Question 1

How much does it cost to hire an in-house recruiter?

Accepted Answer

An in-house recruiter costs $60,000–$90,000 in base salary, plus 20–30% in benefits and overhead — bringing total loaded cost to $75,000–$115,000/year. You'll also need to budget for sourcing tools ($3,000–$15,000/year for LinkedIn Recruiter, ATS, etc.). For companies hiring fewer than 15 SDRs per year, Shortlist is dramatically more cost-efficient at $199/mo.

Question 2

When should I hire an in-house recruiter instead of using Shortlist?

Accepted Answer

An in-house recruiter makes sense when you're hiring 20+ people across multiple role types annually, need someone to manage employer brand, or require a human relationship layer for senior hires. For SDR-specific hiring under 15–20 roles/year, Shortlist delivers equivalent or better outcomes at a fraction of the cost without adding headcount.

Question 3

Can Shortlist replace an in-house recruiter?

Accepted Answer

For SDR, BDR, and AE hiring specifically, Shortlist replaces the sourcing and screening function of an in-house recruiter. You still conduct interviews and make final decisions. For companies hiring 1–15 SDRs per year, Shortlist is a more cost-effective alternative. For large orgs hiring across many role types, Shortlist complements in-house recruiting by handling volume SDR sourcing.

Factor	Shortlist	In-House Recruiting
Annual cost	✅ $2,388/yr ($199/mo)	$80,000–$120,000/yr (salary + benefits + tools)
Break-even volume	✅ Cost-effective at 1 hire/year	Requires 10–15+ hires/year to justify
SDR specialization	✅ SDR/BDR only — purpose-built	Depends on recruiter — may cover all roles
Speed to first candidates	✅ 48 hours	2–4 weeks (sourcing + screening time)
Consistency	✅ Standardized AI model every role	Varies by recruiter experience and workload
Scalability	✅ Instant — no headcount added	Capped by recruiter bandwidth (~3–6 open roles)
Best for	✅ Startups, scaleups hiring 1–10 SDRs/yr	Large orgs hiring 20+ SDRs/yr across many roles

Shortlist vs. In-House Recruiting

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Shortlist vs. In-House Recruiting

See the difference yourself

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