FormaCV for executive search — discovery call to client-ready profile in 90 seconds
Executive search runs on partner-led conversations, not job board CVs. FormaCV turns your discovery call transcripts and informal candidate notes into polished confidential profiles, then AI-tailors each one to the specific client brief — without your associates spending hours on the write-up.
Why executive search is different
Your candidates are passive, senior, often interviewed by phone before they ever send a CV. The "CV" you submit to the client is often:
Authored by your associate from interview notes
Anonymized (current employer often confidential)
Written in your firm's distinct voice and structure
4–8 pages, not 1–2
Tailored differently for each mandate — different competencies emphasised per client brief
ROI for retained executive search
A 5-partner firm doing 200 discovery calls per year:
Current write-up time: 200 × 45 min = 150 hours/year
With FormaCV: 200 × 5 min review = 17 hours/year
Saving: 133 hours/year of partner/associate time — at $200/hr blended, that is ~$26,600/year
Plus eliminated rework on per-mandate retailoring: AI handles per-client adaptation in seconds rather than 30+ min manual rewrites
What FormaCV does for executive search
Call transcript → confidential profile — paste an Otter / Fireflies / Gong transcript, get a structured candidate profile in 90 seconds
AI-tailor profile to client brief — instruct the AI in plain English ("emphasise transformation experience for this mandate", "demote pre-2015 roles") and the same candidate is repositioned per client
Anonymization with re-reveal — current employer + name hidden until client signs interest, then released
Firm-specific template — your house style, your headers, your competency framework (unlimited templates per assignment)
Multi-page format — proper executive profiles, not 1-page CVs
40+ language support for cross-border mandates with translation built in
Confidentiality controls — full audit log of every access included on every plan
Isolated per-customer infrastructure; on-premise option for mandates where data sovereignty is non-negotiable
Sample workflow
1
Associate completes 45-min discovery call with candidate (recorded with consent)
2
Otter / Fireflies / Gong transcript ready in 5 min
3
Paste into FormaCV → 90 seconds → polished confidential profile in firm template
4
Optional: instruct the AI ("emphasise board governance for the FTSE 250 brief, hide the candidate's current employer") to tailor for this specific mandate
5
Associate reviews and edits (5 min) instead of writing from scratch (45 min)
6
Profile sent to client; interview confirmed; current employer revealed via controlled re-reveal
Frequently Asked Questions
Our profiles are 4–8 pages and bespoke per assignment. Can FormaCV handle that?
Yes — multi-page templates supported, with unlimited per-assignment template overrides included on every plan.
Confidentiality is critical. How does FormaCV handle it?
Each customer runs on an isolated infrastructural instance, with on-premise deployment available for enterprise so candidate data never leaves your own infrastructure. All data encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3), GDPR-compliant, customer data never used for AI training, full audit log of every profile access included on every plan. See our security page.
Can we hide the current employer until the interview is confirmed?
Yes — anonymization with controlled re-reveal is included on every plan, gated by interview confirmation.
Can we tailor a single confidential profile for different client mandates?
Yes. Unlimited AI tailoring is included in the $0.99 per-CV price. Same candidate, different emphasis per mandate — you instruct the AI in plain English and the original is always preserved.
How does FormaCV compare to keeping our current process?
Most retained search firms see 10–15 hours/week reclaimed across the firm. FormaCV pays back in week 1 at typical partner billing rates.