Scaling Your Recruiting Process from 10 to 50 Employees

Dover

June 30, 2025

5 mins

Scaling_Recruiting_Foundation
Scaling_Recruiting_Foundation
Scaling_Recruiting_Foundation

You're probably feeling the pressure right now. Your spreadsheet-based hiring process that worked perfectly for your first 10 hires is suddenly falling apart, but you're not sure what systems to put in place or whether you need professional recruiting help.

We've helped hundreds of tech startups handle the treacherous waters of scaling their teams. Honestly, the jump from 10 to 50 employees breaks more companies than any other growth phase. At this stage, many founders realize their scrappy early hiring methods are breaking down, which is why they often turn to a fractional recruiter to help bridge the gap.

TLDR:

  • The 10-50 employee phase is make-or-break for startups, requiring systematic recruiting processes instead of network-based hiring

  • Key infrastructure includes a free ATS, standardized interview processes, and clear role definitions before aggressive scaling

  • Fractional recruiters cost 40-60% less than full-time hires while providing expert-level recruiting capabilities

  • Dover's integrated platform combines unlimited free ATS with on-demand recruiting expertise designed for tech startups

  • Key metrics to track include 15-30 day time-to-hire benchmarks and $3,000-$5,000 cost-per-hire targets

  • AI-powered candidate scoring and automated workflows let you handle high-volume recruiting without quality degradation


You're probably feeling the pressure right now. Your spreadsheet-based hiring process that worked perfectly for your first 10 hires is suddenly falling apart, but you're not sure what systems to put in place or whether you need professional recruiting help.

We've helped hundreds of tech startups handle the treacherous waters of scaling their teams. Honestly, the jump from 10 to 50 employees breaks more companies than any other growth phase. At this stage, many founders realize their scrappy early hiring methods are breaking down, which is why they often turn to a fractional recruiter to help bridge the gap.

TLDR:

  • The 10-50 employee phase is make-or-break for startups, requiring systematic recruiting processes instead of network-based hiring

  • Key infrastructure includes a free ATS, standardized interview processes, and clear role definitions before aggressive scaling

  • Fractional recruiters cost 40-60% less than full-time hires while providing expert-level recruiting capabilities

  • Dover's integrated platform combines unlimited free ATS with on-demand recruiting expertise designed for tech startups

  • Key metrics to track include 15-30 day time-to-hire benchmarks and $3,000-$5,000 cost-per-hire targets

  • AI-powered candidate scoring and automated workflows let you handle high-volume recruiting without quality degradation


The Reality of Scaling Recruiting: Why Most Startups Struggle at the 10-50 Employee Mark

The Reality of Scaling Recruiting: Why Most Startups Struggle at the 10-50 Employee Mark

Here's the brutal truth: scaling from 10 to 50 employees is where most promising startups hit the wall. Your first 5-10 employees were probably people you knew, trusted connections from your network, or referrals from friends. That approach worked because you were hiring generalists who could wear multiple hats.

But now? You need specialists.

  • Senior engineers who can build systems.

  • Marketing leaders who can expand entire departments.

  • Sales managers who understand your specific market dynamics.

The challenge isn't simply finding these people. It's building the processes to assess, hire, and onboard them at large while maintaining the culture and quality that got you this far.

Most startups fail at this stage because they're still operating with founder-led, reactive hiring processes. You get desperate for headcount, rush through interviews, and end up with expensive hiring mistakes that slow down your entire team. The resource and time constraints are also real. You're burning cash, investors are watching your runway, and every hire needs to contribute immediately. There's no room for the luxury of a six-month ramp period that larger companies can afford.

On top of that, you're trying to close deals, raise funding, build a product, and somehow find time to figure out whether a senior engineer actually knows what they're talking about in a technical interview.

The solution isn't to hire slower or lower your standards. It's to build the foundation and processes that let you hire faster while keeping your quality overall.

Setting the Foundation: Critical Infrastructure for Scaling Recruiting

Setting the Foundation: Critical Infrastructure for Scaling Recruiting


Before you start posting jobs and scheduling interviews, you need the basic infrastructure in place. Think of this like building the foundation of a house. Skip this step, and everything else will crumble.

The most successful startups we work with set up three core elements before they start aggressive hiring: systematic processes, technology infrastructure, and clear role definitions.

  • Systematic processes mean you have a repeatable workflow for every hire. From the moment someone applies to the day they start, every step is documented and refined.

  • Technology infrastructure starts with a proper applicant tracking system. An ATS becomes important when you're managing 50+ candidates across multiple roles at the same time.

  • Clear role definitions go beyond basic job descriptions. You need detailed hiring rubrics that define exactly what "good" looks like for each position. This single change can reduce your time-to-hire by 40%.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

Infrastructure Element

Before Scaling

After Scaling

Application Management

Email threads and spreadsheets

Centralized ATS with automated workflows

Interview Scheduling

Back-and-forth email chains

Automated scheduling with calendar integration

Candidate Evaluation

Informal feedback conversations

Structured scorecards and rubrics

Offer Management

Manual offer letters and negotiations

Templated offers with approval workflows

The beauty of Dover's approach is that our free ATS grows with you from your first hire to your 500th. You're not switching systems or moving data when you hit growth milestones.

The Free ATS Advantage: Why Startups Choose Dover's Platform

The Free ATS Advantage: Why Startups Choose Dover's Platform

Let's talk numbers. Startups can save up to $10,000 annually by using an ATS instead of managing hiring through email and spreadsheets. However, most ATS platforms charge $100-300 per month per user. For a 10-person startup with 3 people involved in hiring, that's $3,600-10,800 per year. That's real money when you're watching every dollar.

Dover's unlimited free ATS removes that financial barrier completely.

The features you get for free would cost thousands with other platforms:

  • AI-powered candidate scoring that automatically ranks applicants based on your custom criteria

  • Integrated sourcing tools with LinkedIn Chrome extension for finding candidate emails

  • One-click job posting to 70+ job boards, including LinkedIn, Indeed, and AngelList

  • Employee referral system with zero setup required

  • Analytics dashboard tracking time-to-hire and source effectiveness

The AI-powered resume scoring alone saves our customers hours every week. Instead of manually reviewing every application, you get a ranked list of the most qualified candidates based on the specific criteria that matter for your role.

The Economics of Scaling: Cost vs. Quality in Startup Recruiting

For early-stage startups, a typical cost per hire benchmark sits between $3,000 and $5,000, with recent studies showing an average of $4,700. But that number can explode quickly if you're not strategic about your approach.

The hidden costs are what kill most startups' recruiting budgets:

Time costs: If you're spending 20 hours per hire on sourcing, screening, and interviewing, that's $10,000+ of founder time at a $500/hour opportunity cost.

Bad hire costs: A mis-hire at the senior level can cost 3-5x their annual salary when you factor in severance, re-hiring, lost productivity, and team disruption.

Opportunity costs: Every week a critical role stays open is revenue and growth you're not capturing.

The math on fractional recruiting becomes eye-opening quickly. A senior recruiter's fully-loaded cost (salary, benefits, equity, overhead) runs $150,000-200,000 annually, but most startups don't need 40 hours per week of recruiting work consistently.

Here's the economic comparison:

Approach

Monthly Cost

Annual Cost

Flexibility

Full-time Recruiter

$12,500-16,700

$150,000-200,000

Low: fixed cost regardless of hiring needs

Traditional Agency

$0 upfront

$25,000-40,000 per hire

Medium: pay per successful hire

Dover Fractional

$3,000-8,000

$36,000-96,000

High: scale up/down based on hiring volume

When to Hire Your First Dedicated Recruiter vs. Going Fractional

You need to decide this around 15-20 employees when you're planning to hire 2+ people per month consistently for 6+ months. That's when the math on a full-time recruiter starts to make sense.

Here's what most founders don't consider: the fully loaded cost of hiring an employee is 1.2-1.4x their base salary due to payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, and other overhead. A $120,000 recruiter actually costs $144,000-168,000 when you factor in everything.

With fractional recruiting, you get senior-level expertise without the commitment and overhead of a full-time hire. No bonuses, equity, payroll taxes, 401(k) matching, or other employee overhead.

Go fractional when:

  • Hiring 1-8 people per month

  • Hiring needs to change seasonally

  • You need specialized expertise for specific roles

  • You want to test recruiting approaches before committing to full-time

Hire full-time when:

  • Consistently hiring 8+ people per month

  • You need someone built into company culture and processes

  • You have complex, multi-stage interview processes requiring dedicated coordination

  • The role includes non-recruiting HR responsibilities

Building Your Recruiting Process: From Reactive to Strategic

The transformation from reactive to strategic recruiting starts with workforce planning. Too many startups operate in crisis mode, running to the CEO or CFO begging for headcount when someone quits or a project gets behind schedule.

Strategic recruiting means you're planning hires 3-6 months in advance based on business goals. The annual budgeting process should align business leaders, finance, and recruiting around a foundational workforce plan. Ask these questions to prepare:

  • Which roles are critical for hitting Q2 revenue targets?

  • What technical expertise do you need for the product roadmap?

  • How many customer success people do you need to support projected growth?

Top hiring practices every early-stage startup should know shows that successful startups revisit these plans quarterly, adjusting for actual growth and changing priorities. The shift from reactive to proactive recruiting involves several important changes:

  • Pipeline management: Engage with potential candidates months before you have openings.

  • Process standardization: Create SOPs for repeated steps (change for specific requirements)

  • Collaborative evaluation: Involve team members strategically during evaluation and screening.

  • Data-driven optimization: Track metrics like source effectiveness, interview-to-offer ratios, and offer acceptance rates to improve processes.

Standardizing Your Interview Process and Evaluation Criteria

Interview scorecards are game-changers for growing startups. They help you zero in on ideal candidate characteristics, guide the hiring team through the most important evaluation areas, and create a clear process for making decisions.

Without standardized evaluation criteria, you end up with inconsistent feedback like "I liked them" or "something felt off." The key elements while interviewing candidates for your startup include:

  • Role-specific competencies: What technical skills, experience, and knowledge are required for success?

  • Cultural fit indicators: What behaviors and values align with your company culture?

  • Growth potential: Can this person scale with the role as your company grows?

  • Structured questions: Each interviewer asks specific questions designed to assess particular competencies.

The scorecard format forces interviewers to provide specific examples and ratings rather than general impressions. This creates consistency across different interviewers and makes it easier to compare candidates.

Dover's ATS includes built-in scorecard templates and collaborative evaluation tools that make it easy to set up processes without additional overhead.

Sourcing at Scale: Moving Beyond Your Network

Network-based hiring works great for your first 10 employees, but it creates risks as you scale. You end up with a team that looks and thinks alike, limiting diversity of thought and experience.

The transition to methodical sourcing involves expanding your candidate channels and building repeatable processes for finding qualified candidates outside your immediate network.

Workable's scaling research found that companies relying only on network hiring plateau around 25-30 employees, while those with diversified sourcing strategies scale smoothly to 100+ employees. Successful sourcing at large requires multiple channels to work together:

Passive candidate outreach: Focus on finding candidates who aren't actively job searching, but might be interested in the right opportunity via communities or recruiters.

Strategic job board placement: Find out job boards that work best for different types of roles and how to optimize your job postings.

Employee referral programs: Your team's networks are much larger than yours. Tap into their networks.

Content marketing and employer branding: Publishing technical content, speaking at conferences, and building your reputation in specific communities creates inbound interest from qualified candidates.

Dover's integrated sourcing tools help you with multi-channel sourcing, while our fractional recruiters provide the expertise to execute sophisticated sourcing strategies.

Using Dover's Integrated Sourcing Ecosystem

The power of Dover's approach is integration. Instead of juggling separate tools for job posting, candidate tracking, email outreach, and referral management, everything works together in one platform.

  • Our LinkedIn Chrome extension finds candidate email contacts and sends personalized outreach in two clicks.

  • The one-click job board posting reaches 70+ boards simultaneously.

  • The employee referral system lets your team submit candidates with zero setup required.

Every candidate, no matter where they come from, goes through the same evaluation process with the same tracking and data insights. You'll be able to see which sources are bringing you the best candidates and adjust your sourcing budget to focus on what's actually working.

Network-based hiring works great for your first 10 employees, but it creates risks as you scale. You end up with a team that looks and thinks alike, limiting diversity of thought and experience.

The transition to methodical sourcing involves expanding your candidate channels and building repeatable processes for finding qualified candidates outside your immediate network.

Workable's scaling research found that companies relying only on network hiring plateau around 25-30 employees, while those with diversified sourcing strategies scale smoothly to 100+ employees. Successful sourcing at large requires multiple channels to work together:

Passive candidate outreach: Focus on finding candidates who aren't actively job searching, but might be interested in the right opportunity via communities or recruiters.

Strategic job board placement: Find out job boards that work best for different types of roles and how to optimize your job postings.

Employee referral programs: Your team's networks are much larger than yours. Tap into their networks.

Content marketing and employer branding: Publishing technical content, speaking at conferences, and building your reputation in specific communities creates inbound interest from qualified candidates.

Dover's integrated sourcing tools help you with multi-channel sourcing, while our fractional recruiters provide the expertise to execute sophisticated sourcing strategies.

Using Dover's Integrated Sourcing Ecosystem

The power of Dover's approach is integration. Instead of juggling separate tools for job posting, candidate tracking, email outreach, and referral management, everything works together in one platform.

  • Our LinkedIn Chrome extension finds candidate email contacts and sends personalized outreach in two clicks.

  • The one-click job board posting reaches 70+ boards simultaneously.

  • The employee referral system lets your team submit candidates with zero setup required.

Every candidate, no matter where they come from, goes through the same evaluation process with the same tracking and data insights. You'll be able to see which sources are bringing you the best candidates and adjust your sourcing budget to focus on what's actually working.

Network-based hiring works great for your first 10 employees, but it creates risks as you scale. You end up with a team that looks and thinks alike, limiting diversity of thought and experience.

The transition to methodical sourcing involves expanding your candidate channels and building repeatable processes for finding qualified candidates outside your immediate network.

Workable's scaling research found that companies relying only on network hiring plateau around 25-30 employees, while those with diversified sourcing strategies scale smoothly to 100+ employees. Successful sourcing at large requires multiple channels to work together:

Passive candidate outreach: Focus on finding candidates who aren't actively job searching, but might be interested in the right opportunity via communities or recruiters.

Strategic job board placement: Find out job boards that work best for different types of roles and how to optimize your job postings.

Employee referral programs: Your team's networks are much larger than yours. Tap into their networks.

Content marketing and employer branding: Publishing technical content, speaking at conferences, and building your reputation in specific communities creates inbound interest from qualified candidates.

Dover's integrated sourcing tools help you with multi-channel sourcing, while our fractional recruiters provide the expertise to execute sophisticated sourcing strategies.

Using Dover's Integrated Sourcing Ecosystem

The power of Dover's approach is integration. Instead of juggling separate tools for job posting, candidate tracking, email outreach, and referral management, everything works together in one platform.

  • Our LinkedIn Chrome extension finds candidate email contacts and sends personalized outreach in two clicks.

  • The one-click job board posting reaches 70+ boards simultaneously.

  • The employee referral system lets your team submit candidates with zero setup required.

Every candidate, no matter where they come from, goes through the same evaluation process with the same tracking and data insights. You'll be able to see which sources are bringing you the best candidates and adjust your sourcing budget to focus on what's actually working.

Optimizing Your Candidate Experience During Rapid Growth

ATS provides candidates with a positive hiring experience, leading to better quality candidates and higher retention rates. There's a 40% lower turnover rate for new hires who were hired using an ATS compared to manual processes.

Candidate experience becomes an advantage when you're competing for top talent. The best candidates have multiple options, and a smooth, professional hiring process can be the deciding factor in your favor. Small improvements in communication, scheduling, and feedback can greatly impact your offer acceptance rates.

The key elements of great candidate experience during scaling include:

  • Clear communication: Candidates know what to expect at each stage.

  • Efficient scheduling: No back-and-forth or long delays between interview rounds.

  • Meaningful interactions: Each conversation helps candidates understand the role and company better.

  • Respectful process: Even rejected candidates feel good about their interaction with your company.

ATS provides candidates with a positive hiring experience, leading to better quality candidates and higher retention rates. There's a 40% lower turnover rate for new hires who were hired using an ATS compared to manual processes.

Candidate experience becomes an advantage when you're competing for top talent. The best candidates have multiple options, and a smooth, professional hiring process can be the deciding factor in your favor. Small improvements in communication, scheduling, and feedback can greatly impact your offer acceptance rates.

The key elements of great candidate experience during scaling include:

  • Clear communication: Candidates know what to expect at each stage.

  • Efficient scheduling: No back-and-forth or long delays between interview rounds.

  • Meaningful interactions: Each conversation helps candidates understand the role and company better.

  • Respectful process: Even rejected candidates feel good about their interaction with your company.

ATS provides candidates with a positive hiring experience, leading to better quality candidates and higher retention rates. There's a 40% lower turnover rate for new hires who were hired using an ATS compared to manual processes.

Candidate experience becomes an advantage when you're competing for top talent. The best candidates have multiple options, and a smooth, professional hiring process can be the deciding factor in your favor. Small improvements in communication, scheduling, and feedback can greatly impact your offer acceptance rates.

The key elements of great candidate experience during scaling include:

  • Clear communication: Candidates know what to expect at each stage.

  • Efficient scheduling: No back-and-forth or long delays between interview rounds.

  • Meaningful interactions: Each conversation helps candidates understand the role and company better.

  • Respectful process: Even rejected candidates feel good about their interaction with your company.

Measuring Success: Key Metrics for Scaling Recruiting

A great time-to-hire benchmark is two weeks, while the optimal range is 15-30 days for most startup roles. Longer than 30 days, and you risk losing good candidates to faster-moving companies. Shorter than 15 days, and you might be rushing important evaluation steps.

The key metrics to track when scaling recruiting include:

  • Time-to-hire: From job posting to offer acceptance, broken down by role type and seniority level.

  • Cost-per-hire: Total recruiting costs divided by number of hires, including internal time, external services, and technology costs.

  • Source effectiveness: Which channels produce the highest-quality candidates at the lowest cost.

  • Quality of hire: Performance ratings, retention rates, and cultural fit scores for new hires.

  • Candidate experience scores: Feedback from candidates about their experience with your hiring process.

Dover's analytics dashboard automatically tracks these metrics and provides benchmarking data so you can see how your performance compares to similar startups. Our recruiting benchmarks report shows industry standards across different company sizes and stages.

Case Studies: How Startups Successfully Scaled with Dover

Vanta grew its sales team from 1 to 40+ people in two and a half years, using Dover to speed up hiring during rapid growth. Dover supported Vanta’s in-house recruiting by sourcing quality candidates, with faster onboarding and smart adjustment within minutes. In just six months, the team made 12 hires, including AEs and BDRs, while maintaining strong employer branding through personalized outreach.

"It is incredibly easy to get started, it took me 15 minutes to get onboarded, and at the end of it, I was already calibrating whether or not a set of candidates were a good fit based on what I wanted in a hire.”

Eric Martin, Head of Sales, Vanta

WorkOS scaled their team by hiring 7 engineers in just 3 months with Dover's help. Dover customized its sourcing strategy to focus on finding culture-fit engineers, aligned with firm's remote setup. By managing the full candidate pipeline and scheduling, Dover saved the team hundreds of hours while filling key technical roles.

A great time-to-hire benchmark is two weeks, while the optimal range is 15-30 days for most startup roles. Longer than 30 days, and you risk losing good candidates to faster-moving companies. Shorter than 15 days, and you might be rushing important evaluation steps.

The key metrics to track when scaling recruiting include:

  • Time-to-hire: From job posting to offer acceptance, broken down by role type and seniority level.

  • Cost-per-hire: Total recruiting costs divided by number of hires, including internal time, external services, and technology costs.

  • Source effectiveness: Which channels produce the highest-quality candidates at the lowest cost.

  • Quality of hire: Performance ratings, retention rates, and cultural fit scores for new hires.

  • Candidate experience scores: Feedback from candidates about their experience with your hiring process.

Dover's analytics dashboard automatically tracks these metrics and provides benchmarking data so you can see how your performance compares to similar startups. Our recruiting benchmarks report shows industry standards across different company sizes and stages.

Case Studies: How Startups Successfully Scaled with Dover

Vanta grew its sales team from 1 to 40+ people in two and a half years, using Dover to speed up hiring during rapid growth. Dover supported Vanta’s in-house recruiting by sourcing quality candidates, with faster onboarding and smart adjustment within minutes. In just six months, the team made 12 hires, including AEs and BDRs, while maintaining strong employer branding through personalized outreach.

"It is incredibly easy to get started, it took me 15 minutes to get onboarded, and at the end of it, I was already calibrating whether or not a set of candidates were a good fit based on what I wanted in a hire.”

Eric Martin, Head of Sales, Vanta

WorkOS scaled their team by hiring 7 engineers in just 3 months with Dover's help. Dover customized its sourcing strategy to focus on finding culture-fit engineers, aligned with firm's remote setup. By managing the full candidate pipeline and scheduling, Dover saved the team hundreds of hours while filling key technical roles.

A great time-to-hire benchmark is two weeks, while the optimal range is 15-30 days for most startup roles. Longer than 30 days, and you risk losing good candidates to faster-moving companies. Shorter than 15 days, and you might be rushing important evaluation steps.

The key metrics to track when scaling recruiting include:

  • Time-to-hire: From job posting to offer acceptance, broken down by role type and seniority level.

  • Cost-per-hire: Total recruiting costs divided by number of hires, including internal time, external services, and technology costs.

  • Source effectiveness: Which channels produce the highest-quality candidates at the lowest cost.

  • Quality of hire: Performance ratings, retention rates, and cultural fit scores for new hires.

  • Candidate experience scores: Feedback from candidates about their experience with your hiring process.

Dover's analytics dashboard automatically tracks these metrics and provides benchmarking data so you can see how your performance compares to similar startups. Our recruiting benchmarks report shows industry standards across different company sizes and stages.

Case Studies: How Startups Successfully Scaled with Dover

Vanta grew its sales team from 1 to 40+ people in two and a half years, using Dover to speed up hiring during rapid growth. Dover supported Vanta’s in-house recruiting by sourcing quality candidates, with faster onboarding and smart adjustment within minutes. In just six months, the team made 12 hires, including AEs and BDRs, while maintaining strong employer branding through personalized outreach.

"It is incredibly easy to get started, it took me 15 minutes to get onboarded, and at the end of it, I was already calibrating whether or not a set of candidates were a good fit based on what I wanted in a hire.”

Eric Martin, Head of Sales, Vanta

WorkOS scaled their team by hiring 7 engineers in just 3 months with Dover's help. Dover customized its sourcing strategy to focus on finding culture-fit engineers, aligned with firm's remote setup. By managing the full candidate pipeline and scheduling, Dover saved the team hundreds of hours while filling key technical roles.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start using an ATS?

Start using an ATS as soon as you're hiring your second employee. The benefits and time savings begin immediately, and you'll have all your hiring data in one place as you scale. Dover's ATS is completely free with unlimited users and jobs, so there's no downside to starting early.

How do I know if I need a fractional recruiter?

If you're spending more than 10 hours per week on recruiting activities or struggling to find qualified candidates for specialized roles, a fractional recruiter can provide immediate value. The break-even point is usually around 2-3 hires per month.

What's the difference between Dover and traditional recruiting agencies?

Traditional agencies work on contingency fees (20-30% of first-year salary) and often focus on speed over fit. Dover's fractional recruiters work hourly with no placement fees, focusing on finding the right long-term fit for your company culture and needs.

How long does it take to set up Dover's ATS?

Most startups are up and running within 30 minutes. The platform is designed for non-technical users, and our team provides setup support to make sure you're optimizing all features from day one.

When should I start using an ATS?

Start using an ATS as soon as you're hiring your second employee. The benefits and time savings begin immediately, and you'll have all your hiring data in one place as you scale. Dover's ATS is completely free with unlimited users and jobs, so there's no downside to starting early.

How do I know if I need a fractional recruiter?

If you're spending more than 10 hours per week on recruiting activities or struggling to find qualified candidates for specialized roles, a fractional recruiter can provide immediate value. The break-even point is usually around 2-3 hires per month.

What's the difference between Dover and traditional recruiting agencies?

Traditional agencies work on contingency fees (20-30% of first-year salary) and often focus on speed over fit. Dover's fractional recruiters work hourly with no placement fees, focusing on finding the right long-term fit for your company culture and needs.

How long does it take to set up Dover's ATS?

Most startups are up and running within 30 minutes. The platform is designed for non-technical users, and our team provides setup support to make sure you're optimizing all features from day one.

When should I start using an ATS?

Start using an ATS as soon as you're hiring your second employee. The benefits and time savings begin immediately, and you'll have all your hiring data in one place as you scale. Dover's ATS is completely free with unlimited users and jobs, so there's no downside to starting early.

How do I know if I need a fractional recruiter?

If you're spending more than 10 hours per week on recruiting activities or struggling to find qualified candidates for specialized roles, a fractional recruiter can provide immediate value. The break-even point is usually around 2-3 hires per month.

What's the difference between Dover and traditional recruiting agencies?

Traditional agencies work on contingency fees (20-30% of first-year salary) and often focus on speed over fit. Dover's fractional recruiters work hourly with no placement fees, focusing on finding the right long-term fit for your company culture and needs.

How long does it take to set up Dover's ATS?

Most startups are up and running within 30 minutes. The platform is designed for non-technical users, and our team provides setup support to make sure you're optimizing all features from day one.

Conclusion: Your Roadmap to Recruiting Success

The hiring decisions you make in scaling from 10 to 50 employees will determine whether you build a high-performing team that can scale further or create organizational debt that slows down everything you're trying to accomplish.

The good news is that this challenge is solvable. You don't need to reinvent recruiting or build everything from scratch. The foundation, processes, and expertise you need already exist, you just need to implement them strategically.

Start with the foundation:

  1. Get Dover's free ATS set up and begin standardizing your hiring processes.

  2. As your hiring volume increases, add fractional recruiting expertise for your most critical or challenging roles.

The time and money you spend building proper recruiting infrastructure will be returned many times over through faster hiring, better quality candidates, and reduced turnover.

The startups that successfully scale through this phase don't rush the process, but they do make it more efficient. Check out Dover's marketplace of fractional recruiters and sign up for our free ATS to begin building the recruiting infrastructure your growing startup needs.

The hiring decisions you make in scaling from 10 to 50 employees will determine whether you build a high-performing team that can scale further or create organizational debt that slows down everything you're trying to accomplish.

The good news is that this challenge is solvable. You don't need to reinvent recruiting or build everything from scratch. The foundation, processes, and expertise you need already exist, you just need to implement them strategically.

Start with the foundation:

  1. Get Dover's free ATS set up and begin standardizing your hiring processes.

  2. As your hiring volume increases, add fractional recruiting expertise for your most critical or challenging roles.

The time and money you spend building proper recruiting infrastructure will be returned many times over through faster hiring, better quality candidates, and reduced turnover.

The startups that successfully scale through this phase don't rush the process, but they do make it more efficient. Check out Dover's marketplace of fractional recruiters and sign up for our free ATS to begin building the recruiting infrastructure your growing startup needs.

The hiring decisions you make in scaling from 10 to 50 employees will determine whether you build a high-performing team that can scale further or create organizational debt that slows down everything you're trying to accomplish.

The good news is that this challenge is solvable. You don't need to reinvent recruiting or build everything from scratch. The foundation, processes, and expertise you need already exist, you just need to implement them strategically.

Start with the foundation:

  1. Get Dover's free ATS set up and begin standardizing your hiring processes.

  2. As your hiring volume increases, add fractional recruiting expertise for your most critical or challenging roles.

The time and money you spend building proper recruiting infrastructure will be returned many times over through faster hiring, better quality candidates, and reduced turnover.

The startups that successfully scale through this phase don't rush the process, but they do make it more efficient. Check out Dover's marketplace of fractional recruiters and sign up for our free ATS to begin building the recruiting infrastructure your growing startup needs.

Table of contents

Kickstart recruiting with Dover's Recruiting Partners
Kickstart recruiting with Dover's Recruiting Partners
Kickstart recruiting with Dover's Recruiting Partners