Executive Search & Retained Search Services
Choose Your Executive Search Type
Retained Search
Includes a dedicated recruiting project team with superior executive search expertise to represent your organization and attract senior-level passive candidates.
Contained Search
The superior performance of retained executive search, but with the urgency, upfront cost efficiency, and payment structure that is competitive with Contingent Search.
Contingent Search
Designed for lower-level to mid-level searches when they would like to work with multiple recruiting firms on their searches.
Retained Executive Search
Retained Search is reserved as a higher- level service which includes a dedicated recruiting project team with superior expertise to represent your organization and attract senior level passive candidates.
Clients who are looking to fill senior level vacancies and confidential replacement searches generally prefer retained search.
The standard fee in Retained Search is based on the total annual expected compensation for the position and payments are billable in 3 installments:
- The first payment is to initiate the search
- Once two candidates have completed their first interviews
- Final payment upon the candidate signing the offer letter.
Benefits of Retained Search
1. Higher Level Priority
The upfront structure of retained search ensures that the placement takes higher priority than commission-based placements.
2. Lower Risk of Bad Hires
The focus of a retained search is quality. You’ll often be working with the best of the best recruiters with a high success rate. When it’s crucial to get the right candidate for a high-stakes role, retained search offers a lower risk of a bad hire, and thus a higher certainty and comfort level.
3. The Best, Not The Fastest
When there’s not a race to complete the search, more time can be taken to ensure the very best and most qualified candidate is found — greatly benefiting the company in the long-run.
4. Finding Rare Skill Sets
A retained search opens up potential candidates who are already employed, meaning they’re able to expand their search to a wider range of individuals — increasing the chances of finding the person with the exact, unique skill sets needed for the niche role.
5. More Proactivity
As mentioned above, the retained search takes a more proactive approach, considering those who aren’t actively seeking a new role. This enables a much wider selection than just those who are in a database, answered ads, or shown interest themselves.
6. Access to Resources You Don't Have Otherwise
Simply put, most companies don’t have the time and resources needed to find the best high-level candidate themselves. Utilizing a retained search firm can actually save time and money because the process will probably take less time than trying to do it internally.
7. More Customized
Retained search enables a more customized search for roles that are often very unique. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather the recruiter takes more time to gain a thorough understanding of what the ideal candidate possesses.
8. Most Vetted Candidates
With retained search, you can have confidence knowing your candidates have been fully vetted — from more strenuous background checks, reference checks, and so on, you can know only the most genuinely-qualified candidates, both skill-wise and culturally, will be presented.
9. More Feedback & Real-Time Updates
Retained search recruiters will provide you with more helpful information throughout the process, including market intelligence, competition, timelines, and so on.
10. Multiple Options So The Best Can Be Chosen
Versus providing only one potential candidate to fill the role, most retained search agencies will present a handful of highly-qualified candidates who fit skill, culture and salary requirements, so that truly the best fit can be chosen.
Contained Search
The standard fee in Contained Search is based on the total annual expected compensation for the position and comes with a Full Replacement Guarantee and payments are billable in 2 installments:
- The first payment is a deposit to initiate the search
- The final remaining balance payment is billable upon the candidate’s start date.
The Contained search is an excellent model for critical hiring needs at that need to be fulfilled by a defined date. We suggest this model for clients who have hiring vacancies that must be completed within a 6–8-week window as we put a great sense of urgency towards the search.
Contingent Search
The standard fee in Contingent Search is based on the total annual expected compensation for the position and comes with a Full Replacement Guarantee and payment is in one installment for the full search fee amount, billable on the candidate’s start date.
If you are interested in IT and Engineering staffing and solutions, please connect with our sister organization Aquinas Consulting to learn more.