"Should we use a headhunter or a recruitment agency?" It's one of the most common hiring questions — and the answer genuinely depends on the role. The two dominant models, retained executive search and contingency recruitment, are built for different jobs. Here's how they differ and how to choose.
| Retained executive search | Contingency recruitment | |
|---|---|---|
| How it's paid | Upfront commitment, regardless of outcome | Only if a candidate is placed |
| Exclusivity | One firm, exclusive | Often several agencies at once |
| Candidates | Whole market, incl. passive leaders | Mainly active job-seekers |
| Priority | Quality & fit | Speed & fill rate |
| Accountability | Full ownership of the search | Diffused across agencies |
| Best for | Senior, specialised, business-critical roles | Volume or less specialised roles |
Contingency recruitment, explained
In a contingency model, an agency is paid only when it successfully places a candidate. There's no upfront fee, and you'll often brief several agencies on the same role at once. Because they're paid on placement, contingency firms are optimised for speed and lean toward candidates who are actively looking. That's efficient for roles with a healthy active pool — but non-exclusivity has a downside: responsibility is diffused, no single firm commits deep research, and you tend to see only the people who happen to be job-hunting right now.
Retained executive search, explained
In a retained model, you engage one firm exclusively with an upfront commitment. In exchange, the firm dedicates serious research to mapping the entire market — including the passive leaders who aren't answering ads (and who tend to have lower turnover). It assesses candidates rigorously, manages the process discreetly, and is accountable for the result. Retained search trades a little speed for a lot of quality — which is exactly the trade you want on your most important roles.
How to choose
The deciding question is simple: how expensive is it to get this hire wrong?
- Choose retained when the role is senior, specialised or business-critical — board, C-suite, Country Head, a first key leadership hire — and the best candidates are unlikely to be actively applying. (See the real cost of a bad executive hire.)
- Choose contingency for volume hiring or less specialised roles where speed matters and there's a strong active pool.
- Scaling fast across many roles? Neither may be ideal — an embedded RPO partnership is often the most cost-effective way to run high-volume hiring.
The Latinum approach
For leadership mandates, Latinum HR works on a focused, retained-quality basis — exclusive, research-led and accountable — because that's what senior hires demand. For high-volume scaling we offer embedded RPO. And we'll tell you honestly which one your role actually needs. Explore our executive search practice or start a conversation.
References & further reading
- Model definitions reflect standard executive-search and recruitment industry practice (retained vs contingency), as described across search-firm literature.
- Latinum HR: Executive search & leadership recruitment · The cost of a bad executive hire · Startup RPO & scaled hiring.