CV Genius

CV Genius

The World's Smartest CV Builder

Job Search Questions & Answers from the Experts at CV Genius

What is a speculative CV?

A speculative CV is a document summarising your relevant skills and experience sent to a company that isn’t advertising any job openings.

Many companies hire by referral or through internal job boards before advertising openings to the public. So if there’s a company that you’d like to work for that hasn’t listed an open role you want yet, sending a speculative CV is a great way to introduce yourself to the employer and make a case for why you should be hired before they’re flooded with applications.

To write a speculative CV, you should:

  • research the company to determine which of your skills and experiences will make you an attractive candidate
  • tailor every section of your CV based on your research to show the employer you’re interested in working for them specifically and not just sending out a generic CV to many companies
  • clearly state the role you’re looking to fill in your personal statement (if the employer doesn’t know what you’re applying for, they’ll bin your CV)

Write an engaging cover letter for your speculative CV.

When you send a company a speculative CV, you have to write a cover letter that explains why you’re submitting an unsolicited job application. So learn how to write a cover letter that convinces employers to hire you, even if they haven’t started their hiring search yet.