The short answer
Recruitment involves three separate costs – media budget, internal hours, and a placement fee – and they blur together if you don't track them apart. Red Rocket works on a standard no-cure-no-pay basis: the fee starts at 11% of gross annual salary upon successful placement; the exact percentage and conditions are agreed in advance. The media budget is agreed separately. Which lines apply to your assignment is something you discuss in a first meeting.
Bring one vacancy and your questions about costs. In 30 minutes, we discuss the approach, your recruitment fee and the costs and terms we agree in advance.
What does it cost on average to recruit a project manager in construction or building services engineering in 2026?
This fictional, chosen scenario assumes a salary base of €60,000–€80,000 and a no-cure-no-pay fee of 11%. For a successful placement:
- Fee: €6,600–€8,800
- Media costs: €1,200–€2,400
- Internal time (reviewing, interviews, decision-making): €600–€900
- Tools: €0
- Total on placement: €8,400–€12,100
This is not a quote, a market range, or a rate ceiling. The actual fee can be higher. The standard is no cure no pay, from 11%; we agree the actual percentage in advance. Media costs and internal time are always separate items, including when no placement follows.
Lead time, seniority, region, supply and demand, and the requirements of the vacancy all affect the total budget. No formula fixes that in advance. A conversation surfaces the right assumptions.
Calculate your own cost per hire
Enter actual figures or explore a scenario. This calculator does not predict candidates or hires. All amounts exclude VAT.
Example buttons load chosen assumptions, not a quote, market average or predicted range.
Formula: (media + tools + internal hours × hourly cost + fee) ÷ hires. The fee is salary basis × agreed percentage × hires. Salary itself is not a recruitment cost. Media and internal time remain separate costs, including without a hire. Count each cost once.
Standard no cure no pay, from 11% of annual salary. We agree the actual percentage and salary basis in advance. An upper scenario result is not a maximum price. Inputs stay in your browser and are not sent or saved.
Discuss your vacancy and recruitment fee ↗From guidance to your vacancy
What does the approach for your vacancy cost?
Compare using the same assumptions. In 30 minutes, we discuss your vacancy, the work involved, your recruitment fee and the advertising budget.
Discuss my recruitment fee ↗No placement, no recruitment fee · from 11% of annual salary
Three denominators, three different outcomes
Cost per application, cost per qualified candidate, cost per hire: these are three different calculations. Using them interchangeably produces conclusions drawn from numbers that cannot be compared.
The formulas are straightforward. Cost per application: chosen recruitment costs divided by the number of applications. Cost per qualified candidate: the same costs divided by the number of candidates who meet the pre-agreed requirements. Cost per hire: the same costs divided by the number of hires. Use the same measurement period and the same cost scope across all three. Change the denominator without adjusting the numerator, and the comparison collapses.
The number of people who respond doesn't tell you much. What matters is what happens with those responses – and how much time, money and capacity that demands from you and your team.
Media budget, fee and internal hours are three separate lines
Media budget buys reach. You pay for visibility on the channels where your target audience is active – how much depends on the role, the market and the duration. Not every assignment includes a media line; that is agreed based on what applies.
The placement fee is what you pay when someone joins. No cure no pay means: no hire, no fee. Internal hours – screening time, intake conversations, feedback rounds – are a cost line of their own. They count when you compare fairly, even if they are never invoiced.
Onboarding is a separate line. Only include it if you include it for every alternative in scope. Counting onboarding for outsourced recruitment but not for in-house recruiting creates an uneven comparison. The numbers are technically correct, but they tell you nothing about the actual choice.
No cure no pay: what the fee covers
Red Rocket operates on a standard no-cure-no-pay basis. The placement fee starts at 11% of gross annual salary – the precise percentage and conditions are agreed in advance when the assignment is confirmed.
Illustrative example – not a prediction: suppose the role carries a gross annual salary of 40,000 euros. At an agreed rate of 11%, the placement fee is 4,400 euros. Media costs and internal hours are separate. The media budget and channels are agreed independently.
What Cockpit adds to the cost per hire
Cockpit is the platform where you as an employer view the candidate profile, read back the WhatsApp conversation, assess the written substantiation, and – where the candidate has provided one – review the CV. The organisational context you supply in advance shapes how the conversation runs and which points it probes further.
Qualification here means: an initial assessment against the agreed hard requirements, the answers given, and what is missing or remains unclear. It is not a verification of qualifications and not automatic proof of suitability. The employer sets the role requirements and makes the hiring decision. HR retains control and the direct conversation with the person.
Quick initial follow-up is the aim. Because everything is in Cockpit as soon as a candidate has responded, HR can assess immediately – without waiting for a forwarded email or a third-party summary.
What to agree in writing before you start
An agreement without a written basis is a verbal expectation. What you document doesn't need to be complex – it needs to be precise.
Which vacancy do you have open right now, and what do you need to assess those conversations fairly? Bring that information to a first meeting with Red Rocket.
- Which role requirements are fixed and which are preferred
- The gross annual salary and the agreed percentage for the fee
- Which cost lines apply: media budget, placement fee and/or internal hours
- What qualification means in this assignment: which answers and which missing information
- Who makes the hiring decision – that is always the employer
- That the expected number of responses is not a guarantee of a hire
Cost per project manager or engineer hired: two worked examples
A job title alone does not establish a reliable standard cost per project manager or engineer hired. The amounts below are chosen assumptions, not historical campaign averages, a forecast or a quote. We assume one actual hire and exactly 11% as a starting rate; your agreed percentage may be higher.
| Assumption | Project manager | Engineer |
|---|---|---|
| Agreed salary basis | €60,000 | €80,000 |
| Example fee: basis × 11% | €6,600 | €8,800 |
| Assumed media budget | €1,200 | €1,800 |
| Assumed internal costs | 8 hours × €75 = €600 | 12 hours × €75 = €900 |
| Total per hire in this example | €8,400 | €11,500 |
Amounts exclude VAT where applicable. Check the salary basis and included costs in the agreement. With zero hires, do not divide by zero: report costs incurred and zero hires separately. For multiple vacancies, also allocate media and internal hours.
A vacancy text review does not predict these costs. Use the cost explorer with your own assumptions to explore the items, and discuss your role, region and essential criteria for a quote. Compare actual costs with actual hires once the period has ended.
A real client example
Mobido CarProf: a manager found in 39 days.
The campaign brought in 44 candidates. Advertisements and targeted WhatsApp questions revealed experience and availability before the personal follow-up began.
From campaign launch to placement. A result from this case, not a promise for every vacancy.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost on average to recruit a project manager in construction or building services engineering in 2026?
A representative Dutch market average for 2026 is not available in our sources, so we do not quote one. Fictional, chosen scenario for a successful placement: salary base €60,000–€80,000, fee 11%, media costs and own time included, total €8,400–€12,100. Actual costs depend on seniority, region, lead time, and whether a placement follows. Talk to us about the assumptions that fit your vacancy. This range is not a quote, market average or maximum price.
What does no cure no pay mean with Red Rocket exactly?
You only pay the placement fee when someone joins through the assignment. The fee starts at 11% of gross annual salary; the precise percentage and conditions are agreed in advance. The media budget sits outside the fee and is agreed separately where applicable.
What is Cockpit?
Cockpit is the platform where you as an employer view the candidate profile, read back the WhatsApp conversation, assess the written substantiation, and – where available – review the CV submitted by the candidate. The organisational context you provide in advance shapes how the conversation unfolds.
Is cost per application the same as cost per hire?
No. Cost per application: chosen recruitment costs divided by the number of applications. Cost per hire: the same costs divided by the number of hires. The outcome differs significantly as soon as a large proportion of responses do not meet the pre-agreed requirements. Always use the same measurement period and cost scope.
What information should I bring to a first meeting with Red Rocket?
Think about: the job title and role requirements – fixed and preferred – the gross annual salary, your preference for media channels if you already have one, and a sense of what qualification means in your context. The more context you bring, the more focused the conversation.
What does one project manager or engineer hired cost?
That requires the actual salary basis, agreed fee, media, internal costs and number of actual hires. The €8,400 and €11,500 examples are chosen assumptions for one hire, not expected rates.
