that one sticks is impersonal and has an almost zero % chance of working unless you work in a significant niche.

Why a speculative CV works

Every business needs to hire. Recruitment agencies have the wonderful advantage that they know who their potential customers are. Unfortunately for SaaS providers like ourselves, we never know when you’re ready to make the switch.

Hiring is also difficult. Too many firms chasing too few talent and too many marketplaces means that no matter how good an internal talent team does with getting the word out, the chances are that the job advert only hits a small % of eyeballs.

Every day you don’t hire, damages a business. Projects aren’t completed on time or completed poorly. New business isn’t won, revenue isn’t earned and profit isn’t made.

If you are the hiring manager, you care about finding the right candidate, not where the right candidate comes from.

Yes, you are more expensive than internal hiring and sometimes that matters but not everyone buys on price.

The power of a relevant spec CV

Picture this scene. A VP of Sales has promised the earth and while her sales reps are firing all cylinders, there is only so much revenue each sales exec can make.

She’s been patiently waiting for her talent team to find talent but after a few excellent hires, they are running out of ideas.

Tick tock, tick tock. Every day that goes by takes her further behind and she’s beginning to think about the narrative of how the team could be doing a great job but missing the target.

Then it drops your email ‘Saw you’ve been trying to hire for a while. Not sure if you’re still looking but we’re representing…….’

Her eyes light up. This candidate sounds perfect. He’s in the same industry and has been a top biller for three-quarters out of four. Hell, he even loves badminton…and she thought no one apart from her loves badminton.

What do you think she does in this situation?

Does she respond ‘thanks, but we don’t work with recruiters’ or does she think about the bigger picture. Hitting targets and becoming a key player in the company (even if it meant that central costs were a little hire).

How do you submit a highly relevant spec CV?

You’re in the sales business. You know how little attention we have, especially from an email that’s obviously trying to sell something to you.

▶️ Write a saucy subject line

• “Introducing Acme Search.” – Sorry Acme, in the dustbin
• “Acme Search: Introducing a candidate” – A little better but I bet this candidate is irrelevant just like all the other ones I get
• “You’ve been looking for a Sales Exec for some time….” – Gosh, she’s right, you know!
• “One quota beating sales exec that could start with you in a month” – The solution to my problems, you say?

The world is marketing. Put yourself into their shoes. How do you grab attention in one second? I’m not saying the last two subject lines are ideal but they do a better job than the usual dross.

▶️ Create email content that answers their prayers

Once you’ve got them to open your email, you have a few more seconds to generate interest. There’s no one tried and tested method but think about what you are right in terms of how you want the reader to feel.

Get to the point immediately. Show them how your candidate solves their problem. No-one cares about what they can do for you, they care about what you can do for them.

• Assume the reader is in need of your service
• Outline why they are perfect for that specific role
• Use bold and underlining to focus the reader
• Stimulate urgency “they are in late stage processes” (but don’t tell fibs)

The person who receives your spec CV needs to take action by either opening the attachment, clicking a link or replying (even a negative reply is a good thing).

So how do you prompt them to take action?

If they aren’t having any issues hiring, they won’t reply or they’ll decline. There’s nothing you can do about that. 

But for every few hiring managers that aren’t having a hiring problem, there will be one that is.

Ignore the prospects who don’t need you. Write to the person that needs your help

“In case you’re looking….” leave this at the door. They are looking. Anyone who isn’t was sent your email in error.

Read the JD, figure out the key aspects of that JD and then in as concise a period as possible, outline how perfectly your candidate fits.

Next steps – following up

If you’ve sent the spec CV from a system like Atlas, you’ll know when they’ve opened your email. You’ll also know if they click the link to the resume (thanks to Atlas).

• As soon as they’ve shown interest, you’ve got 30 minutes to pounce.Shake off those phone fears as it’s time to pick up your phone, not to scroll TikTok but to dial the person who’s just read your spec. 
  
  If that doesn’t happen, that’s fine. Assume they didn’t read it. It’s likely they did but don’t need your help but don’t think like that.
  
• Follow up on email, Linkedin, wherever…each time adding a little more value about the candidate. And if that still doesn’t work….move on to the next one.

This Spec CV approach seems great but a huge amount of work. So how can you reach out to enough prospects?

Use technology to create speculative CVs 

With Atlas, you can deliver a highly personalised spec CV in two minutes. How?

Now you’ve got your spec email.

Paste the link to your CV package and hit SEND.

Sit back and marvel at the best technological investment you’ve ever made.

The key takeaway?

A speculative CV, when done right, can transform your business development strategy. With the right tools, like Atlas, you can efficiently match