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What is retained search?

Executive Search

Retained search is a recruiting model in which a client hires a search firm exclusively and pays a fee that does not depend on a successful hire, usually in milestone installments. It is most common for senior and executive roles. In contingency search, by contrast, the recruiter is paid only when a referred candidate is hired.

How retained search is defined

Statistical classifications draw the line between the two models by how the fee is triggered. Statistics Canada's North American Product Classification System (NAPCS Canada 2017) describes executive or retained search as recruiting and referring candidates for permanent senior-level positions for a client who pays a fee that is not contingent on a successful hire. It lists permanent placement separately, where the client pays a fee when the employee is successfully placed. In both cases, the client selects and hires the candidate.

The US Census Bureau's industry classification, NAICS 561312, covers executive search services for clients with executive and senior management position requirements. The work it describes includes developing a search strategy and position specification, researching, identifying, screening, and interviewing candidates, verifying qualifications, and helping with offer negotiations and the new leader's assimilation. The people placed are not employees of the search firm.

The AESC, an industry association for executive search firms, describes the two models this way:

  • Retained search: The firm is retained by the client on an exclusive basis in an advisory capacity. Fees are generally a retainer plus payments set at specific time frames or milestones.
  • Contingency search: Recruiters generally do not work on an exclusive basis. They typically handle the front end of the process and leave assessment and selection to the client, and they are most often used for mid-level or lower-level roles.

A retained search usually starts with a mandate and a position brief, moves through market mapping and outreach to people who are not looking for a new role, and ends with a longlist, a shortlist, and assessment. AESC says a search can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the role and the available talent. Fees and terms vary by firm and are set in the engagement letter, which AESC says can include guarantees, off-limits commitments, conflicts, and data management.

Why retained search matters for talent teams

  • Choosing the model: Retained search fits roles where the right person is probably employed and not looking. Contingency recruiting tends to focus on candidates who are actively looking, according to AESC.
  • Knowing what you pay for: In retained search, the fee covers the advisory work from the start of the search, not only the placement. Talent teams comparing firms need to know which payments are due before a hire is made.
  • Setting off-limits rules: AESC describes off-limits as the firm's commitment not to recruit a placed candidate later, and sometimes not to recruit members of the team affected by the search for an agreed period.
  • Repeated searches: Findem's post on executive search in private equity and venture capital argues that funds now run executive searches continuously across their portfolios and pay contingency or retained rates every time a search is outsourced.

Findem is not a search firm. Findem Executive Search supports agency search firms and in-house executive hiring teams with market maps built from curated company lists and verified career context, so teams can assess both active and passive talent pools and set search strategy.

The Executive Map agent in Findem Studio turns a search brief into an executive search market map in under an hour. It returns a tiered company list, the leaders who hold the role at each company, source checks, current-versus-former status, fit reasoning against the success profile, and every exclusion explained. Findem says building a map by hand typically takes a research team 7 to 14 days. The search team reviews the map before anyone is approached.

Across a search, Findem Studio agents help firms research the client and size up the market before the pitch, align on what great looks like at kickoff, and find and track candidates while the search is live.

Further reading

Related terms

Sources

Frequently asked questions.

The main difference is how the fee is triggered. In retained search, the client pays a fee that does not depend on a successful hire, usually as a retainer plus milestone payments, and the firm works exclusively on the assignment. In contingency search, the recruiter is paid only if a candidate it referred is hired, and the work is usually not exclusive.

AESC says companies turn to executive search for C-suite and board roles, confidential and cross-border searches, and hard-to-fill or newer leadership roles, where the best candidates are often employed and not looking. It describes contingency recruiting as more common for mid-level or lower-level roles and for candidates who are actively looking.

AESC says fees are generally structured as a retainer plus payments set at specific time frames or milestones. The exact fee, schedule, and terms vary by firm and are set out in the engagement letter, so confirm them before the search starts.

Off-limits is a commitment in the engagement terms. AESC describes it as the firm agreeing not to recruit the placed candidate later, except under agreed conditions, and sometimes not to recruit members of the team affected by the search for a set period.

No. Findem is not a search firm. It supports agency search firms and in-house executive hiring teams with market maps, verified career context, and Findem Studio agents that help with the pitch, kickoff, and live search. The search team reviews every map before anyone is approached.