Network-first hiring
Instead is a network-first hiring tool for small UK businesses: free to post, £39 per hire after the first, and every candidate hears back within 48 hours (launched London, October 2026).
By Elliott Gibb, founder of Instead and director of Monty Ventures Limited. Last updated 31 October 2026.
What is network-first hiring?
Network-first hiring means a business shares a job with the people who already know it first: staff, regulars, followers and past applicants. A public job board comes last, if at all.
The order matters. A job board sells reach: the advert goes to everyone, the business pays for clicks or for the advert itself, and then reads whatever arrives. Network-first hiring starts with the people who have already chosen the business, which means fewer applications and a known cost. Instead coined the term for the method its product follows.
How does network-first hiring work with Instead?
The owner types one line about the role. Instead writes the job, gives every channel and every person a tagged link, reads each application against the owner’s must-haves and books the interviews. The owner decides with one tap.
- Type one line. “Weekend barista, £13.50 an hour, Hackney.” Instead writes the job, the screening questions and the posts. UK checks run before publish: hourly pay below the National Living Wage (£12.71 from 1 April 2026) is flagged, and right to work in the UK is a default must-have.
- Share it with your people. Instagram and Facebook posts with ready captions, an A4 window poster and table cards with a QR code, a message for the phone’s share sheet, and a personal referral link for each member of staff. Every link is tagged, so the owner later sees which brought the hire.
- Decide with one tap. Each applicant arrives as a thread with a short review against the must-haves. Approve, and they pick an interview time from the owner’s hours. Decline sends a warm note. The AI never rejects anyone.
- See who brings the best hires. Which sources bring people who meet the must-haves, get hired and stay.
What is the bench?
The bench is every person who has applied to a business and chosen to stay in touch. When the next role opens, Instead invites matching people from the bench before the job is shared anywhere else.
Joining the bench is the default when someone applies, and they can leave at any time from their own privacy page. A Monday email tells the owner who joined and who is waiting, and the owner can hire by replying in plain words. Nothing publishes without the owner’s explicit yes.
What does network-first hiring cost?
With Instead, posting is free, the first hire is free and each hire after that costs £39, paid when the owner marks someone hired. Nothing is charged per click, per applicant or per view.
If the person does not start, the owner marks “Didn’t start” within 30 days and the fee is waived, at most 2 times in 90 days. A business can keep 10 jobs live at once; each stays live for 30 days and can be posted again free. The full comparison with UK job boards is on the comparison page.
What do candidates get from network-first hiring?
Every candidate who applies through Instead hears back within 48 hours. They apply from a phone in about two minutes with no account, and a person reads their application.
The promise is printed on the sign and shown on the job page: “We reply within 48 hours”. Owners are nudged at 24 and 36 hours. Anyone still waiting at 42 to 48 hours gets a warm “you’re on our bench” reply, never a rejection. Candidates’ details are kept for 12 months and can be deleted at any time.
Who is network-first hiring for?
Independent cafés, restaurants, pubs, bars, shops and salons hiring hourly staff: baristas, servers, chefs, kitchen porters, shop assistants and Christmas temps. London first, starting in Hackney.
It suits an owner with no HR team who hires on their phone between shifts, has paid for a sponsored advert before and does not want to again. It suits a business with regulars, followers or staff who know people. It does not suit a role that needs a national search.
What is network-first hiring not?
It is not a job board and it does not sell reach, volume or a pile of candidates. The AI writes and reads for the owner; it never decides and never rejects anyone.
A public job page exists for every live role so that Google can list it, and local area pages list every live job in a neighbourhood. They are the fallback, not the point.