In proposal writing, resumes stand out as a key element of your value proposition. They highlight which personnel meet or exceed the requirements of the RFP and offer specific experience that demonstrate your ability to provide a winning solution.
But proposal writers often create resumes without understanding the solution, and proposal reviewers spend little time reviewing the final product. Here are four tips to help maximize the resumes in your proposals:
- It is important to decide who will write the resumes. A cost-effective approach would be to have the proposed candidate prepare the first draft of the resume, and then have a technical writer format and fill in the gaps where necessary.
- A uniform format helps standardize the process of crafting resumes and helps evaluators navigate them. Each company should develop a format that fits the proposal requirements, usually with traditional sections such as a summary paragraph, education, jobs, and specific skills/certifications.
- Resume writers should tailor the summary paragraph of each resume to the evaluation factors of the RFP. This approach will allow the evaluator to clearly identify the quality of each proposed candidate, as well as highlight any deficiencies in the resume that writers can use to get more up-to-date information or to replace for a better candidate. Writers should also address the RFP requirements within each job they list.
- If the proposed candidate does not possess the required qualifications, you should first look to find a more qualified candidate. You should NOT look to obscure deficiencies by carefully including or excluding certain words. Proposal writers should always develop clear, responsive, and well-formatted resumes.
OST Global Solutions is a professional business development consulting firm. Our capture and proposal consultants have helped our clients win more than $25 billion in funded contracts. We can provide capture and proposal teams to develop a complete, winning proposal, or we can provide consultants on a case-by-case basis to fill gaps on your business development team. Our services include capture management, proposal management, orals coaching, proposal writing, graphics support, editing, desktop publishing, and cost volume development.
Reach out to us to discuss how we can help you win your next bid.
Upcoming Bid & Proposal Academy Classes
Desktop Publishing for Proposal Professionals
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesGovernment proposal desktop publishing teaches valuable skills in designing, laying out Government proposals in MS Word. Present your company’s offer in the most professional light to Federal evaluators. The course covers tools and features MS Word offers to the desktop publisher, and shortcuts to increase speed and efficiency. It covers color palette and styles, tables of contents, headers and footers, and elements of design to ensure your proposal is attractive.
Master AI to Enhance BD, Capture, & Proposal Processes
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesAre you ready to enhance your bid flow, improve your Pwin, cut down the time it takes to do most BD tasks, improve decision-making, and reduce proposal risk by ensuring your submissions are compliant and compelling? This course is specially designed for BD professionals in Government contracting firms seeking to harness the power of AI in their operations. Over three comprehensive sessions, you will gain the knowledge and tools to transform your BD strategies and execution.
Writing Persuasive Government Proposals
OST Global Solutions 7361 Calhoun Place, Suite 560, Rockville, MD, United StatesThis proposal writing course shows how to develop compliant and highly persuasive proposal sections in half the time, to increase your Government proposals' win probability. Learn to outline within the proposal sections for compliance and responsiveness, brainstorm as a group and individually to develop proposal section content, infuse proper structure and flow into your sections, and implement the correct writing process. Learn proposal persuasion techniques.
