Frequently Asked Questions
Learn more about Cutshort and how it works.
Popular tags
General
Cutshort is a hiring platform for technology companies in India, founded in 2015. Every 3rd premium engineer in India is on Cutshort. Companies post roles and get a priority shortlist of candidates who actually fit — so they spend less time filtering and more time interviewing. The platform covers tech and tech-adjacent roles: software engineering, data science, DevOps, product management, UX/design, customer success, tech sales, GTM, HR/TA, and marketing. For professionals, Cutshort is a way to get discovered by quality companies that are actively hiring, with higher response rates than mainstream job boards.
Cutshort works for tech and tech-adjacent hiring across experience levels — typically 1 to 12+ years. This includes software engineering (frontend, backend, full-stack, mobile, DevOps, QA), data science and analytics, product management, UX/UI design, customer success, tech support, tech sales, GTM, HR/TA, and marketing. Engineering is the strongest use case, but many companies also hire for business functions through the platform.
For companies: post a role, and Cutshort's AI generates a priority shortlist of candidates who fit — typically within 60 minutes. 70% of the priority list ends up getting interviewed, which means far less time wasted on irrelevant screening. Teams can hire self-serve (unlimited postings, no seat limits, starting ₹10,000/month) or have Cutshort's team handle everything end-to-end. For professionals: create a profile and get matched with companies based on role fit, not just keywords. The platform is free for job seekers, and because matching is relevance-first, response rates tend to be significantly higher than on volume-based job boards.
No. Cutshort is a hiring platform — it helps you find and shortlist candidates who fit your roles. It is not an applicant tracking system. However, it integrates with popular ATS platforms including Lever, Greenhouse, Workable, Zoho Recruit, Keka, and PyjamaHR — with more available on request. This means your team can continue using their existing ATS workflow while sourcing candidates through Cutshort.
Cutshort's AI was shaped by real recruiting experience. Before building the framework, the team closed 300+ roles across different salary bands and role complexities. The AI helps evaluate role fit across skills, experience trajectory, role context, and company stage to surface a shortlist teams can act on. Final hiring decisions stay with humans.
Yes. Cutshort is built to reduce spam and irrelevant outreach — for both candidates and employers. Employers on the platform are verified, and candidates control their profile visibility, discoverability, and communication preferences from their account settings. Relevance-based matching means candidates hear from companies where there is genuine role fit, not mass InMails. Candidates can also pause or deactivate their profile at any time without losing their data.
For employers
Naukri and LinkedIn give you a large applicant pool and leave the filtering to you. Cutshort works differently: you get a priority shortlist of candidates who fit your role, typically within 60 minutes of posting. 70% of the priority list ends up getting interviewed — meaning far less time wasted on irrelevant screening. Pricing is also fundamentally different: Cutshort's Freedom Plan gives you unlimited job postings, unlimited candidate unlocks, and no seat limits at a flat monthly price (starting ₹10,000/month) — instead of charging per resume download, per seat, or per job slot.
Traditional agencies charge 15–25% of CTC, quality is inconsistent, and you have limited visibility into the sourcing process. Cutshort gives you two better options: self-serve (you control the process, pay a flat monthly fee with no per-hire charges) or assisted (Cutshort's team handles sourcing end-to-end at 8.33% of CTC — roughly half to a third of typical agency fees). In both models, you get full visibility into your pipeline, direct access to candidates, and a shortlist where 70% of candidates typically make it to interviews.
It depends on your hiring mix. If your hiring is primarily tech and tech-adjacent roles, many teams find Cutshort delivers better results at a lower cost — relevance-first shortlists instead of bulk database access. If you hire across a very wide range of non-tech functions or at very high volumes (50+ roles simultaneously across many categories), you may still want Naukri for breadth. Many teams use both: Naukri for volume-driven roles and Cutshort where shortlist quality, speed, and conversion matter most.
Many teams do exactly this. LinkedIn and Naukri are strong for reach and volume. Cutshort complements them as a high-relevance channel — where shortlist quality is higher, response rates are better, and the screening burden is lower. Since the Freedom Plan has no per-resume or per-seat charges, adding Cutshort doesn't mean doubling your hiring tool budget. Teams often find that Cutshort closes roles faster for tech hiring, while they continue using LinkedIn/Naukri for broader functions.
Cutshort is a hiring platform for technology companies in India. Post a role, and you get a priority shortlist of candidates who fit — typically within 60 minutes. The platform covers tech and tech-adjacent roles (engineering, data, product, design, customer success, sales, marketing, HR/TA). Every 3rd premium engineer in India is on Cutshort. You can hire self-serve with the Freedom Plan (unlimited postings, unlimited unlocks, no seat limits — starting ₹10,000/month) or let Cutshort's team handle everything end-to-end at 8.33% of CTC.
Over 20,000 companies use Cutshort — from seed-stage startups to large enterprises and GCCs. The common thread is that these teams want better-fit candidates faster, without wading through thousands of irrelevant applications. Many are technology-first companies that have tried Naukri and LinkedIn and want a complementary channel that prioritizes relevance over volume. The Freedom Plan makes it accessible regardless of team size — no per-seat pricing means even a 2-person recruiting team and a 20-person team pay the same.
Yes — startups and growth teams are a core user base. The Freedom Plan is particularly well-suited: no per-seat pricing means your entire team (founders, hiring managers, recruiters) can use the platform without worrying about seat costs scaling with headcount. You get unlimited job postings, so you can post speculatively for roles you are planning without burning a job slot. And the priority shortlist (within 60 minutes, 70% interview rate) means lean teams can hire fast without dedicated sourcing resources. Starting at ₹10,000/month, it's designed to be accessible even for early-stage companies.
You can explore customer stories and hiring outcomes in Cutshort's <a href="https://cutshort.io/resources/case-studies" target="_blank">case studies section</a>. These cover companies across different stages (startups, growth, enterprise) and hiring contexts (engineering, product, design). You can also read about Cutshort's pricing philosophy and why the Freedom Plan exists in the <a href="https://cutshort.io/blog/startup-hiring/introducing-freedom-plan-pay-for-value-not-for-accessing-millions-of-resumes" target="_blank">Freedom Plan blog post</a>.
Cutshort's AI evaluates fit across skills, experience trajectory, company context, role complexity, and seniority — not just keyword overlap. The framework was built by a team that personally closed 300+ roles across different salary bands and complexities before writing the matching logic. The result: 70% of the priority shortlist typically ends up getting interviewed, which means far less time wasted on profiles that look right on paper but don't convert. Every 3rd premium engineer in India is on Cutshort, so the candidate pool itself skews toward higher-quality professionals.
Cutshort covers tech and tech-adjacent hiring across 1–12+ years of experience: frontend, backend, full-stack, and mobile engineering; DevOps and cloud; data science, ML, and analytics; QA; product management; UX/UI design; customer success and tech support; tech sales, GTM, marketing; and HR/TA. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd premium engineer in India is on the platform. With the Freedom Plan, you can post unlimited roles across all these functions at no extra cost.
No. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd premium engineer in India is on Cutshort — but the platform also covers product management, UX/UI design, data science, DevOps, QA, customer success, tech sales, GTM, marketing, and HR/TA. Many companies start with engineering hiring on Cutshort and expand to other functions once they see the shortlist quality and speed.
Very fast. Set up your role — which takes minutes — and you can start receiving your priority shortlist within 60 minutes. There is no lengthy onboarding process or approval queue. If you are on the self-serve Freedom Plan, your whole team can start using the platform immediately (no seat limits). If you choose the assisted model, Cutshort's team can begin sourcing the same day after a brief role briefing.
Typically within 60 minutes of posting your role. Cutshort's AI generates a priority shortlist based on role fit — not just keyword matches — so you start with candidates who are genuinely aligned. 70% of the priority list typically ends up getting interviewed, which means you can move from "role posted" to "interviews scheduled" in a fraction of the time it takes on platforms where you have to manually filter through hundreds of applicants.
Instead of handing you 500 applications to filter, Cutshort generates a priority shortlist of candidates who fit your role. 70% of this shortlist typically ends up getting interviewed — compared to the industry average where recruiters reject 80–90% of applications at the screening stage. This means your team spends most of their time interviewing and closing, not filtering out irrelevant profiles. The AI evaluates fit across skills, experience trajectory, role context, and company stage — so the heavy screening is done before you see the list.
Cutshort offers two ways to hire. Self-serve: use the platform yourself with unlimited job postings, unlimited candidate unlocks, and no seat limits — starting at ₹10,000/month. Assisted: let our team handle sourcing and shortlisting end-to-end at just 8.33% of CTC. Both models are designed to remove the per-resume, per-seat friction that slows hiring on conventional platforms. <a href="https://cutshort.io/blog/startup-hiring/introducing-freedom-plan-pay-for-value-not-for-accessing-millions-of-resumes" target="_blank">Read more about our Freedom plan approach</a>.
Yes. Cutshort offers a free trial so teams can experience the platform — including the priority shortlist, candidate quality, and workflow — before making a commitment. You can post roles, see the kind of candidates Cutshort surfaces, and evaluate the fit for your hiring process. No credit card required to start.
Yes. Cutshort integrates with Lever, Greenhouse, Workable, Zoho Recruit, Keka, and PyjamaHR out of the box, with additional integrations available on request. This means your recruiters can source candidates through Cutshort and push shortlisted profiles directly into your existing ATS workflow — no duplicate data entry, no process change required. ATS integrations are included in both the self-serve Freedom Plan and the assisted model.
Cutshort takes candidate privacy seriously — it's core to maintaining the quality of the talent pool. Candidates control their own profile visibility and can choose whether direct employers, agencies, or both can reach them. Employers access candidate data through the platform's controlled environment, and contact information is shared only when there is mutual engagement. This approach reduces spam and cold outreach, which in turn keeps high-quality candidates active on the platform — a direct benefit for employers.
For candidates
Mainstream boards are built for volume, so applications often disappear in the noise. Cutshort is curated around matching and relevance: you see roles where you are a stronger fit, and employers reach out when there is real intent. That usually means higher response rates than spray-and-apply. Many companies here are also looking for better-quality candidates they struggle to find on conventional platforms—so when you are a good match, you are more likely to get a meaningful reply.
Yes, completely free. There are no subscription fees, no hidden charges, and no premium tiers for candidates. You get full access to job opportunities, matching, and company interactions at no cost. Cutshort's revenue comes from employers who pay for the platform — not from candidates.
Over 20,000 companies use Cutshort — from early-stage startups and growth companies to GCCs and large product organizations. Many of these are technology-first businesses that struggle to find quality candidates on high-volume boards and come to Cutshort specifically because the candidate pool is more curated. You will find funded startups, product companies, and enterprise teams hiring across engineering, product, design, data, and business functions.
LinkedIn is a broad network where hiring is one signal among many. Cutshort is built for hiring: matching and relevance come first, which tends to mean fewer dead-end applications and higher response rates when you are a fit. Employers here are often looking for stronger, role-aligned candidates than they can reliably find through conventional volume-based channels—so outreach is more targeted on both sides.
Naukri optimizes for scale and applicant volume. Cutshort optimizes for fit: curated matching so roles and profiles align before the conversation starts. That is why many candidates see better response rates here—employers are not drowning in irrelevant applications and are actively trying to reach better-quality candidates they cannot easily isolate on high-volume boards.
In practice, yes for many people—because the product is built around relevance, not raw volume. Employers see fewer, better-aligned profiles per role, and candidates are surfaced where fit is stronger. Companies on Cutshort are often trying to hire people they cannot easily filter out on traditional job boards, so they are more motivated to respond when someone is a strong match.
The biggest factor is profile completeness and accuracy. Set clear role preferences (title, experience level, expected salary, work mode), list your skills with honest proficiency levels, and describe your experience in terms of what you built and the impact — not just job titles. Cutshort's AI evaluates fit based on skills, experience trajectory, and role context, so a well-filled profile means you get surfaced for roles where you are genuinely a strong match. That leads to better response rates from employers who are looking for exactly your profile.
It works differently from traditional job boards. You can browse and express interest in roles, but Cutshort also proactively surfaces your profile to employers whose roles match your skills and preferences. When there is a match, employers can reach out directly through the platform. Because the shortlist is relevance-first (not volume-first), employers are reviewing fewer, stronger profiles per role — which means your application or profile gets more genuine attention than it would in a pool of hundreds on a conventional board.
The employer reviews your profile as part of their priority shortlist. If there is a strong fit, they reach out directly through the platform to schedule next steps — typically a call or interview. You can track the status of all your interactions in your Cutshort dashboard. Because Cutshort surfaces fewer, better-aligned candidates per role, employers tend to respond faster and more meaningfully than on high-volume platforms.
Yes. You have full control over your profile visibility from your account settings. You can choose whether your profile is discoverable by employers, control which types of companies can reach you (direct employers vs. recruitment agencies), and manage your communication preferences. If you are not actively looking, you can set your status to passive or deactivate your profile entirely — your data stays safe and you can reactivate anytime.
No — this is one of the core design principles of the platform. Employers on Cutshort are verified, and outreach is driven by relevance-based matching rather than mass messaging. Employers see a priority shortlist of candidates who fit their specific role, so they are reaching out with intent — not blasting messages to thousands of profiles. You also control which types of companies can contact you and can adjust your notification preferences at any time.
Yes. From your account settings you can control email alerts, in-app notifications, push notifications, and the frequency of job recommendations. You can turn off specific notification types without affecting your profile visibility or matching — so you stay discoverable to employers even if you prefer fewer alerts.
Yes. You can set your status to "not looking" or fully deactivate your profile at any time from your account settings. When paused, your profile is not shown to employers and you stop receiving outreach. Your data, connections, and history remain safe — and you can reactivate whenever you are ready to explore again. There is no penalty or waiting period for reactivation.
Cutshort's AI evaluates fit across multiple dimensions — not just keyword overlap. It looks at your skills, experience trajectory, the kind of companies you have worked at, your role preferences (location, salary, work mode), and the hiring context of each role (company stage, team size, urgency). This multi-signal approach means you get matched with roles where you are likely a genuine fit, rather than getting a dump of everything that mentions your tech stack. The AI framework was built by a team that personally closed 300+ roles before writing the matching logic, so it reflects real recruiting judgment — not just text similarity.
Cutshort covers a wide range of tech and tech-adjacent roles across experience levels (typically 1–12+ years): frontend, backend, full-stack, and mobile engineering; DevOps and cloud infrastructure; data science, ML, and analytics; product management; UX/UI design; QA and testing; customer success and tech support; tech sales, GTM, and marketing; and HR/TA. Engineering is the deepest pool — every 3rd premium engineer in India is on Cutshort — but business functions are well-represented too.
No. Cutshort covers roles across experience levels, typically from 1 year to 12+ years. The strongest concentration of opportunities is in the 2–8 year experience band — mid-level and senior roles at startups, product companies, and GCCs. Early-career professionals with relevant skills and project experience can also find roles, especially in engineering, QA, and design.
Yes. Companies on Cutshort post remote, hybrid, and in-office roles. You can set your work mode preference in your profile — remote-only, hybrid, or open to anything — and the matching engine factors this into which roles you are surfaced for. Many tech startups and product companies on the platform actively hire remote talent across India.
Yes. Most roles on Cutshort include salary ranges upfront, so you know what to expect before engaging. Cutshort also offers a free <a href="https://cutshort.io/salary" target="_blank">salary data tool</a> that lets you benchmark compensation for tech roles across experience levels, skills, and locations in India — useful for negotiation and career planning even if you are not actively job hunting.
