Professional Search
Helping organizations secure critical talent while strengthening their overall hiring capability.
Professional Search
Connecting top talent with exceptional opportunity while unlocking potential and fueling growth.
Finding the right people to run
your business is crucial.
Sorting through hundreds of applicants- whether generated through AI sourcing or traditional recruiting - can quickly overwhelm internal teams. While technology can expand candidate reach, it still takes experienced talent professionals to review quality, alignment, and long-term fit.
Our team manages the sourcing, screening, and candidate evaluation process so hiring leaders can focus on selecting the right person to move their business forward.
To provide the flexibility companies need today, Talent Surge developed our Retingency Search© model, combining the commitment and strategic partnership of retained search with the efficiency and flexibility of contingency recruiting.
What is a Retained Search?
A retained search is when you hire an executive search firm or individual recruiter, work with them exclusively to find the right fit for your team, and pay a “retainer” fee, regardless of the outcome. Retained search models are common when hiring highly qualified candidates for senior-level executive positions, such as C-suite and Vice President level roles. But they can also be helpful for other types of searches.
Pricing for Retained Search:
You will negotiate the full fee upfront when hiring a retained recruitment firm. Although pricing can vary, most engagements land somewhere between 25-30% of the desired employee’s annual compensation. In other words, if your base salary budget for a CFO is $300,000 a year, the fee for the search firm will be roughly $75,000 – $90,000.
Then, once you agree on the pricing structure, the fee is typically broken down into three equal payments:
- 1/3 due immediately
- 1/3 due when interviews start
- 1/3 due when the candidate signs the employment contract
- We don't do Retained Search
What is Contingent Search?
The contingency search arrangement differs from retained search in that the recruiter’s fee is “contingent” upon their success, and the contract is not exclusive. In other words, the recruiter only gets paid if you hire one of their candidates, and they must compete with any other firm you choose to engage, including your internal staff.
Pricing For Contingent Search:
Like retained recruitment, you must negotiate contingency search fees upfront, with most contracts landing between 20-25% of the desired employee’s annual base salary. Said differently, if you are looking for a software engineer and plan to pay a yearly salary of $120,000, the fee for the search firm might be between $24,000 – $30,000.
The payment only becomes due when the candidate signs the employment contract or offer letter. And most firms offer a placement guarantee in the event the candidate leaves the company before 90 days in a position. We don’t do Contingency Search.
Our Expert Opinion:
Retained Search Challenges:
Many HR and Operations teams struggle with limited budgets for retained search engagements.
The financial risk of paying upfront without a guaranteed hire often makes this model impractical.
In time-sensitive hiring scenarios, the lack of flexibility in retained contracts can be a major drawback.
Contingent Search Limitations:
While contingent searches can yield results, they often come with extended time-to-fill.
This lack of sustained focus often leads to frustration among hiring managers—both with the internal TA team and the external recruiter.
Talent Surge Retingency Search Model
Traditional retained search and contingency recruiting each serve a purpose, but today’s hiring environment often requires a more flexible approach. Talent Surge developed our Retingency Search© model to combine the strategic partnership of retained search with the efficiency and flexibility of contingency recruiting.
Retingency Search © – The Smarter Way to Hire
This model is ideal for high-value individual contributors and senior-level management roles where precision and commitment matter most.
We work as a true partner to your hiring team, collecting a modest upfront fee to kick off the search—ensuring alignment, urgency, and priority focus.
Unlike traditional retained search firms, our rates are lower and our structure is more flexible, without rigid contracts or long-term commitments.
And unlike typical contingent searches, where engagement often fades and jobs go unfilled for 60–90 days, our approach brings the dedication and accountability needed to drive results—without sacrificing speed or cost-efficiency.
That’s why we only offer Retingency Search ©—a hybrid model that blends the best of both retained and contingent search, with none of the drawbacks
Retingency Search Pricing:
This option aims to combine the best of both worlds with a pricing commitment that falls in the middle. Our clients pay a modest retainer fee and grant the Talent Surge temporary exclusively, with a second installment due (and the potential for continued exclusivity) if you are happy with the first round of candidates.
And, like the other models, we stand by our work, guaranteeing that the employee will remain with your firm for a specific timeframe as documented in our agreement.