The Contingency Search

The contingency search is perhaps the most commonly used. Payment of the fee by a client to a search firm is "contingent" on the client’s hiring a candidate presented by a search firm. Here, a client may contact one or all of the search firms with which it works on a regular basis and ask them to assist in filling positions. When contingency searches are used depends upon the goals of the client. Contingency searches are used by most firms for positions in which they don't have problems attracting candidates through a variety of sources.

Benefits of a Contingency Search:

A contingency search is most effective when there is a large pool of candidates available in the marketplace. One of the most attractive features of the contingency search is that a client can receive a large volume of resumes from a variety of sources and a correspondingly higher number of potential candidates.

Drawbacks of a Contingency Search:

Unfortunately, contingency searches tend to render job descriptions that are less defined. Thus, the client will often receive an overabundance of candidates that may not be reflective what they are actually looking for. Because a contingency search is less focused than one that is exclusive, it often results in a lack of effective and focused screening and the jobs are usually not as clearly defined and profiled. The result is that it usually takes the firm longer to find the right candidate. A successful outcome in a contingency search is much more beyond the control of the recruiter than it is in an exclusive search. The overwhelming volume of resumes a client can receive requires an enormous effort on the part of the client’s recruiting department to screen and manage those resumes. More significant are the facts that many qualified candidates (and perhaps those a client would really want to target, who are not necessarily looking) may not even come across the desk of the recruiter and the attractive candidates that are being presented are most likely also being sent to other clients competing for the same candidates. Although certainly effective for some types of searches, one could argue based on these drawbacks that the contingency search leaves much to be desired. Thus, a client may opt to engage a search firm's services in an exclusive manner.

A client may seek to engage the services of a search firm for a specified period of time, within which the search firm will have the exclusive rights to fill the position. This is most often referred to as an exclusive search arrangement. Under this arrangement, the client agrees to allow the search firm exclusive rights to the position for a set period of time and does not give any other search firm the right to fill the position during that time. Generally, in exchange for the exclusive right to fill the position, the search firm will agree to give the client exclusive rights to the candidates they present to the firm during the exclusivity period. Exclusive arrangements can run for varied periods of time and are generally negotiable. Firms may, in fact, have identified candidates already that they would like a search firm to contact on their behalf. Alternatively, firms may ask the search firm to identify viable candidates based on the criteria they give them and contact them to determine their interest. Unlike most contingency searches, the qualifications of the candidates, the goals of the client, and their overall objectives for hiring are carefully outlined and discussed here.

Key to the success of exclusive searches is the client’s willingness to supply helpful information to the search firm and set up meetings between the search consultant and any direct hiring authorities involved in the interview stage.

The client must also be open to addressing any obstacles the search consultant brings to the client’s attention during the search process, as well as any perceptions about the client that may be present in the marketplace that could impede the search firm's progress. Perhaps most important, the client must be realistic about its ability to attract and compensate candidates it intends to target.

Benefits of an exclusive search:

Exclusive searches are very specialized because the pool of identifiable candidates is often smaller. Therefore, candidates often get the sense that they are one of only a few being targeted by a search firm. Here, search consultants are tapping into already-established relationships and will be able to provide candidates who are ready to make a move. Because the search consultant is retained by the client on an exclusive basis, the search shifts focus directly on the client as opposed to having the focus on each individual candidate. The search firm gains a better sense of position, job specifications, and the client generally through extensive discussions with the client’s recruiting professionals as well as operations management. There is a real burden on the search firm to deliver, as its client’s success on the search rests in its hands. Also, because the search firm is very motivated due to the high probability of revenue, the search firm will place the client in a priority position, often devoting exclusive recruitment resources to that client for the entire length of exclusivity. This usually results in very dramatic results compared to a contingency search. There are other benefits that a client receives by engaging a search firm in an exclusive search. They include:

• A completely client-driven focus

• Exclusivity to candidates (all candidates are solely the client’s for the duration of the search process)

• Assistance from the search firm in creating a candidate profile

• Competitive information remains confidential

• Candidates are screened against the client’s specifications

• The client has the ability to maintain anonymity throughout the screening process

• Written references and covert references are provided by the search firm, if requested

• The client can completely define the search to target candidates with specialized skills

• The search firm conducts original research on behalf of the client, targeting candidates based on a pre-established profile

Drawbacks of an exclusive search

There is a primary perceived drawback to the exclusive search. Namely, that the idea of allowing one search firm to have the exclusive rights to a particular search can lead a client to believe that it is narrowing the field of potential candidates. This fear will be alleviated when the client recognizes the necessity and advantage of having one reputable and focused professional in the marketplace representing its best interest.

Perhaps less obvious is the more obscure drawback that involves a client’s ability to attract the types of candidates they wish to target. In an exclusive search, it is paramount that the search firm be able to represent tangible benefits of working for the client. If a client does not have the ability to provide what is missing in a candidate’s career, compensation package, or otherwise, then the search consultant may be spinning his/her wheels. A client must accurately define what it is looking for and assess whether it can, in fact, realistically live up to the claims it will be making to potential candidates.