Contingency vs retained search

Contingency

You pay when you hire. The recruiter carries the cost of a search that fails. That is how we work.

The tradeoff is that you should expect recruiters to work several searches at once, so pick one that tells you plainly where your seat stands.

Retained

You pay in stages, starting before a hire is made. Retained firms usually promise exclusivity and a dedicated team. It can suit very senior or confidential searches, and it costs money even if the search fails.

How to choose

Ask what you are paying for and what happens if no one is hired.

• Is the seat urgent or can it wait?
• Do you want to share risk or move it to the recruiter?
• How confidential must it be?
• How hard is the profile to find?

Our view

For most finance and accounting roles at private and PE-backed companies, contingency is enough, as long as the recruiter does real research and qualifies every candidate. We won’t waste your time with candidates that don’t make sense. We don’t cut corners.

What should you send or read next?

The useful distinction is the arrangement you are buying, not a judgment about the people doing the work. Contingency placement connects payment with a hire under the signed terms. A retained assignment involves an agreed search service and payment arrangement that is not simply the same placement model. Read the contract rather than applying a label to decide what is included.

For a defined permanent opening, ask which responsibilities the recruiter will take on. Direct outreach and qualification can be part of a specialist contingency search. A broader retained engagement can involve a different assignment scope. Neither label by itself tells you how a particular firm will assess candidates or communicate with the employer.

Discuss confidentiality and employer participation separately from the fee model. You still need to agree who approves the brief and how interview decisions are made. A confidential replacement also needs disclosure boundaries regardless of the commercial arrangement. These are operating questions, not reasons to assume one model always fits.

Financial Headhunters uses permanent contingency as its default. Other agreed terms must be set in writing. This page does not quote another firm's fees or claim that its work is better or worse. Use the model comparison for a wider discussion of staffing, process outsourcing and hiring in house, then ask about the arrangement for your actual opening.

Which related hiring decisions are worth comparing?

• Finance executive search
• Permanent placement on contingency