Answers
Retained vs contingency search: what's the difference?
Retained search is paid up front in instalments to run one exclusive search, whether or not it succeeds. Contingency search is paid only on a hire, but the firm usually works many roles at once and shares the field with others. The trade-off is focus versus risk. A success-only model aims to give you both.
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Retained search
You pay a retainer to start and further instalments at milestones, regardless of outcome. In return you get exclusivity and dedicated effort, typically for the most senior or sensitive roles. The risk sits with you: you've paid before anyone is hired.
Contingency search
You pay only when a candidate is placed, so the risk sits with the firm. But that firm is usually running several searches at once and may share the role with rival recruiters. Speed and volume can win over depth, which suits more replaceable roles.
The success-only alternative
The Quantum Club runs each mandate exclusively, with a dedicated strategist and success-only pricing (25%, no retainer), backed by a guarantee set out in your agreement: the focus of retained search with the risk profile of contingency. Every mandate is the club's alone, and the vast majority are never publicly listed.
How the money moves in each
In a retained search the fee is split into instalments that the contract ties to stages, for example the start of the search, the delivery of a shortlist and the placement, and they are owed whether or not anyone is hired. What happens to them if the company cancels or pauses the search is a contract question worth reading before signing. In contingency search nothing is paid until a candidate the firm put forward is hired. In a success-only exclusive model the same is true, but one firm works the mandate alone. The models differ less in price than in timing: when the money moves, and who holds the risk while it waits.
What each model rewards
Every fee structure rewards something. Contingency rewards speed to a hire: when several agencies share a role, only the one that places a candidate is paid. Retained pays for the search itself, which buys exclusivity and depth but leaves the company paying for an outcome it may not get. In Harvard Business Review in 2021, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Gregory Nagel and Carrie Green went further, calling the contingency arrangement and the percentage fee two perverse incentives: paid only on a hire, and in proportion to the hire's pay, many consultants oversell high-priced outsiders and shoot down internal alternatives, consciously or not. Their remedy is a fixed fee plus a retainer, which they note makes financial sense only for a company that will use the consultant for enough work to justify the cost.
Questions that matter more than the label
Whichever model a firm uses, ask the same things. Will it work the role exclusively, or alongside other firms? Who will do the research and make the calls? What is the fee applied to, base salary alone or bonus too, and when does each part fall due? What happens if the search is cancelled, or the hire leaves early? How long does the firm's claim on a candidate it introduced last? And will it set your internal candidates honestly against the outside market? The answers say more about the search you will get than the word on the contract does.
At a glance
| The Quantum Club | Contingency recruitment | |
|---|---|---|
| Fee trigger | A signed hire | A signed hire |
| Exclusivity | One club, working the mandate properly | Often several agencies racing the same role |
| Incentive | Fit that holds — a guarantee sits behind it | Speed to submit, to beat the other agencies |
| Candidate reach | Passive, off-market, introduced | Largely active and already looking |
| Guarantee | Replacement or full credit, per your agreement | Varies widely by agency |
Frequently asked
Which is better, retained or contingency?
It depends on the role. Retained suits highly confidential or scarce senior seats; contingency suits more replaceable roles where speed matters. A success-only exclusive model aims to combine the strengths of both.
Is No Cure, No Pay the same as contingency?
Similar in that you pay only on a hire, but The Quantum Club's version is exclusive per mandate, strategist-led, and backed by a guarantee set out in your agreement, closer to retained rigour with contingency's risk profile.
Can one role be given to several contingency firms?
Often, yes. That can mean less depth per firm and a scramble to submit CVs. An exclusive mandate avoids that: one firm, fully accountable.
Can a retained search be cancelled?
Yes, but read the cancellation clause before you sign. Retained fees are paid in stages, so what is owed on cancellation depends on how far the search has gone and how the contract is written. Under a success-only model the question does not arise: a search that ends without a hire costs nothing.
Why do executive search firms ask for exclusivity?
Because a search works only if one firm owns it. The AESC, the executive search profession's standards body, says its members hold an exclusive agreement with the client for each assignment, so a candidate is not approached about the same role by several firms, and it tells candidates to ask any consultant who calls whether they hold one. For the company, exclusivity buys a single accountable firm and a search the market does not hear about twice.
Sources
- AESC: Retained Executive Search vs Contingency: What's the Difference? (2024) (opens in a new tab)
- Robert Half Australia: What to expect from a retained executive search partnership (2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Robert Half Japan: What is a recruitment agency? How it works, fees, and the hiring process (2025) (opens in a new tab)
- Harvard Business Review: The High Cost of Poor Succession Planning (2021) (opens in a new tab)
- AESC: Candidate Bill of Rights (opens in a new tab)
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