Recruitment expenses will vary with the complexity and demand for the positions you are staffing. Contingency: Under this model, clients pay their agency once it successfully places a candidate with the client company. This agency fee is typically a percentage of the candidate's first-year salary. This model is mutually motivating and beneficial for the agency and the client — the agency must source the best candidates quickly because it gets paid only if the candidate is hired. –WE DON’T DO Retained: Under this model, the agency is paid a retainer fee upfront to search for a specific role. Like contingency, agency fees are often a percentage of the candidate's first-year salary. These fees are paid whether or not the agency successfully places a candidate. The advantage of this model is that the client company gets exclusive access to the agency's resources and expertise, which can result in a faster and more successful search.