How Dover’s recruiting model builds in accountability from day one
Dover
May 5, 2025
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3 min
When you work with a traditional recruiting agency, it’s hard to gauge their efficiency or the true cost-effectiveness of the service. Dover flips the script with public cost-per-hire tracking for each Recruiting Partner. Dover meticulously tracks how much each recruiter costs per hire on average (i.e. how many dollars a client spends to make one hire with that recruiter’s help). These metrics are transparent and shared openly with future customers. Think of it as a public report card.
You can check it out here yourself: dover.com/cost-per-hire
If a recruiter’s cost-per-hire starts to spike or they struggle to fill roles, prospective clients will see that data. This creates a strong incentive for recruiters to optimize for efficiency and quality on every engagement. They know that doing a great job consistently—making hires happen at a low cost per hire—will enhance their reputation and lead to more future business. Conversely, poor performance isn’t hidden; it will drive clients away.
For founders, this transparency is a huge win. You can actually review real performance data before choosing a recruiter, and you can hold your Recruiting Partner accountable to the high standards set by Dover’s marketplace. (Dover’s own data shows cost-per-hire figures that are dramatically lower than typical agency fees, often in the ~$2K-$8K range per hire, versus $15K-$50K+ with contingency agencies.)
By making cost-per-hire a visible metric, Dover ensures that you pay for results, not excuses, and that recruiters continuously strive to deliver excellent candidates efficiently.
Dover’s Recruiting Partners often rely on junior help (our Associate Recruiters) to handle some of the time-consuming parts of the recruiting process. This keeps costs low. But here’s the key difference: the billed hours by the Associate Recruiters are still counted towards the Recruiting Partner’s cost-per-hire data.
That means the lead Recruiting Partner remains fully accountable for everything their team does. They can’t just outsource and hope for the best. Their public cost-per-hire metrics, client satisfaction, and future opportunities are all on the line.
So even though some tasks are delegated, quality control stays high. You get the benefit of scalable execution without the typical trade-off in quality.
Dover’s model is intentionally flexible and scalable. You can ramp your Recruiting Partner’s hours up or down as hiring needs evolve, with no long-term contracts tying you down.
This isn’t just convenient: it also adds another layer of accountability. Because your recruiter’s hours (and pay) depend on your ongoing satisfaction, they are incentivized to continuously meet or exceed your expectations. If you’re unhappy, you can easily switch recruiters. If things are going well, you can scale up seamlessly.
It’s a setup where the recruiter only wins if you’re happy and hiring, and you stay in control the whole time.
Dover recruiters are penalized if you don’t make a hire
Dover’s model doesn’t just encourage recruiters to focus—it also pushes them to keep founders happy. If a customer ends their engagement and says in the exit survey that they still have open hiring needs, that flags a failure. When this happens, the Recruiting Partner gets penalized with a lower rev-share between them and Dover.
This means the recruiter makes less money across ALL their accounts if a client walks away unsatisfied. It’s a direct feedback loop that holds recruiters accountable for outcomes, not just effort, and it ensures that no customer is deprioritized.
Dover rewards recruiters who make you their priority
Another layer of alignment is the sliding-scale revenue share model. Recruiting Partners earn more when they bring more of their work through Dover. The revenue share declines as total billed revenue through Dover increases, meaning that if a recruiter spreads their time across multiple platforms or outside clients, they make less on each Dover customer.
The outcome is that the smart move for recruiters is to consolidate their work through Dover, making your account a bigger share of their attention and priority. Recruiters who go all-in on Dover have stronger incentives to maintain top performance and build long-term client relationships.
You’re not one of many side gigs—you’re their focus.
Dover lets recruiters use whatever tools get the job done best
Unlike traditional agencies or rigid platforms, Dover doesn’t mandate a specific toolset. Every recruiter is free to use whatever methods, sourcing tools, or outreach strategies they think will be most effective—including your own tools as a client.
Dover provides strong defaults, like a free ATS, free sourcing extension, and other tools, but recruiters are encouraged to bring their own stack if they think it’ll help them fill your roles faster or more efficiently.
The result: no excuses. Dover’s system is designed to maximize autonomy and minimize finger-pointing. You're hiring an expert, and Dover creates the conditions for them to actually perform like one.
Dover is a better recruiting model
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