Candidate Submission: Definition, Contents and Tips

A candidate submission is the package a recruiter sends to a client to put a candidate forward for a specific role, usually a formatted CV in the agency's or client's layout plus a short pitch explaining why the candidate fits.

In agency recruitment the submission is the moment your work becomes visible to the client. Everything before it, from sourcing and screening to the conversation with the candidate, is judged by what arrives in the hiring manager's inbox.

What a candidate submission usually contains

• A formatted CV. The candidate's experience presented in the agency's branded template or the client's required format, often with contact details removed.
• A pitch or cover email. Two or three paragraphs linking the candidate's evidence to the role's key requirements.
• Recruiter details. Availability, notice period, salary or rate expectations, and location or right-to-work status, clearly marked as the recruiter's information rather than the candidate's own words.
• Confirmation of consent. Evidence that the candidate has agreed to be put forward for this role, often called the right to represent.
• Sometimes a coversheet. A one-page summary with the agency reference, role and key points.

In the US staffing industry the same thing is often called a submittal.

Why submissions go wrong

Most submission problems are small and avoidable:

• A date or job title copied incorrectly from the original CV.
• A qualifier lost, such as "degree not awarded" becoming a completed degree.
• A phone number or email left in a header, footer or the document's hidden properties, letting the client bypass the agency.
• The wrong client's format used, or an out-of-date template.
• A pitch email that claims experience the CV does not actually show.

Each of these damages trust. A client who spots one error starts to doubt the rest of the shortlist.

How to prepare a good submission

1. Start from the candidate's original CV and keep it unchanged, so you can always check against it.
2. Use the client's preferred format, or a clean agency template if they have none.
3. Check every fact against the source, especially dates, titles and qualifications.
4. Remove contact details from the visible text and the file's metadata, unless the client terms say otherwise.
5. Write the pitch from evidence, citing what the CV shows and flagging gaps honestly.
6. Confirm consent and record it before sending.
7. Send the same version in Word and PDF, so a last-minute edit does not leave the two files out of step.

Our guides on how to format a candidate CV for a client and the candidate submission email template go into more detail.

How CVPitch handles candidate submissions

CVPitch turns a candidate's CV, whether a Word file, a PDF, a scan or a photo, into your client's format, links every fact to its source passage, and only exports once a recruiter approves the exact revision, template version and contact-removal settings. Job match marks each requirement on the job description as evidenced, partly evidenced or not shown, and drafts an editable pitch email citing the evidence. You can export DOCX and PDF or share the approved CV through a tracked link. See CVPitch features or pricing.

Related terms

• Submittal: the US staffing term for the same package.
• Candidate profile: the agency's structured summary of a candidate.
• Right to represent: the candidate's permission to be put forward.

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