Recruiters, Agencies, and Other Online Search Services

You’re probably familiar with the more traditional recruitment and staffing services. Companies generally turn to recruiters when they have to fill upper-level jobs.

Staffing and temp agencies can help companies find temporary labor and are also often used as a way to try out candidates for lower-level full-time positions — although you have to pay a fee to the agency if you end up hiring away one of their temps.

If you’re considering using a recruiter (a.k.a. headhunter) to track down executive-level candidates, choose a firm that knows your industry and work closely with them to define your needs. These and other key aspects of working with search firms to find your next executive are covered in the article "Hiring Qualified People Is a Key Business Factor" from the AllBusiness.com article database.

There are two kinds of recruitment firms: retained, and contingency. Basically, retained firms are usually hired on an exclusive basis and are paid a fixed (and very high) fee whether they find someone you hire or not, plus a percentage of the position's annual salary as a bonus if you do close a deal. This kind of money — tens of thousands up to a hundred thousand dollars — makes retained firms worthwhile only for the highest-level jobs in fair-sized companies.