The skills profile, called dossier de compétences or DC in French IT consultancies, is a consultant's CV reworked into the format of the consultancy that presents them, and aimed at the client's need. It contains a profile summary, skills, experience detailed assignment by assignment, training and languages. It is often the first document the client reads, before any interview.
This article covers what it must contain, offers a template structure, and explains how to tailor it to the need without distorting it.
Article checked on 11 November 2026.
What is a consultant skills profile?
A skills profile is the presentation of a consultant by their IT consultancy, in its branding. It takes the consultant's career, but formats it for the client: summary at the top, skills ranked, each assignment detailed. It is used to put the consultant forward for a need, in answer to a tender or a direct request.
It differs from the CV on three points:
- The author. The CV is written by the consultant; the skills profile is written or reviewed by the consultancy, which answers for it to its client.
- The format. All the skills profiles of a consultancy have the same structure and branding, which lets the client compare several profiles.
- The reader. The skills profile is written for a specific need: the summary and the order of skills change from one client to another.
It is also called a technical profile, consultant CV or CV in consultancy format.
What does a skills profile contain?
A skills profile reads from top to bottom, from most to least useful for the client. At the top, a title and a summary that answer the need. Then the skills, the experience detailed from most recent to oldest, and finally training, certifications and languages. Personal contact details are usually left out.
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Header | First name or initials, job title, years of experience, availability |
| Summary | Three to five lines: what the consultant can do, on what type of project, for whom |
| Technical skills | Languages, tools, methods, with a level or length of practice |
| Business skills | Sectors and functional areas: banking, industry, payroll, logistics… |
| Experience | Per assignment: client or sector, period, role, context, achievements, technical environment |
| Training | Degrees and certifications, with their date |
| Languages | Level, if the client works in another language |
Skills profile template: a standard structure
Here is the standard structure of a skills profile for a developer, on two pages. The first page should be enough for the client to decide on an interview: title, summary, key skills, latest assignment. The second details the previous assignments. Client names can be replaced by their sector.
Page 1
- Title: Senior Java developer, 9 years of experience, available from 1 December.
- Summary: Back-end Java developer, experienced in stock and order management systems in industry. Works from design to production release, in agile teams of five to ten people.
- Key skills: Java 21, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, Kafka, Docker, Kubernetes; automated testing; Scrum.
- Latest assignment: industrial group, 2024-2026, back-end developer. Rebuild of the stock management tool: split into services, database migration, continuous integration pipeline set up. Environment: Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL, Kafka, GitLab CI.
Page 2
- Previous assignments, same format, in a few lines each.
- Training and certifications, with their date.
- Languages.
Fictitious example. The order of key skills changes with the need: for a data-oriented assignment, Kafka and PostgreSQL move to the front.
Tailoring the skills profile to the client's need
A skills profile is tailored to each need: the summary uses the words of the requirement, the requested skills go first, and the assignments that answer it are detailed. Tailoring changes the order and the wording, never the facts. Every line must be something the consultant can defend in an interview.
- Use the vocabulary of the need. If the client writes "continuous integration", the profile does not just say "DevOps".
- Highlight the relevant assignments, and sum up the others in one line.
- Have the consultant review it. They know the details of their assignments and will confirm what is said about them.
- Add nothing they have not done. An inflated skill shows at the first technical exchange and costs the assignment, sometimes the client's trust.
When several consultants answer the same need, send profiles in the same branding: the client compares faster and is more likely to shortlist profiles they can put side by side.
Anonymous version and personal data
Many consultancies first send an anonymous version of the skills profile: no name, no contact details, sometimes no names of former clients. This stops the client from contacting the consultant directly, and removes criteria that must not weigh in a selection. The consultant must know who their profile is sent to.
- The criteria to remove. Age, photo, family situation, address: no decision may be based on them; under French law, the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination is in article L. 1132-1 of the Labour Code.
- Personal data. A skills profile contains personal data: the consultant or candidate must be informed of how it is used and that it is sent to clients.
- Former clients. Some contracts forbid naming the client: replace the name with its sector.
The mistakes that lose an assignment
Most rejected skills profiles are rejected for the same reasons: a generic summary, a poorly described latest assignment, skills without context, a format that changes from one consultant to the next. All of them can be fixed before sending, provided the profile is up to date and someone reviews it.
- A generic summary, which could describe any developer.
- A list of technologies without context: the client wants to know on which project and with what responsibility.
- An outdated profile, without the assignment that has just ended.
- Different formats for consultants sent on the same need.
- Sending too late: the need was filled by a competitor who answered the same day.
A profile updated at the end of every assignment also reduces bench time: the consultant can be put forward as soon as a need comes in.
In Marvin: the skills profile in your branding
In Marvin, the consultant's CV is reformatted in your branding from their record, skills and experience included, and the anonymous version is produced at the same time. Export to PDF or Word, without going back through the layout. Several CVs for the same need go out in a single email to the client.
You see when the client has opened them. Search covers the text of CVs and interview notes, with the synonyms of the trade: a consultant who mentioned a technology in an interview comes up, even if their record does not mention it. See our IT consultancy software page and Marvin's consultant space.
FAQ
What is a consultant skills profile?
It is a consultant’s CV put into the format of the IT consultancy that presents them: profile summary, skills, experience detailed assignment by assignment, training and languages. It is sent to the client to put the consultant forward for a need, often alongside other candidates.
What is the difference between a CV and a skills profile?
The CV is written by the consultant to present themselves. The skills profile is written or reviewed by the consultancy, in its branding, and aimed at the client’s need: it details each assignment, the technical environment and the achievements, and usually removes personal contact details.
What should a skills profile contain?
A job title, a summary of a few lines, technical and functional skills, experience from most recent to oldest with client or sector, period, role, achievements and technical environment, then training, certifications and languages.
Should a skills profile be anonymised?
Often, yes. Many consultancies first send a version without name or contact details, so the client does not contact the consultant directly. Also removing age, photo and family situation avoids basing a selection on prohibited criteria.
How many pages should a skills profile have?
Most often two to four pages: one page of summary and skills, then the experience. A client reads the summary and the latest assignment first; older assignments can be summed up in one line.
Can you edit a consultant’s CV to tailor it to the client?
You can rephrase, reorder and highlight what meets the need, with the consultant’s agreement. You cannot add a skill, a duration or a certification they do not have: the gap shows in the interview and costs the assignment, sometimes the client.