Hiring Staff with Targeted Ads: Kyiv Case Study | akitalab

Hiring Staff with Targeted Ads: chat manager recruitment case, Kyiv

Updated: September 9, 2026

Job boards delivered hundreds of empty calls. In six months ads delivered 80 candidates into training, 47 of whom stayed, at ~$54 per interview. Below: the numbers, how it works, and the form.

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Results

Results over six months

80 candidates started training
47 stayed on and are working
~$54 cost per interview — vs. 1–2 monthly salaries per hire with an agency
$5.53 best cost per lead (CPL)

In short: this is the AkitaLab Lead Generation Accelerator in action. Three channels (Meta Ads + Google Ads + a landing page), server-side infrastructure, and a CRM quality loop: candidate statuses were fed back into the ads, and the algorithm learned to bring not "clickers" but people who make it to the interview and show up for work. Decisions were made in money metrics — cost per interview, not cost per click. Instead of a chaotic flow from job boards — a steady 6–7 new employees a month and an unburdened HR team.

Funnel

The funnel: from application to employee

Quality funnel: from application to employee Application — 100%. Qualified (a conversation took place) — about 33%. Booked for an interview — about 25% (~166 interviews). Started training — about 12% (80 people). Stayed on and working — about 7% (47 people). Application — 100% Qualified — a conversation took place ~33% Booked for an interview ~25% Started training ~12% · 80 people Stayed on and working ~7% · 47 people
Quality is controlled at every transition — all the way to an employee who stayed on.
Started training and stayed on — by month November — 11 in training, 7 stayed on. January — 12 / 7. February — 17 / 6. March — 10 / 9. April — 3 / 2 (rebuild). May — 18 / 12. June — 9 / 4. 11 Nov 12 Jan 17 Feb 10 Mar 3 Apr* 18 May 9 Jun stayed on started training
Numbers above the bars — how many started training; the solid part — how many stayed on. April is the month of the rebuild.

The quality of inbound applications is controlled on three levels: qualifying questions in the form (age, readiness to relocate), deduplication on the server, and training the algorithm on the CRM statuses.

Across the whole period about $9,000 went into ads — roughly $113 per candidate in training and ~$191 per candidate who stayed on. That is ad budget paid directly to the platforms.

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80 → 47into training → stayed on ~$54cost per interview $5.53best cost per lead

Numbers from this very case. You work with me directly — no agency markup.

Maksim Vorobiov
Maksim VorobiovPerformance marketer, founder of akitalab. I personally run every project — from the session to the Monday report.
How it works

How it works in plain words

A fast and cheap start

Instead of guessing for months which ad will work, in a few weeks of tests we find the working options and switch off whatever doesn't bring candidates.

A site instead of "applying blind"

The candidate first lands on the site, reads the terms — and only then leaves their contact.

The hottest candidates from search

Some people are job-hunting right now — they type "office job, Kyiv" into search and land on your site.

Ads that learn from your own candidates

This is the main advantage.

Who this fits

Who this system fits

  • Office or high-volume hiring — from a few new people a month.
  • An overheated niche where job boards mostly deliver a "junk" flow.
  • An ad budget from $1000/mo — the minimum for training the algorithm.
  • A willingness to keep CRM statuses (5 minutes a day for HR) — the system learns from them.
  • You need a predictable flow, not one-off spikes of "feast or famine".

Who this does NOT fit:

  • You need one person, one time — the system won't have time to pay off; it's cheaper to fill the vacancy manually or through referrals.
  • No CRM and no willingness to mark candidate statuses — without that feedback the algorithm doesn't learn, and the system loses its main advantage.

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FAQ

Frequently asked about hiring through ads

Where do you find staff when Work.ua, robota.ua, and OLX don't deliver?

Instead of job boards alone — performance advertising: Meta Ads, Google Ads, and a landing page with a quality feedback loop from the CRM. For example: in this case that system delivered 80 candidates into training and 47 who stayed on over six months, at a cost per interview of ~$54. Why it works this way: in overheated niches job boards produce a flow of "junk" contacts, while ads with a CRM loop learn to bring exactly the people who reach the interview and show up for work.

How much does one hired employee cost through advertising?

660 leads → 166 interviews → 80 in training → 47 retained. In this case — about $191 of ad budget per person who stayed on and is working, and ~$113 per candidate who started training (the interview itself — ~$54). For example: over the whole period about $9000 went to advertising on a budget of $1000–2000/mo. Why it works this way: the cost of a real employee gradually drops — the algorithm learns from CRM statuses and steers the budget toward people who show up for work, not "clickers".

What ad budget do you need to launch this kind of hiring?

The minimum is from $1000/mo on advertising, so the algorithm has something to learn from; in this case we ran on $1000–2000/mo. For example: ~$1000/mo was enough at the start, then the budget scaled with the flow of candidates. Why it works this way: too small a budget doesn't gather enough conversions to train on, and the system doesn't get the chance to lower the cost of a real candidate.