What each one actually is
Contingency: you pay only if somebody starts. No fee, no risk, no commitment on either side. Several agencies can work the same role at once.
Retained: you pay through the search in stages whether or not it ends in a hire. One firm works the role exclusively and is expected to map the whole market, not just the part that answers adverts.
What the payment model rewards
A contingency recruiter working eight roles will spend today on the two most likely to close. If yours is the hard one, it is not being worked, and nobody will tell you that.
| Contingency | Retained | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid for | A placement | Running a defined process |
| Rewards | Speed, and roles likely to close | Completing a hard mandate |
| Reaches people not looking | Rarely, it is not funded | Yes, that is the product |
| Your brief competes with | Every other role on their desk | Nothing |
| If nobody is hired | You pay nothing | You have paid one or two thirds |
The four questions that decide it
- Could you name ten credible people for this seat yourself? If yes, contingency or a direct hire will probably do.
- Do the right people need approaching rather than advertising to? If yes, only a funded, exclusive process reaches them.
- Is the search confidential? Confidentiality and multiple agencies are incompatible.
- Can you commit to interviewing quickly? A retained process fails without that, and you still pay.
The honest middle
Exclusive contingency exists: one agency, no retainer, paid on placement. You give exclusivity, they give focus. It works when the market is reachable but competitive, and it is under-used because neither side markets it.
A fixed-fee shortlist is the other middle: £999 to run and £2,500 only on a hire, which buys a mapped market without a percentage.
Questions
- Is retained search better than contingency?
- For a senior, confidential or hard-to-fill seat, yes, because only an exclusive funded process reaches people who are not looking. For a visible role in a deep market, contingency gets the same result for less.
- Can I use both at once?
- You can, and it usually backfires. Candidates see the role from two sources, assume it is troubled, and the retained firm loses the exclusivity you paid for.