Retained search is an exclusive, paid-across-the-engagement model for filling a role, typically priced around a third of first-year compensation. Here is what that means in practice, and how it compares to Recruitmint's Full Search.
Retained search is an exclusive engagement: a client commissions one firm to fill a role and pays that firm across the length of the search, not only if someone is ultimately placed. It is reserved for senior, high-impact or hard-to-fill roles, where SHRM's guidance points to a standard fee of about 33 percent of the role's annual salary, bonus and signing bonus.
Key numbers
A client picks one firm and pays it in stages across the search, whether that is an upfront retainer, milestone payments, or a mix of both. The firm builds a calibrated shortlist, manages assessment and interviews, and stays engaged through offer and close. Because the fee is not contingent on a hire happening on any particular timeline, the firm has room to run a deliberate process rather than a race against other recruiters chasing the same candidate.
That exclusivity is the whole point. The client is not fielding several agencies submitting overlapping resumes. One firm owns the mandate, which means one firm is accountable for getting the calibration right before sourcing starts.
SHRM, the professional association for HR, reports that the retained-search industry's standard fee runs around 33 percent of the role's annual salary, bonus and signing bonus, a figure the industry commonly calls the "one-third" convention (SHRM, How to Work Effectively with an Executive Search Firm). That percentage is a market convention across the retained-search industry broadly, not a number every firm charges identically, and it typically scales with total compensation rather than base salary alone. It is the reference point most buyers have in mind when a search firm says "retained."
Our structurally comparable model is Full Search, priced as a launch fee plus a success fee on placement, with pricing available on request. Like retained search, it is end-to-end: calibration, candidate assessment, interviews, offer and close, for a high-impact or hard-to-fill hire. The launch fee funds the work up front rather than deferring all cost to placement, and the success fee reflects the mandate at close.
We do not publish a fixed percentage for that success fee. It varies based on role seniority, search complexity and hiring volume, and executive-level or unusually complex searches are quoted individually. The structural similarity to retained search is in the shape of the engagement, one firm, paid across stages, not in matching anyone's published percentage.
Readers comparing models side by side may also find it useful to see retained search set against contingency search directly, or to work through what a success fee actually covers before assuming it means the same thing at every firm.
Contingency recruiting is the opposite structure. A client typically engages multiple firms for the same role at once, and pays only the one that makes the placement, usually in a range SHRM puts at 20 to 25 percent of first-year cash compensation. No placement, no fee, from any of them.
That difference in payment structure changes incentive and pace. Contingency firms are racing each other on the same open role, which favors speed and volume. Retained search removes that race: the firm is paid to run one calibrated process, not to beat competing recruiters to the fastest resume.
| Model | Who pays whom | Number of firms engaged | What it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retained search | Client pays one firm across the search | One, exclusive | Senior, high-impact or hard-to-fill roles |
| Contingency recruiting | Client pays only the firm that places | Multiple, simultaneously | Roles with reasonable applicant flow, lower cost of a miss |
| Full Search (Recruitmint) | Launch fee plus a success fee on placement | One | High-impact or hard-to-fill roles, structured like retained |
For a fuller comparison of every engagement model, not just these two, recruiter fees and engagement models explained walks through Sourcing Sprint, Full Search and Embedded Partner side by side.
Retained search earns its cost when the cost of a miss is high. SHRM's 2025 benchmarking data puts average cost-per-hire at $35,879 for executive roles versus $5,475 for non-executive roles, a gap wide enough to explain why buyers pay for an exclusive, calibrated process on senior searches rather than posting broadly and hoping (SHRM, 2025 Benchmarking Reports). A first CTO, a founding engineer with no backup if the hire fails, a Head of Growth mandate with unclear scope, these are searches where a stalled or wrong hire costs more than the fee.
It does not fit every open role. A mid-level position with strong applicant flow, a clear job description, and a hiring manager who can run interviews without help does not need an exclusive, paid-across-the-engagement search. That role should be posted and interviewed internally, or handled with a lighter-touch model built for sourcing alone.
Our executive search process guide breaks down what that process looks like end to end for the roles where it is warranted. The Hiring Scorecard is a faster way to check which of the three published models actually fits a given role before committing to any fee structure.
Retained search is a paid-across-the-engagement, exclusive model, typically priced around SHRM's cited 33 percent of annual salary, bonus and signing bonus, reserved for roles where a miss is expensive. Our Full Search is structured the same way, one firm, end-to-end, calibration through close, a launch fee plus a success fee, without matching any published percentage; pricing is available on request. Contingency recruiting is the opposite: multiple firms, no fee unless placed, typically 20 to 25 percent per SHRM. Use retained search or Full Search for the roles that matter most; skip it for the mid-level role you can fill on applicant flow alone.
Executive search describes the type of role, typically senior leadership or C-suite. Retained search describes the payment structure, an exclusive engagement paid across the search rather than only on placement. Most executive searches are run on a retained basis, but the terms are not strictly interchangeable.
Usually not. Retained search is built for roles where the cost of a bad hire or a stalled search is high enough to justify an exclusive, calibrated process. A mid-level role with good applicant flow and a clear job description is typically better served by internal hiring or a sourcing-only engagement.
No. Our Full Search model is structured similarly to retained search (one firm, paid across the engagement, end-to-end through offer and close), but the success fee is not fixed at any published percentage. It varies based on role seniority, search complexity and hiring volume, with executive-level or unusually complex searches quoted individually.
Retained search is exclusive by design, so most firms expect to be the only outside search effort on that specific mandate while it is active. Nothing stops a client from continuing internal referrals or an internal careers page in parallel, since the exclusivity applies to the paid search engagement, not to every possible candidate source.
How Recruitmint's Embedded Partner model is structured, what it includes, and the volume threshold at which the Hiring Scorecard recommends it over a single search.
Embedded recruiting and RPO both provide ongoing recruiting capacity, but differ in scope and how pricing is structured. Here is an honest comparison, using Recruitmint's Embedded Partner model and the RPO Association's own published pricing categories.
The market convention for retained executive search fees, what that means in dollar terms at different compensation levels, and how Recruitmint's Full Search model compares in structure.
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