How to anonymise your CV

Last updated 19 March 2026

Do you know how to anonymise your CV? Public sector employers are now asking for anonymised CVs to avoid bias during the hiring process, be it conscious or unconscious.

However, if you're a jobseeker who has to tailor a CV to every application, knowing which personal details to include and exclude can add yet another layer of complexity to a job search. We've put together this guide to lend you a hand.

Contents

1. Why do companies ask for anonymised CVs?
2. How unconscious bias affects job seekers
3. What can be anonymised in a CV
4. What information can indicate age in a CV?
5. What information can indicate race or ethnicity?
6. How to highlight your skills and experience
7. How to write references in an anonymised CV

Why do companies ask for anonymised CVs?

Anonymised CVs, also known as blind CVs, eliminate demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race, or ethnicity. This ensures that candidates are evaluated solely on their skills, qualifications, and experience, rather than on factors that are irrelevant to the job.

Anonymising CVs can help companies to comply with anti-discrimination laws, create more diverse and inclusive workplaces, and protect job seekers' privacy.

How unconscious bias affects job seekers

Research shows that unconscious biases can still influence hiring decisions. A study by King’s College London in 2025 for example found that in a sample of 12,000 similar CVs, those with non-English sounding names received 43.5% fewer invitations to interview.

Job seeker CVs with non-English names submitted for leadership positions were only half as likely to receive a callback as those with English names.

What’s more, in 2025 around two fifths of UK workers surveyed by Ciphr stated they had been turned down for a job due to discrimination in the hiring process.

These statistics demonstrate the unfair reality that unconscious bias still plays in recruitment.

What can be anonymised in a CV?

Some employers use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which can automatically screen out identifying details using AI. However, for those who require candidates to submit anonymous CVs, you’ll need to know which elements to remove.

As you can see from our list below, there are a lot of details in your CV that may lead to bias during a hiring process:

What can you include in a blind CV?

The general structure of an anonymised CV includes:

Your candidate information

Although personal information should be avoided, certain details cannot be excluded when it comes to candidate information. For instance, the job role that you're interested in, along with the expiration dates of official documents, as required by the employer. This data becomes particularly important in situations where verification of eligibility to work is mandated by law.

Your contact information

A company will need to be able to contact you, either directly or indirectly through a recruiter. Basic information like your phone number is fine to include.

Previous work experience

A company will look at your experience to find out if you're a good fit for a role. List your experience as normal, with past tasks and responsibilities, but leave out any dates that may indicate your age.

Academic achievements

Again, your academic achievements should focus on what you studied and the results rather than where you studied and when.

References

If an application asks for references, it is generally fine to share the contact details of trusted contacts or previous employers. Briefly describe your relationship with each referee, such as 'Former supervisor' or 'Mentor during academic program'.

It is important to ask for the referees' permission before deciding to include them in your CV. However, some candidates choose not to include references at all and instead offer them upon request.

What information can indicate age in a CV?

Several items in a CV may suggest your age, including:

• Date of birth and age
• Details of education history (including college or university graduation dates)
• Employment history (including start and end dates of previous roles)
• Certain skills or qualifications that were more prevalent or relevant in past decades
• Any mention of long-term experience or expertise in a specific field or industry.

Employers are not allowed to use age as a factor in their hiring decisions, and job applicants have the right to not disclose their age. To avoid any potential age bias, age-revealing information can be excluded, or alternative descriptions can be used, for example, omitting exact dates or using more general language to describe their work experience.

What information can indicate race or ethnicity?

There are several items in a CV that may suggest your race or ethnicity, such as:

• Mentioning membership in certain clubs or organisations
• Including personal information such as ethnic or cultural background
• Language proficiencies (although some roles require you to include this information)
• Listing activities or hobbies that may be culturally or ethnically specific.

As a general rule, employers should focus on professional credentials that make an applicant suitable for the job, rather than their personal background.

How to highlight your skills and experience on your CV

Demonstrating your experience in an anonymised CV can be tricky, but it is possible to highlight your skills, achievements and work experience without revealing personal details. Here are some tips:

Focus on your skills

Use bullet points to highlight hard and soft skills, such as project management, communication, leadership, and problem-solving to demonstrate how you achieved success in previous roles.

Tailor your CV to the role

Make sure your CV is tailored to the specific role you are applying for. Research the company to ensure your CV highlights your suitability for the position.

Highlight results

What achievements are you most proud of? How has your previous work positively impacted a company or team? How did you identify problems and create solutions or improvements? Hiring managers want to see the results you have been responsible for, so including success metrics will help you to stand out from the crowd.

Using AI to tailor your application

In 2026, applicants are using AI to bridge the gap between their experience and specific job descriptions. Job seekers frequently turn to chatbots to identify gaps where keywords from the job description are missing from their CV.

You may be considering using AI to remove signals for bias from your own CV.

Here’s our advice on this:

Use AI as a drafting assistant, not as a replacement. AI can help you to neutralise any biased language (e.g. gender-coded adjectives like “supportive” or “determined”).

But it is prone to hallucinations.

You shouldn’t allow it to invent qualifications or experience you don’t have. Fact-check every single line. Employers are screening applications for similarity and AI use, which means in a competitive job market, authenticity is your greatest competitive advantage.

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Written by Jobs Go Public

Jobs Go Public is the UK's specialist job board for public sector and not-for-profit recruitment. Since 1999, we've helped thousands of people find meaningful roles across local and central government, housing, education, and the charity sector. Our career advice is informed by over 25 years of working closely with public sector employers and job seekers.