What Is Contingent Search?
Contingent search is a recruitment model where you only pay a placement fee when a candidate is successfully hired. There is no upfront cost and no financial commitment until Spencer & Trent has identified, screened and presented the right person for your role. The placement fee is typically calculated as a percentage of the new employee’s first year annual salary.
Abi Demi, Managing Director
Every vacancy carries more risk than most businesses realise.
A role left unfilled too long costs your business in lost productivity and missed opportunity. A role filled with the wrong person costs you significantly more. A poorly managed hiring process creates legal and financial exposure most businesses never anticipate. Spencer & Trent’s contingent search exists so your business avoids such consequences.
You pay nothing until we deliver the right candidate, but the rigour we apply to finding them is the same standard we hold ourselves to on every search, because the cost of getting it wrong is always greater than the cost of getting it right.
Every hiring mistake carries a legal and financial consequence that will cost your business far more than getting it right from the start. Book a call with Spencer & Trent today.
How Does Contingent Search Work?
Contingent search works in three stages. Spencer & Trent takes a detailed brief from your leadership team to understand the role, the culture and the commercial outcomes the hire needs to deliver. We then source and screen candidates against your specific requirements before presenting a shortlist for your review. A placement fee is only collected when you choose to hire.
Who Is Contingent Search Suitable For?
Contingent search is suitable for:
- Businesses with a specific vacancy that needs filling quickly
- Founders and CEOs who want access to a quality talent pipeline without a long term financial commitment
- SMEs and scaling businesses in tech, finance, property and architecture that need the right person without the risk of paying before they find them
- Organisations that want the rigour of a professional search process without the cost structure of a retained partnership
What Is The Difference Between Contingent Search And Retained Search?
Contingent search means you only pay on successful placement and Spencer & Trent works alongside other recruitment activity you may have in place. Retained search means Spencer & Trent has exclusive commitment to your search over an agreed period with a structured process and dedicated focus. Contingent search suits businesses with a single specific vacancy. Retained search suits businesses with ongoing or multiple hiring needs.
What Is The Difference Between Contingent Search And Executive Search?
Executive search is used for senior, board level or highly confidential appointments where a targeted and discreet approach is required. Contingent search is broader and suits mid level or specialist roles where speed and quality of placement are the priority.
What Is The Difference Between Contingent Recruitment And Contingent Search?
Contingent recruitment is generally a broader, faster approach focused on active candidates who are already applying for roles, which can limit the reach to only the visible talent market. Contingent search, which we specialise in at Spencer & Trent, goes significantly deeper by combining targeted market mapping, direct headhunting, and engagement with passive candidates who are not actively seeking new roles. This more strategic and consultative approach provides access to a higher calibre of talent and a wider, less competitive candidate pool, delivering a more thorough and effective hiring process than traditional contingent recruitment.
Why Choose Spencer & Trent For Contingent Search?
Spencer & Trent brings talent strategy thinking to every contingent search. We do not just match a CV to a job description, we assess every candidate against the commercial outcomes your business needs them to deliver. You only pay when we find the right candidate.
Benefits of our Contingency Search:
There are no upfront costs
Payment is only required upon the successful placement of a candidate
If the employee leaves within the first few months, a sliding scale refund policy will apply
Speed up recruitment to fill urgent hiring needs
Access to a pool of candidates with hard-to-find, specialised skills
Great support for companies without an internal recruitment or hiring team
Getting a hire wrong carries operational, legal and financial consequences.
