What is the difference between retained and contingency search?
• Simply, our retained searches are conducted on behalf of our customers for a flat fee, one month billed in advance and the remainder invoiced monthly over the life of the engagement. • Typically, the first month of the engagement is devoted to candidate pipeline development and initial qualification of prospects. • When candidates are hired, we invoice a reduced placement bonus (i.e., a lesser fee than contingency recruiters would charge). • Contingency searches are those in which the recruiter is paid only upon acceptance of a candidate by the client. In other words, payment is contingent upon placement of a candidate, and no other fee is paid. Contingency engagements are attractive to recruiters because critical positions can carry a very high placement fee; 25% of the new hire’s base salary is not uncommon. If the agency happens to have a suitable candidate for a client’s critical position on file, the ratio of reward to effort can be intoxicating. • We accept very few contingency
