How is a dossier different from a candidate profile?

A profile is one to two pages and summarises. A dossier runs to several pages, has a cover, and sets out the full career with achievements under each role, board memberships and commentary. Firms send the profile early and the dossier with the shortlist.

Does the dossier include the consultant's assessment?

It has a commentary section for the consultant's view. Formal competency ratings and psychometric results belong in the executive assessment report, a separate template.

Can it be produced without the candidate's name?

Use the confidential profile or blind profile templates for anonymised versions; they have no fields for the identifying details.

No. The dossier is built in your brand inside Formatix and filled from the CV; what you download is the finished Word document or PDF.

Can we use our own dossier format?

Yes. Upload a dossier you have already sent and Formatix turns it into a template with the same fonts, colours and layout.

Word template · Executive

Candidate dossier template for executive search

A candidate dossier is the full document a search firm prepares on a candidate for a client: a cover page, an executive summary, the achievements that matter for the mandate, board memberships and external roles, the complete career history, education and the consultant's commentary. It is longer than a profile and shorter than an assessment report, and it is the document most retained searches send with the shortlist. This Word template has that structure in the firm's brand; Formatix fills the career sections from the CV and the consultant adds the commentary.

The dossier is where a candidate's record is set out in full for the client. Its value is in consistency across the shortlist: the same sections, in the same order, so candidates can be compared on the same page of each document.

Use this template in your brand — free All 65 templates

10 free credits, no card needed. One credit fills one document.

Candidate Dossier, first page. Shown in Formatix branding with a fictional candidate; yours is built in your brand.

What's in the template

A multi-page candidate dossier with a cover, executive summary, achievements and board memberships.

WordDelivered as an editable Word file, or saved as PDF.

Who uses it

Retained executive search firms
The shortlist document for senior mandates, one dossier per candidate.
Board practices
Dossiers on non-executive candidates with governance roles set out in full.
Corporate development and PE teams
Dossiers on management candidates for a portfolio or a transaction.

Every page of the example

The example is in Formatix branding with a fictional candidate. When you pick this template, it is rebuilt with your logo, colours and fonts before you use it.

How you use it

1
Pick the template
Open Formatix, choose this template in Studio, and give us your website. We pull your logo, colours and fonts and rebuild the template in your brand. You see a sample before you use it.
2
Drop a CV or your notes
Upload the candidate's CV, in any layout or language. For reports that carry your ratings or notes, add them alongside the CV. One credit fills one document.
3
Check and send
The filled document appears beside the original for checking. Edit anything in place, then download the Word, PowerPoint or Excel file, or save it as PDF.

Not a download. This is not a file to download. Formatix builds the template in your brand, with your logo, colours and fonts taken from your website, and fills it from a CV or from the notes you supply. What you keep is the finished document: an editable Word, PowerPoint or Excel file you can send as it is or change in Office.

Ask for changes in plain words, such as "move the photo to the right" or "add a Languages section", and the template is updated with the rest of its formatting kept. If you already have a document you send clients, upload that instead and Formatix turns it into a template. How Studio builds templates

Questions about this template

How is a dossier different from a candidate profile?: A profile is one to two pages and summarises. A dossier runs to several pages, has a cover, and sets out the full career with achievements under each role, board memberships and commentary. Firms send the profile early and the dossier with the shortlist.
Does the dossier include the consultant's assessment?: It has a commentary section for the consultant's view. Formal competency ratings and psychometric results belong in the executive assessment report, a separate template.
Can it be produced without the candidate's name?: Use the confidential profile or blind profile templates for anonymised versions; they have no fields for the identifying details.
Is this a download?: No. The dossier is built in your brand inside Formatix and filled from the CV; what you download is the finished Word document or PDF.
Can we use our own dossier format?: Yes. Upload a dossier you have already sent and Formatix turns it into a template with the same fonts, colours and layout.