What does hiring really cost you?
Slide the number of hires you expect this year and compare three ways to get them done. Every figure updates as you move.
Internal talent team
$102,000
per year, fixed · $8,500 per hire
Salary$80,000
Benefits$22,000
What you getOne recruiter
External recruiters
$134,400
per year, scales with hiring · $11,200 per hire
Roles filled by recruiter (70%)8.4
Average placement fee$16,000
What you getPlacements only
Full team included
SMART Teams
$72,000
$6,000 per month · $6,000 per hire
Flexible growth✓
Strategy, marketing, training✓
What you getWhole talent function
What the $6,000 a month actually buys
Talent strategy and planningA talent plan built around your stage, capital, and growth before urgency drives mistakes.
Hiring infrastructureSystems, processes, and documentation that make growth repeatable.
Talent marketingMulti-channel role promotion so candidates come to you.
Dedicated recruiting teamRecruiter and account director with end-to-end coordination of the hiring process.
Executive visibilityReal-time dashboards so leadership always knows where hiring stands.
Hiring for attitude and hiring manager trainingWe screen for attitude and aptitude, and coach your hiring managers to interview and select with confidence.
Hidden cost of doing it yourself: $26,400 a year in hiring manager time spent sourcing, screening, and coordinating (240 hours at $110 an hour). That is before you count the opportunity cost of what those managers were not doing instead.
Savings vs internal team
$56,400
Savings vs recruiters
$88,800
Manager hours recovered
240
Assumptions: internal team of one talent professional at $80,000 salary plus $22,000 benefits. External recruiter model assumes 70% of open roles are filled through agencies at an average $16,000 placement fee. SMART Teams embedded partnership at $6,000 per month. Savings figures include recovered hiring manager time at $110 per hour. Your numbers will vary; this tool is for illustration.