When hiring for key roles, companies often face a strategic decision: should you use a retained search firm or a contingency recruiting agency?

Understanding retained vs contingency search is critical to building an effective hiring strategy—especially for leadership, executive, and specialized roles.

Both recruiting models serve a purpose. The right choice depends on urgency, role complexity, and long-term business goals.

What Is Retained Search?

Retained search is a recruiting model where a company pays an executive search firm