The shortlist that’s actually worth your time.

A shortlist of real, verified people — matched on skills and aspirations, not keywords. Reach out yourself, or hand it to your recruiters. Pay only when someone agrees to talk.

  • Matched on skills, aspirations and motivations — not CV keyword bingo
  • Real, verified, opt-in people — every one chose to be here and can be reached directly
  • Pay per contact, first 3 free — no retainer, no subscription, no upfront cost
Real, verified humans Passive Talent Pool Pay only on contact
See your matches — free Book a live demo

No signup to start · Real, verified humans — no bots · 3 free Unlocks on full access

90%Cost Reduction vs Traditional
78%Candidate Response Rate
70%Passive Candidates
87%Average candidate industry skills score
However you hire

Same platform. Two ways in.

Why hire direct?

Skip the agency. Benchmark the role, see a matched shortlist, and reach out yourself.

See how direct hiring works

Why do recruiters use describe.me?

Give your recruiters or agency partners a sharper, pre-qualified shortlist. Less time filtering, more time closing.

See why recruiters choose us
describe.me Role Builder — entering a job title pre-fills the must-have skills employers ask for, with real demand percentages, and the market salary band
Free · Role Builder

Haven’t written the job description? Don’t.

Give us the job title. Role Builder pre-fills the must-have skills and the salary the market actually pays — tick what matters, add your own, and it writes the whole thing. About a minute, free.

  • Skills and salary pre-filled from live market data
  • Nothing invented — no unlisted benefits, no unlawful wording
  • It’s the text we match on — so the shortlist is sharper
See how Role Builder works
Authenticity, guaranteed

Real, verified, consenting humans — and interview-ready.

Gartner predicts one in four candidate profiles will be fake by 2028. Not here. Every candidate on describe.me is a verified person who built their own profile and chose to be matched. No bots, no AI-generated applicants, no ghosts. And because we’re a career platform first, many arrive already coached on their goals and story — stronger, better-prepared candidates.

1 in 4 candidate profiles fake by 2028 — Gartner
0 fake or AI-generated profiles on describe.me
100% consent before any contact is shared
Start matching real people — free
For hiring teams · Free to try, no signup

See your shortlist before you spend a thing.

Try it for FREE! Book a live demo

No signup to start · Real, verified humans — no bots · 3 free Unlocks on full access

Step 1 · Free, no signup

See the market

Enter your role and see the live landscape — realistic salary, the skills that matter, and how much genuine talent is out there. No account needed.

Step 2 · Still free, no signup

Get your shortlist

We match against our live talent pool and email you a shortlist — ranked on fit and Staying Power, not keywords. A curated handful, never a flooded inbox.

Step 3 · Under a minute

Create your free account

Like who you’re seeing? Claim your results with a free, email-verified account. No subscription. No card. Just your shortlist, saved and waiting.

Step 4 · Full access

Verify & claim 3 free Unlocks

One quick company check (usually under an hour) opens everything — unlimited searches, Smart Match Profiles, Staying Power scores. Your first 3 Unlocks are free.

Start to finish

The complete hiring workflow

Start here · Write

Role Builder

Give us a title and we write the role description, pre-filled from the live market.

Build a role
Step 1 · Benchmark

Role & Salary Benchmarking

Tighten the role against the live market before you match.

Benchmark a role
Step 2 · Match

Smart Matching

Multi-layer matching surfaces and ranks the right people.

How matching works
Step 3 · Review

Smart Match Profile

The 60-second, shareable case for every candidate.

See the video
Step 4 · Stay

Staying Power

Score who’ll accept, stay and thrive — not just look good today.

See Staying Power
Step 5 · Meet

Smart Scheduling

From shortlist to booked interview, without a scheduling email.

See scheduling
Step 6 · Interview

Interviewer Kit

Questions written for that person, split across your panel, with a scorecard everyone fills in.

See the Interviewer Kit
New · Smart Scheduling

Shortlisted them? Book the interview automatically.

From shortlist to booked interview, no scheduling email needed. Everyone highlights when they’re free, the earliest slot books itself, and a calendar invite lands in every inbox.

  • No signup for interviewers — just a link
  • Timezone-aware, reminders and invites handled
  • Earliest slot for everyone — booked automatically, yours to override
See Smart Scheduling
describe.me Smart Scheduling — interviewers highlight their availability on a tap-and-drag grid and the interview books itself
The problems we actually solve

Hiring is broken in 5 expensive ways.

Your inbox is a spam flood

Post a job on a board and you can lose half your week filtering junk applications.

Our answer

A curated top 10, never a flooded inbox. Multi-layer matching hands you the shortlist — not 400 CVs to wade through.

Finding the right skills is the #1 UK challenge

70% of UK employers say finding the right skills is their hardest hiring problem.

Our answer

Multi-layer Smart Matching, not keyword bingo. It surfaces people keyword search misses entirely.

Most applicants don’t really want the role

Low-intent applications waste your Unlocks, your time and your shortlist.

Our answer

Candidates declare what they want first. A match means real interest — before you spend a penny.

Candidates distrust faceless automation

84% of UK candidates want a human to make the final decision; only 8% think an AI-only call is fair.

Our answer

So a human always does. Matching handles the shortlist, scoring and benchmarking — the judgment call stays yours.

Decoding creative CVs eats your day

Every CV is a different shape, with the substance buried under the formatting.

Our answer

Uniform, scannable profiles. Review 20 in the time it used to take to decode 3 CVs.

“Went from ‘we should hire someone’ to three top-tier interviews booked and in the diary, in under two hours. The agency wanted £8k and a fortnight just to send me CVs. This is next-level hiring.”

“I’m an engineer, not a recruiter. A scored shortlist of people who actually want the move, interviews booked around my panel’s diaries, questions and scorecard written for me — I turned up and hired. Didn’t know hiring could feel like this.”

Hiring offers

Earn credit. Pay less. Hire smarter.

Referral programme

Earn £10 credit for every professional you refer who completes a profile, plus free Unlocks on every referred candidate — forever.

See the referral programme
Pricing

Nothing to pay until you’ve found your candidate.

No upfront cost No subscription No contract No payment until they agree to talk First 3 Unlocks free

Traditional hiring routes often run 15–25% of first-year salary in fees. describe.me is pay-per-contact — nothing until someone agrees to talk, and your first 3 are free.

See the full pricing

Ready to meet your shortlist?

See real, matched candidates for your role in about a minute. Free, no signup, no subscription.

Create your hiring account
Prefer a walkthrough? Book a live demo See pricing — pay only on agreed contact

Are you a professional looking for your next career move?

Explore describe.me for Professionals

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