Hunting analytics · July 2025
Hunting analytics: recruiters on the international market
What it costs to hire a strong specialist
NEWHR continues its series of expert pieces on the real cost of hiring in today's IT market. We publish them so that employers can rely on up-to-date data when looking for staff, and candidates can assess their own value realistically.
Today we'll talk about a topic especially familiar and close to us: recruiters.
We cover in detail:
- what it costs today to hire a good Senior Tech recruiter in different countries;
- what raises or lowers their price;
- what else, besides money, improves a company's chances of attracting a candidate.
We collected the data throughout 2024 directly from candidates and employers.
In other pieces of the series we have already covered what strong product managers and CPOs cost, as well as data and product analysts and heads of analytics.
Read all our pieces on hunting via this link.
Why does this matter?
At NEWHR we know how important it is to rely on real data when dealing with the labour market, both for employers and for candidates. That is why we publish open hunting analytics and run salary research for companies. Our goal is to make the labour market more transparent and easier to understand.
Who we are talking about
First and foremost, we write about Russian-speaking Senior-level recruiters from the IT/Tech industry.
Most of the specialists we assessed are not actively looking for a job but are open to interesting offers. Such candidates are usually ready for work that is interesting in terms of professional growth and other prospects.
We did not include in our assessment candidates who urgently need a job and are therefore potentially willing to accept whatever the market offers rather than offers that genuinely interest them.
Tasks of a Senior Tech recruiter:
- Responsible for the full cycle of hiring IT specialists: from the initial brief and profile definition to the offer.
- Works with hiring managers, sets hiring priorities, does proactive hiring planning.
- Defines the right hiring strategy based on business goals and on the company's capabilities and constraints.
- Hunts candidates, including passive ones, via LinkedIn, AmazingHiring, GitHub, professional communities and platforms; develops personalised strategies for attracting key employees.
- Builds and analyses the hiring funnel, monitors stages, bottlenecks, SLAs and time to fill.
- Optimises recruiting processes: introduces best practices, automates processes, works with analytics, builds a knowledge base.
- Is responsible for the company's HR brand: takes part in external events and conferences.
Recruiters' income
Salary range
The recruiting market is highly stratified. Depending on the industry, company type and location, salaries can vary significantly. Our analytics shows averaged ranges for senior recruiters at technology product companies.
We rely primarily on data for countries that have tech hubs (the exception is Portugal, which we included as one of the popular destinations for digital nomads).
Top 7 skills recruiters get paid more for
It's important to note that a single recruiter doesn't need to combine all of these points. It all depends on what a particular company considers important.
Deep knowledge of technologies and the subject area
The recruiter can take on a high-quality assessment of candidates, saving the client a lot of time.
A data-driven approach
The recruiter can use metrics to forecast time to hire, justify costs, propose process optimisation, etc.
Immersion in niche communities for proactive hunting
Relevant for industries with a very small market of narrow specialists (hedge funds, high-frequency trading, NFT, etc.).
Knowledge of the specifics of hiring in a particular country/industry
The recruiter knows where it is cheaper to find a candidate, understands taxation, knows which resources and platforms are relevant for a specific location, which cultural nuances need to be taken into account, etc.
Immersion in the business, experience with demanding clients
For example, hiring a team under tight deadlines, revising the hiring plan and the structure of roles in the company, etc.
Ownership of their process and immersion in the business
Specific cases where the recruiter solved a business problem through hiring, for example, introduced an effective rotation system, a referral programme, an outreach programme for underrepresented groups of candidates, etc.
Experience solving complex cases
Hiring under tight deadlines and with a limited budget, successful counter-offers, quickly meeting a business need without opening a new vacancy (through rotation or networking), etc.
+ Basic requirements for recruiters on the global market
- Conversational English and the ability to understand different accents.
- Experience working with multinational teams and searching on the global market
- For local companies: knowledge of the local language and understanding of the local market.
What can lower a recruiter's price
- Projects that are too simple in their experience, classic volume recruiting without standout cases.
- An executor's rather than a proactive approach to work.
- Communication problems at the interview.
How we can help you
Adapted from the original article in Russian on newhr.org. Read the Russian version.