Process and timing
How many candidates does it take to make one hire?
Across 46 vacancies we filled, it took a median of 26 candidates worked to produce one hire. In total 1,542 candidates were sourced and screened, 235 were presented to the client, 143 reached a client interview and 51 were hired — so roughly 15% of screened candidates were worth presenting, and about 36% of those presented reached an interview. The ratio matters commercially because whoever does that screening is the real cost of a cheap job advert.
The funnel, across 46 filled roles
| Stage | Candidates | Survives to next stage |
|---|---|---|
| Sourced and screened | 1,542 | — |
| Internal interview | 560 | 36% |
| Presented to the client | 235 | 42% |
| Client interview | 143 | 61% |
| Hired | 51 | 36% |
A median of 26 candidates worked per hire. Only about 15% of everyone screened was good enough to put in front of an employer.
Why the first number is so large
Most of the 1,542 were never going to work, and finding that out is the job. They are on notice elsewhere, they want a salary the role does not pay, the commute does not survive contact with reality, or the CV describes a role they supported rather than one they ran.
None of that is visible on paper. It takes a conversation, and most of those conversations happen after 6pm because the candidate is at work.
What this means for the advert-versus-recruiter decision
A £399 advert buys reach. It does not buy those 26 conversations.
So the honest comparison is not £399 against £3,000. It is:
- £99–£599 plus roughly 26 conversations of your own time, versus
- a flat fee where somebody else has them and you see a shortlist.
If a manager genuinely has those evenings, buy the advert and keep the difference — we will say so on the phone as readily as here. If nobody does, the advert is the cheaper purchase and the more expensive outcome.
It varies a lot by role
Two sales engineering roles we filled bracket the range: one took five candidates in total, every one of whom reached the client. The other took 152. The difference was not effort — it was whether the talent already existed in a recognisable form.
Sources
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