Why startups come to Dover for their second hire
Max Kolysh
CEO
August 21, 2025
•
2 mins
Contingency fees are typically 15–30% of first year salary. On a $150k engineer, that is $22.5k to $45k. Senior roles can cost even more.
Founders often call this risk free, but the risk is only hidden. You are trading no upfront cost for a giant success fee later. At the same time, the model pushes speed over fit, because multiple recruiters are racing to be first to cross the finish line with a candidate.
The result is simple. With contingency, you are always unhappy. Either you did not make a hire, or you did and paid a fortune.
By the second hire, you want repeatability. You want one consistent pipeline, real collaboration, and someone who helps you build a process. You do not want ten outsiders messaging the same candidates.
This is where Dover’s model shines:
You get a vetted senior recruiter who embeds with your team and works hourly. No bounties. Dover Recruiters typically have a cost per hire of $2k to $8k depending on the role.
We publish every recruiter’s historical cost per hire so incentives stay aligned. (see: dover.com/recruiter#cost-per-hire)
Our free ATS and tools help centralize your process and keep your brand consistent. (see: dover.com/ats), but the recruiters can also use your existing tools.
You can scale hours up or down as hiring needs change, with no long term contracts.
Contingency recruiters help us get customers better than any marketing campaign could. We’re happy to take their customers after they make the first expensive hire.
A contingency hire on a $150k role at 20% costs $30k.
A hire with a Dover fractional recruiter might take 30 to 60 hours of senior recruiting at $100 to $200 per hour. That usually comes out to $3k to $12k. They can even bring in junior recruiters for sourcing and scheduling to make your costs even lower.
If you plan to make more than one hire, the savings add up quickly. That is why the second hire is usually when teams switch.
TL;DR
Hire #1 through contingency often feels free until you’re hit with a $30k to $50k reality check.
Hire #2 is where founders usually switch to Dover’s fractional recruiters, keeping cost per hire in the low thousands while building a repeatable process.
See the data yourself: dover.com/cost-per-hire
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