On the surface, the difference between contingency and retained search appears to simply be an issue of how a search firm gets paid. A contingency recruiter earns a fee only when a company hires a candidate they send out. On the other hand, a retained search firm secures a percentage of the fee upfront before they even perform a search.

Why pay for something before you get it?

You don't need a crystal ball to see that a cataclysmic shift is happening within the recruiting space. The recruiting services landscape already looks starkly different than it did before the economic meltdown and is continuing to morph dramatically.

Clearly, one of a search firm’s greatest assets is the size of the network it brings to the table. When choosing a search firm to partner with, it’s important to ensure that by virtue of the relationship, you'll be gaining equity in a highly valuable network.

This value is called Network Equity. To demonstrate such value, a search firm’s network must consist of hundreds of thousands of potential candidates that the firm can reach out to on behalf of your organization.