What most people don’t realize is that there are two different types of recruiters/headhunters out there. Recruiters work on either a Retained or a Contingency basis.

​

A retained recruitment assignment doesn’t come cheap; the client will expect to pay up to 50% of the projected first annual salary of the successful candidate. Companies will request a retained search when they are looking to fill a senior position and sometimes when all other cheaper search options have been exhausted.