Contingency Recruiting - HR Glossary

Contingency Recruiting is a type of outsourced recruiting in which HR specialists are only compensated when they discover a qualified candidate for the company's open position. This differs from a headhunting service, in which the recruiting specialist is compensated exclusively for finding competent applicants for a senior or key post.

Example

If Company A needs to hire an accountant, they can use the Contingency Recruiting service and call a recruiting firm. The recruiting specialist will provide a list of individuals that meet the hiring needs of firm A. If business A hires one of these applicants and enters a labor contract, the recruiting firm will get a fee ranging from 15% to 25% of the newly hired employee's pay. However, if no acceptable applicant is found, the recruiting firm will not get any compensation.