Comparing Key Differences, Benefits, and Best Use Cases for Each Approach

Retained recruiting and contingent recruiting are two different types of recruitment services that companies can use to find and hire new employees. Here is a breakdown of the two.

Retained Recruiting

In retained recruiting, a company hires a recruitment firm to find a candidate for a specific role. The recruitment firm is paid a fee upfront, and they work exclusively on filling that particular role. The recruitment firm is responsible for managing the entire recruitment process, including advertising the job, sourcing and screening candidates, and presenting a shortlist of qualified candidates to the company. This type of recruitment is typically used for executive-level positions or specialized roles that are difficult to fill.

Benefits of Retained Recruiting

Dedicated focus: The recruitment firm has a dedicated focus on filling a specific role, which can result in a more thorough and targeted search.

Access to top talent: The recruitment firm may have access to a broader network of candidates, including passive job seekers who may not be actively looking for a new job.

High-quality candidates: The recruitment firm has the time and resources to thoroughly vet candidates, resulting in a shortlist of high-quality candidates.

Priority attention: The recruitment firm gives priority attention to the client, ensuring that their needs are met in a timely and efficient manner.

Contingent Recruiting

In contingent recruiting, a company engages a recruitment firm to find candidates for a specific role, but the recruitment firm is only paid if they successfully place a candidate. The recruitment firm typically works on multiple job openings for different clients and has a large pool of potential candidates to choose from.

Benefits of Contingent Recruiting

Lower upfront cost: The company only pays a fee if the recruitment firm successfully places a candidate, making it a lower upfront cost than retained recruiting.

Flexibility: The company can engage multiple recruitment firms to work on the same job opening, giving them a wider pool of potential candidates to choose from.

Speed: The recruitment firm has a large pool of potential candidates to choose from, allowing them to fill job openings quickly.

In summary, retained recruiting is best for specialized or executive-level roles or any specialized search, where a targeted search is needed, while contingent recruiting is best for more general job openings, where speed and flexibility are key.