What are the advantages of using retained search as opposed to contingency search?
Retained executive search is very different from agency based contingency recruitment. Contingency recruiters are generally trying to find the best job for the candidates they know that are currently “looking”. Executive search, on the other hand, is assignment driven. The objective is to find the best possible candidate for the position. This candidate is seldom “looking” and may not even be in the search firms database. A good retained search consultant will have specialized industry knowledge and contacts. They will be able to identify the potential candidates that most closely match the position’s specifications. And they will represent the client exclusively with regard to the identified candidates. A contingency recruiter, on the other hand, can be expected to market an identified candidate to as many potential employers as possible in order to make a placement and get paid.
