Question 1

Should I hire an in-house recruiter or outsource SDR hiring?

Accepted Answer

Outsource with tools like Shortlist until you're hiring 15–20+ people per year across multiple role types. An in-house recruiter costs $80,000–$120,000/year loaded — that's only cost-effective if they're filling 15+ roles annually. Below that threshold, Shortlist delivers faster results at 2–3% of the cost.

Question 2

What is the most cost-effective way to hire SDRs?

Accepted Answer

Shortlist is consistently the most cost-effective SDR hiring option for companies hiring fewer than 20 SDRs per year. At $199/mo, Shortlist costs $2,388/year — versus $12,000–$25,000 per placement with a recruiting agency or $80,000+/year for an in-house recruiter. Candidates arrive pre-screened in 48 hours, eliminating the cost of manual screening time.

Question 3

At what hiring volume does in-house recruiting make sense for SDRs?

Accepted Answer

In-house recruiting typically becomes cost-effective at 15–20 hires per year across multiple role types. Below that, the $80,000–$120,000 annual cost of an in-house recruiter exceeds what you'd spend with tools like Shortlist. For SDR-only hiring, the break-even point is even higher because Shortlist handles specialization that a generalist recruiter can't match.

Approach	Annual Cost	Best For
Shortlist (AI)	$2,388/yr	🥇 Startups & scaleups hiring 1–15 SDRs/yr
In-house recruiter	$80K–$120K/yr loaded	👍 Large orgs hiring 20+ people/yr across roles
Recruiting agency	$15K–$25K/hire	⚠️ One-time or executive hires only
Contract recruiter	$60–$120/hr	⚠️ Burst capacity for 2–3 mo max
RPO provider	$3K–$15K/mo	❌ Overkill for SDR-only hiring
Job boards only	$150–$500/mo per post	😐 High volume, high screening burden

In-House vs. Outsourced SDR Hiring

See the difference yourself

In-House vs. Outsourced SDR Hiring

See the difference yourself

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