Organize Your Contingency and Retained Recruitment Process

Is your HR team having a hard time recruiting for vacant positions in your company? Then it’s time to try out other recruitment processes, such as using a recruiter. 

Job recruiters comb through many resumes or directly reach out to possible candidates who meet your company's standards and fit the job description. Before working with one, you need to be sure that you’re selecting a trusted recruiter when you have job openings. 

There are two types of recruitment: contingency recruitment and retained recruitment. 

What Is Contingent Recruitment?

Also referred to as the No Win, No Fee recruitment, contingency recruitment is a staffing process you might use when you need candidates immediately. Contingency recruiters look for candidates willing to apply for the job you are offering without getting an upfront fee. In this option, the recruiters would only get their commission pay once you hire their suggested candidates. That being the case, they get as many candidates as possible without filtering and separating the common from the best.

When you choose the contingency recruitment process, there will be many resumes and cover letters on your desk. You need to scan through the papers to know the applicants that have the best potential to be a part of your company. 

Once you have chosen candidates and hired them, you need to observe their performance. When they do not perform well, you can terminate them. You can also refund the payment you have given to the recruiters. 

HR teams opt for contingency recruitment for lower position jobs, like secretaries and assistants. 

What Is Retained Recruitment?

Retained recruitment is an exclusive recruitment process. You have to pay retained recruiters to look for the best candidates for the position you are offering. The recruiters will filter the applicants with the qualifications they presented according to the instructions you will provide. They go along with the demands in the contract you presented. Usually, the candidates are down to less than ten.

Retained recruiters meticulously read through the resumes of the applicants and interview them all. The small number of candidates will allow you to select which of them would fit the job well.

HR teams avail of the retained recruitment process for higher position jobs, like executives and CEOs. 

Contingency Recruitment vs. Retained Recruitment

You might still be confused about when to use each recruitment process. Below is a list of the differences between contingency and retained recruitment processes.

1. Process Time

Retained recruitment takes longer to find candidates for the job position. The recruiters use a thorough method to know who among the applicants will qualify the best. 

On the other hand, contingency recruiters aim to get several applicants without much consideration for their qualifications. These recruiters value “quantity over quality” to hand out candidates as soon as possible so that your company can fill the position faster and they can race against the company’s HR.

2. Cost

Contingency recruitment is much cheaper than retained recruitment. You don’t have to pay the recruiters when they don’t have potential candidates to offer your company. You can even ask for a refund once the candidate you've hired fails to do their job.

Retained recruitment is expensive. You need to pay the recruiters before they look for potential applicants. Companies can pay up to 50% of the expected annual salary of the candidate once they’re hired.

3. Exclusivity

Contingency recruitment is not an exclusive recruitment process. You can get as many contingency recruiters as you want as there’s no contract between you and the recruiters. They just want to find an interested job seeker.

On the other hand, retained recruitment is an exclusive recruitment process. You need to have a contract prepared for the recruiters before they find the best candidate for the position in your company.

4. Employment Guarantee

Employment for contingency recruitment is not guaranteed since the applicants are not filtered out based on their qualifications. There are many aspiring candidates, yet you have to go over their profiles one by one to know who has the greatest potential for the position. 

Once you have selected the candidate from the contingency recruiter, you would not know whether the skills they have written in their resume are true because there are no meticulous background checks. As a result, once they start working, you might have trouble with their performance and end up terminating them. 

In contrast, the employment guarantee for retained recruitment is high. The applicants were carefully selected through retained searches. Thus, all the candidates have the potential for the position. They all have skills and knowledge to offer. You just have to choose who’s the best for your company.

Manage Your Recruitment Process Now

It will take a while for you to view the candidates' profiles when you venture into contingency and retained recruitment. You can try out the candidate pipeline feature of Lanteria to store information on the applicants and know who would be your best pick. You can also send interview invitations using Lanteria's great candidate experience feature. These features will give you a convenient recruitment process. Try them out now! Your company can now have the best employee recruitment process you could ever ask for.