Board involvement · Multi-day assessments · Search retainers

Executive Interview Cost Calculator

C-suite and VP hiring is in a different cost league. Search firm retainers, board time, and multi-day assessment centres can push costs well past $100K.

25–33%

Search firm fee of salary

4–8

Stakeholders per process

3–6 mo

Avg search timeline

Hiring Details

$

Fully loaded annual cost of interviewers

Total rounds per candidate

Avg number of interviewers each round

hrs

Duration of each interview session

How many you interview before filling the role

$

Flat fee or % of salary (enter total)

$

LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.

$

Coordinator time, calendar tools, comms

$

Cost of declined offers (restarts process)

Interviewer Time Cost

$33.7K

7 rounds × 4 interviewers × 1h × 10 candidates

Recruiter / Agency Fee

$5.0K

Flat or % fee to source the hire

Scheduling Overhead

$300

Coordinator time + calendar tools

Job Board Spend

$500

LinkedIn, Indeed, niche boards

Rejected Offer Waste

$800

Cost when accepted offers fall through

Total Cost Per Hire

$40.3K

All components combined

Cost Per Candidate

$4.0K

Average spend per person interviewed

Annualised (10 hires / year)

$402.5K

If you make 10 hires at this cost

Reduce your cost per hire

Tools like Greenhouse, Lever, HireVue, Calendly, and Willo help teams cut scheduling overhead, reduce rounds, and screen more candidates asynchronously.

GreenhouseLeverHireVueCalendlyWillo

Need help optimising your hiring process?

Digital Signet advises on technical hiring and team-building. 20+ years shipping software.

This costs you ~$402,538/year

We'll identify the top 3 drivers and give you a 90-day mitigation plan.

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Frequently Asked Questions