Every bad hire costs
*Average cost based on US SBA, SHRM, and Department of Labor data.
It's not just you.
74% of employers admit to making a bad hire. Most small businesses don't have a system — they rely on gut feeling, rushed interviews, and hope.
- No structured interview process
- No way to evaluate culture fit
- No system to vet references
The problem is getting worse.
US employee turnover costs have tripled since 2010 — and they're still climbing.
Stop the cycle.
Find out what bad hires are actually costing your business — in 60 seconds.
- 3 questions, personalized result
- Sourced from SHRM & Dept. of Labor data
- Takes 60 seconds
Trusted by 50,000+ businesses
What is one bad hire actually costing you?
Most business owners dramatically underestimate the true cost. It's not just the salary — it's the recruiting, the empty seat, and the damage to your team and clients.
of new hires fail within 18 months
— Leadership IQ, 5,247 hiring managers
of those failures are attitude, not skills
— Leadership IQ
of employers admit to making bad hires
— CareerBuilder / TALN Cloud
Bad Hire Cost Calculator
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What's the annual salary for this role?
- 25+ years of hiring expertise
- 50,000+ business owners trained
- Bestselling author
- Trusted by Fortune 500 & local businesses alike
David Lee Jensen
For 25 years, David Lee Jensen has been the person business owners call when they're tired of making bad hires. His clients range from local franchises to Fortune 500 companies — and he's trained over 50,000 business owners to hire right.
His book The Naked Interview: Hiring Without Regret distilled decades of real-world hiring into a system anyone can follow. The Hiring Academy takes that system further — 10 phases, battle-tested across thousands of hires, built specifically for owners who don't have an HR department.
The people you choose will change the trajectory of your business — and your life.
— David Lee Jensen
They stopped guessing.
50,000+ business owners have used this system to take the risk out of hiring. Here's what changed for them.
"Productivity has increased. Morale has increased. And yes, profits have begun to follow."
Ted Z.
Franchisee, McDonald's · New Jersey
"It's crystal clear on evaluating what area you are hiring for. My managers will benefit greatly."
Todd W.
Jamba Juice · Utah
"Our hires have stuck too! Retention of great people is invaluable."
Dr. Steve S.
Chiropractor · California
"Takes the guesswork and finger-crossing out of the equation."
Eric B.
CEO, Telecom · California
"It's like having a good friend who really cares about your business, sharing their years of experience."
Chuck W.
Investment Banker · California
"ONE bad hire can cause YEARS of misery! Finally, sane solutions."
James W.
Entrepreneur · Arizona
25 years of hiring mistakes — distilled into 10 truths.
The Naked Interview is the foundation The Hiring Academy is built on. It lays out a 10-phase hiring sequence — from questioning whether you need the hire at all, to phone screens that expose what resumes hide, to the second interview where the real personality shows up. Written for the owner who is the HR department.
"If you learn to see people for who they really are — not who they present themselves as — you will never make a bad hire again."
4 courses. 1 system. 0 bad hires.
01 Hiring Fundamentals
Build the foundation — the 10 truths every business owner needs to understand before posting a single job ad.
02 Pre-Interview Essentials
Attract the right candidates and filter out the wrong ones before you ever sit down across from them.
03 Interviewing Mastery
A repeatable process that reveals who people really are — not who they pretend to be.
04 Post-Interview Process
From the final offer to their first week on the job — how to close the right person and keep them long-term.
Plus the tools to implement it.
32-Page Workbook
Exercises, drills, and frameworks — not theory, real tools you use this week.
100+ Interview Questions
Categorized by role, level, and what each question reveals about the candidate.
Checklists & Scripts
Phone screen scripts, reference check templates, and scoring rubrics — ready to use.
2 LIVE Workshop Tickets
$500 ValueLive training with David — ask questions, get coaching, meet other graduates.
The cost of one bad hire
$17,000
That's the average cost of one wrong hire. The system that prevents it costs less than 6% of that mistake.
One payment. Lifetime access. 23 lessons, 48 exercises, and every bonus above.
17x
return on a single good hire
50,000+
business owners trained
93%
report better hires immediately
Don't take our word for it
Some of the biggest names in business have worked with David — and they don't hold back.
"This dude has codified the perfect interview."
Grant Cardone
10X Rule · Billionaire
"David Lee Jensen is absolutely The Hiring Guru."
Arianna Huffington
Huffington Post
"Hiring sucks. David shares some pretty smart stuff."
Joe Polish
Genius Network
"David's written an incredible book you should read."
Steve D. Sims
Real Life Wizard of Oz