Anonymised Consultant CVs for Brokers: What to Remove and What to Keep

The broker's email ends with the line you have learned to dread: "CV:n ska vara anonymiserade." Now every CV you send needs the name gone, the photo gone, the phone number gone, and every client renamed, without losing the assignments that make the consultant worth presenting.

Done by hand in Word, it is the easiest place to leak a name. This guide covers what an anonymised CV should and shouldn't contain, and why the rules differ between a broker and a public tender.

What is an anonymised consultant CV?

An anonymised consultant CV is a CV with everything that identifies the consultant, and usually their past clients, removed or replaced, while the skills, roles, dates and evidence stay. The reader should be able to judge the fit, and not be able to find or contact the person.

Why brokers ask for it

A broker sits between your consultancy and the end client. Anonymising protects both sides of that arrangement: the client can't contact the consultant directly, and other suppliers can't approach your people.

That second reason is one Upphandlingsmyndigheten recognises in public procurement too. Its guidance on confidentiality notes that in the consulting and staffing industry a supplier's main competitive asset is often its staff, and that information about the supplier's personnel, which often appears in the CVs submitted in a procurement, can therefore be covered by secrecy. It cites the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling HFD 2016 ref. 17: information that can identify a bidder's consultants can have commercial value and be a trade secret.

What to remove, what to keep

The column on the right is the reason anonymisation needs care. If you remove too much, the broker has nothing to present.

Replace client names with labels that still carry meaning

"Client A" tells a reader nothing. A good label keeps the industry or sector, because that is often what the requirement asks for:

❌ "Senior developer at a client, 2021 to 2024."

✅ "Senior Java developer at a large Swedish public authority, 2021 to 2024."

✅ "Kund inom telekom, 2017 to 2021."

The leaks people miss

• The client's name inside a description. The heading says "Public authority" and the second bullet says "migrated Skatteverket's declaration flow". Search the whole text, not only the headings.
• Genitive and short forms. "Telias" is still Telia. So is an abbreviation.
• File properties. A Word file's author field may still carry the consultant's name.
• The requirement match. If the CV is anonymised, the evidence column must use the same labels.

Anonymised for a broker, named for a tender

Don't assume every request wants anonymity. Public buyers often want the opposite.

The Swedish Public Procurement Act, LOU (SFS 2016:1145), lets an authority require a supplier of services to state in its tender the names of the people who will perform the services and their professional qualifications (4 kap. 4 §). The people can also be part of the score: Upphandlingsmyndigheten notes that the qualifications and experience of the staff who will perform the contract can be an award criterion, which follows from current practice rather than from the wording of the law.

The request decides. Read what it asks for, then pick one:

In a public tender, also remember that for an authority covered by the principle of public access, the main rule is that the tender documents become public once the award decision is made, unless secrecy applies. Upphandlingsmyndigheten advises suppliers to state in the tender which information they consider should be kept confidential, while noting that the authority makes its own assessment.

Data minimisation: send only what the reader needs

Anonymising is also good GDPR practice. Sweden's data protection authority, IMY, sums up data minimisation as "Behandla aldrig fler personuppgifter än vad som behövs": never process more personal data than is needed. A broker deciding whether a profile fits doesn't need a home address or a phone number.

How ConsultCV does it

In ConsultCV, anonymised mode is a switch per candidate on Team and Growth. It removes the name, photo and contact details, and replaces every client name with its label (one you set, or "Kund inom" plus the industry), in headings and in the text, including genitive forms. Check that the evidence in your requirement match uses the same labels. Write the match first with the requirement match guide, then send the anonymised CV with it.

What should an anonymised consultant CV contain?

Title, seniority, skills with years, each assignment's role, dates, industry and results, education, certifications and languages. Remove the name, photo, contact details and client names.

Should I use initials instead of the name?

Only if the broker allows it. Initials plus a rare skill set can still identify a person. A role title is safer.

Do public tenders want anonymised CVs?

Often not. Under LOU 4 kap. 4 § an authority may require the names and professional qualifications of the people who will perform a service. Follow the request.