A recent post explained the importance of using team selection to show understanding of the RFP requirements and the prospect’s strategic and hot button issues. Identifying the key individuals (KIs) you will use provides evidence of your commitment.
Every RFQ and RFP we’ve seen requires resumes for KIs. Evaluators use them to confirm the proposed individuals are qualified and capable of fulfilling the contract. In the case of consortium projects, resumes also show whether and on which reference projects KI candidates have worked together.
Issuers of large RFQs and RFPs specify the contents of KI resumes. Mirror the specified contents in the order listed in all cases. For RFPs without a specified resume format, this post explains how to tailor resumes to improve your win rate.
Poor practices—what not to do
We’ve seen proposals containing resumes that:
- Vary widely in length, format and fonts (even some with scans pasted onto the page)
- Are formatted and written like job search resumes
- Bury items important to the evaluator halfway down the page
These and other resume sins invite evaluators to move on to a more competent proposal.
Creating resumes that boost your chances
If an opportunity is worth bidding on, it’s worth the effort to standardize and edit your key people resumes. Begin by gathering the following information:
- The requirements for each role (e.g. What activities the site supervisor perform on this project?)
- For each requirement, the proposed individual’s credentials and experience.
- The candidate’s experience in similar roles on similar projects (ideally reference projects)
- Additional relevant information, including years of service, recognition for performance and education.
Format resumes to highlight important information
Large issuers across North America are becoming increasingly prescriptive in the content required for resumes and project sheets. Be sure to comply with any RFP or RFQ request for specific information and organize it in the order provided.
We recommend formatting resumes a two-column table as follows:
| CANDIDATE’S NAME, DESIGNATIONS (PEng, etc.) Current title, employer and years in current role |
|
| Qualifications and profile | |
| Proposed role | Begin with a lead-in, such as: “As ROLE, NAME will be responsible for:” followed by 4-6 bullet points citing key responsibilities |
| Qualifications | 4-6 bullet points directly relating to the requirements for this project |
| Profile | 2-3 sentences about the individual focusing on relevant strengths |
| Relevant experience | |
| Project Name: | Description of candidate’s role, impact, relevance to current project, customer reference |
| Project Name: | Description of candidate’s role, impact, relevance to current project, customer reference |
| Project Name: | Description of candidate’s role, impact, relevance to current project, customer reference |
| Education and achievements | |
| Education | Degrees and certifications in bullet point form |
| Achievements and other | Awards, etc. |
This approach—modified to suit your requirements—gives evaluators efficient access to the information they need. They’ll love you for it.
Include key person summaries in the narrative
Don’t rely on evaluators reading resumes in an appendix. Summarize key person qualifications and experience in the narrative. Many bidders use the first few rows of the table described above as their summary.
If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know this is standard advice for any information in proposal appendices.
Photos or no?
Photographs are OK in principle, but in practice often end up featuring people in different dress against different backgrounds in varying lighting. One or more photos are often out of focus. Photos are especially challenging when the proposal is a joint venture or where team members have been recruited from outside for the project.
The result is jarring. It detracts from, rather than reinforces, the idea of a team. So our recommendation is: no photographs.
Exception: You may want to include photos for strategic reasons, for example to show gender balance, diversity or maturity (or youthfulness!). If this is the case, go ahead—but consider investing in retouching (or take new photos) to create a uniform look and quality.
Prepare ahead
Knowing what you need to develop strong resumes, start now. Use the guidelines above to format the information for individuals likely to be put forward as project key people.
When the next opportunity arises, your resumes will require only minor edits to be proposal-ready.
