CVs Are Your Sales Pitch, However They’re Not the Whole Story

I often say to lawyers and clients alike: your CV is your sales pitch. It’s the “for sale sign” that gets someone to stop and take notice. But here’s the truth – you wouldn’t buy a house just because it had a nice board outside, would you?

When you’re serious about buying, you look around the rooms. You check if it fits your lifestyle, whether your furniture will work, and if it has the features you need. Sometimes you go back a second or third time, because you need to feel it’s right before you commit.

It’s exactly the same with hiring.

A CV can grab attention, but it will never tell you the whole story. The real insight comes when you meet the person behind it, when you sit down, talk, and get a sense of who they are, how they think, and what they’ll bring to your team.

Why Great Candidates Are Being Overlooked

Here’s what I find frustrating after 20+ years in legal recruitment: I know brilliant lawyers who are ideal for certain roles, yet their CVs aren’t even making it past the first sift. They never get the chance to show what they can do because “computer says no.”

The problem? Too many firms and companies are still relying on a piece of paper (or worse, an algorithm) as the deciding factor in whether someone even steps through the door. And in doing so, they’re missing out on exceptional talent.

I’ve lost count of the number of times the “perfect on paper” candidate hasn’t been the one who wins the job. More often than not, it’s the lawyer whose CV was fine but not dazzling, yet when they walked into the room, their personality, insight, and potential lit it up.

The Risk of Reducing Recruitment to a Checkbox Exercise

Recruitment isn’t a box-ticking exercise. It’s about people. By filtering too heavily on CVs alone, firms risk cutting out candidates who may not look the part on paper, but who will absolutely thrive in practice.

That disconnect worries me. Because for every CV that doesn’t quite “sell” the candidate properly, there’s a firm out there missing their next star performer.

A Call to Employers and Hiring Managers

My challenge to employers is simple: don’t buy the house without stepping inside. Don’t dismiss a candidate because the CV wasn’t polished or because the algorithm didn’t like the keywords.

Meet them. Speak to them. Understand what they’re about. That’s when you’ll know if they’re the right fit.

At the end of the day, a CV is just the sign outside the property. The real decision comes once you’ve walked through the door.