How to hire without a recruiter.

You don't need a recruitment agency to reach great people. Here's exactly how direct hiring works on describe.me — from a pasted role to a booked interview — and what it costs versus a 15–25% agency fee.

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Why bother

The agency route works. It just costs you £6,000–£12,000 and a month.

A recruitment agency charges 15–25% of first-year salary, forwards you CVs for weeks, and gets paid on placement whether the hire lasts or not. For most roles you can do better yourself — if you can actually reach the right people. That's the part we fixed.

How hiring without a recruiter actually works

Everything an agency does — sourcing, shortlisting, scheduling — handled for you. Every decision stays with you.

Step 1

Candidates opt in

Every profile is built by the person who owns it — no scraped CVs, no bought lists. They set out their skills and, crucially, where they want their career to go.

Step 2

We match on meaning, not keywords

Multi-layer semantic matching reads skills, experience depth and aspiration together — surfacing strong people keyword search skips, and filtering out the ones who don't really fit.

Step 3

You see an anonymised shortlist — free

Paste a role or a JD and get a scored shortlist in about a minute: match quality, Staying Power, essential skills and your offer vs the market. No signup.

Step 4

You unlock only who you want

Reveal full details for the people you like — pay per contact, first 3 free. No agency, no placement fee, no subscription.

Automated · Step 5

Interviews book themselves

Automated scheduling gathers everyone's availability and books the earliest slot that works — your interviewers don't even need an account.

See automated scheduling
Step 6

You make every call

Who to contact, interview and hire stays entirely with you. The platform does the sourcing and admin; the judgment is yours.

The tools doing the agency's job

What it costs vs an agency

A recruitment agency

  • £6,000–£12,000 per hire (15–25% of salary)
  • Paid on placement, fit or not
  • Weeks of CV forwarding
  • Their shortlist, their process

describe.me

  • £0 to post roles and see matches
  • Pay per contact — first 3 free
  • A scored shortlist in about a minute
  • Your shortlist, your calls, your data

Is hiring without a recruiter actually a good idea?

Are these real candidates?

Yes. Every profile is opt-in and verified — added by the person themselves, never scraped or bought. You see anonymised matches first, and full details only when you choose to unlock them.

Is it just for recruiters and agencies?

No — it's built for anyone hiring. Founders, hiring managers and in-house teams use it exactly like an agency would, without the fee.

Do I have to sign up to see candidates?

No. Paste a role and see your anonymised, scored shortlist for free — no account needed. You only sign up when you want to unlock someone's details.

How is everyone's data handled?

Candidates opt in and consent to being matched; their name and contact details stay hidden until they agree to share them for your specific role. No surprises, no data brokers.

How is this different from a job board?

A job board waits for people to apply. describe.me matches motivated, opt-in people to your role — including strong passive candidates who aren't actively applying.

What does it actually cost?

Free to post roles and review matches. You only pay per contact when you unlock someone — and your first 3 are free. No subscription, no contract.

See who we'd match to your role.

Paste a role and get a free, anonymised shortlist in about a minute — no signup, no agency fee.

See your matches — free

Are you a professional looking for your next career move?

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Run a recruitment agency? See describe.me for Recruiters

Hiring insights

Platform updates, hiring tips, and early access to new features.

Candidates' data stays theirs. Every contact is gated on the candidate's explicit consent. Read the data promise