The three ways to engage a recruitment firm look similar on paper and produce very different outcomes in practice. Clients who understand the distinction get better hires, faster, with less disruption. Clients who do not often spend months running parallel processes with multiple agencies, damage candidate relationships, and end up hiring the wrong person because the best ones never engaged with the messy process.
This guide explains what each model means, how the economics work, and when to use which. It is written for principals, family office directors, and anyone scoping a senior or sensitive hire for the first time.
For the Oplu approach to search, see our Private Households & Estates page and Family Office recruitment page.
A contingent search is the most common recruitment engagement model in the market. The recruiter is engaged to fill a role, but no fee is paid unless the placement succeeds. The client typically engages multiple contingent firms in parallel.
The economics for the recruiter. The firm carries the financial risk. They invest time in the search, but they are paid only if their candidate is hired. To make the economics work, contingent recruiters need high placement rates and multiple searches running concurrently. The incentive is speed, not depth.
What this produces. Volume. A contingent recruiter working on a role will typically source quickly, present a larger number of candidates, and race other firms to the shortlist. The first recruiter to present the strongest candidate wins. The recruiter who spends three weeks scoping the role loses.
When contingent works well. Roles where the candidate pool is large, the specification is well-defined, and speed matters more than depth. Most junior to mid-level domestic staff roles fall into this category: housekeepers, nannies, chauffeurs, live-in and live-out service roles. The market is active, candidates are findable, and a good contingent process delivers a reasonable shortlist quickly.
When contingent struggles. Senior, sensitive, or specialist roles. When the best candidates are in-seat and need to be approached discreetly, a contingent structure does not pay for the time required to do it properly. The recruiter is incentivised to present whoever is available, not whoever is right.
An exclusive mandate sits between contingent and retained. The client engages one recruiter exclusively for a defined period (typically 8 to 12 weeks). No fee is paid upfront, but the client commits to working with only one firm for the duration.
The economics for the recruiter. The firm still carries the financial risk, but without the pressure of racing other agencies. This allows more time on scoping and more controlled candidate outreach. The incentive structure is cleaner than pure contingent.
What this produces. A better process than contingent. The recruiter can invest in understanding the brief, approaching candidates with context, and managing the shortlist. Quality typically improves. Timelines can still be tight.
When exclusive works well. Mid-level to senior roles where the candidate pool is accessible but quality and fit matter. Senior domestic staff roles, experienced EAs, mid-seniority family office hires.
When exclusive struggles. The most senior or rare roles where the candidate pool is small and the approach requires extensive groundwork. Exclusive without retained still pressures the recruiter on timeframe, which can limit how deeply the search is run.
A retained search is a paid mandate. The client pays the recruiter a portion of the fee at engagement, regardless of placement outcome. Oplu's retained structure is a third at engagement, a third at first interview stage, and a third at placement.
The economics for the recruiter. The firm is paid for the work, not only for the outcome. This funds the depth of the search: scoping, market mapping, direct candidate approach, long-form candidate conversations, and reference work. The incentive is to deliver the right hire, not the fastest hire.
What this produces. A different kind of shortlist. Retained searches typically present three to five candidates, each of whom has been interviewed in depth, referenced where possible, and assessed against the specific brief. Many will be in-seat and approached discreetly. The conversion rate from shortlist to placement is materially higher than contingent.
When retained works well. Senior, specialist, sensitive, or rare roles. Estate Managers, Heads of Household, Chiefs of Staff, Family Office Directors, CIOs, Portfolio Managers, Senior EAs to UHNW principals. Any role where the candidate pool is small and discretion matters.
When retained struggles. Roles that do not justify the investment. Junior roles, roles with a large active candidate pool, or roles where the client is not prepared for the timeframe a proper retained search requires.
Our fee reflects the depth of the process: long-form scoping, direct candidate approach, structured interviews, and post-placement support. We are not the cheapest, and we say so clearly at the first conversation. Clients who need the cheapest placement are not the right fit.
Lower-priced agencies typically rely on volume and inbound applications. The economics force a shallower process. Some clients use them successfully for commodity hires. For senior or sensitive work, the shallower process produces weaker outcomes.
Retained fees are paid in three instalments: at engagement, at first interview stage, and at placement. Contingent and exclusive fees are paid on successful placement only. Fixed-term placements (maternity cover, interim roles) are priced higher than permanent because the engagement is shorter and the effort-per-placement is higher. Specific fee quotes are shared in the first conversation.
Use contingent when:
The role is mid-level or junior
The candidate pool is large and actively in-market
Speed matters more than depth
You are comfortable running parallel agencies
The role is well-defined and the scoping has already been done
Use exclusive when:
The role is mid-seniority or senior
You want a single point of accountability
You want better scoping than contingent provides
The timeframe is 8 to 12 weeks
The candidate pool is accessible but quality matters
Use retained when:
The role is senior, specialist, or sensitive
The best candidates are in-seat and need to be approached discreetly
The hire is strategically important and a mis-hire is costly
You want a shortlist of three to five genuinely matched candidates rather than a CV stack
You are willing to invest in the search to get the right outcome
A common mistake, particularly among clients new to private recruitment, is to engage three or four contingent agencies on the same role believing that more firms means more candidates. In practice, it produces the opposite.
Multiple agencies create chaos. The same candidates are approached by different firms, often with different briefings. The family's name leaks. Candidates decline the role because the process feels uncoordinated.
The best candidates withdraw. Experienced senior candidates recognise a multi-agency process immediately. Many decline to engage because the chaos signals poor family-office management. The client ends up with the candidates who are willing to put up with the mess, which is often not the pool they hoped for.
Recruiters compete rather than collaborate. Each agency rushes to present first. Quality drops. Scoping is skipped. Reference work is minimal.
The strongest candidates protect the principal's time and reputation without being told to. They are usually not the ones who respond to a cold approach from the third agency to contact them in a week.
A better approach for senior roles is to give one trusted agency an exclusive or retained mandate with a clear timeframe. If they do not deliver, review, debrief honestly, and then re-engage or move to another firm. Parallel running rarely works.
The core value in retained and exclusive search is not the recruiter's rolodex. It is the discipline of the process. A properly scoped brief. A documented market map. Written candidate profiles. Structured interviews. Reference calls with specific questions. Honest post-interview debriefs. Post-placement check-ins.
Telling someone to be discreet is not the same as building a process where leaks cannot happen by accident. The same principle applies to every part of a search. Telling a recruiter to find the right person is not the same as structuring the mandate so the right person is found. The process is the product.
This is why specialist firms with clear methodology outperform generalist firms with good intent. At this level, CVs converge. A nanny CV is a nanny CV. An EA CV is an EA CV. What separates candidates is personality, attitude, and how they behave under pressure. That is what we interview for. Volume searches do not surface this. Deep searches do.
Oplu operates across retained, exclusive, and contingent models, and we match the engagement to the role rather than standardising.
Domestic staff roles (housekeepers, nannies, chefs, chauffeurs) are usually contingent because the market is active and the process works.
Senior private household roles (estate managers, heads of household, butlers for principal households, live-in PAs) are usually retained because the candidate pool is small.
Family office roles are split. EAs, PAs, Family Office Assistants, and junior Analysts can be contingent or exclusive. Chiefs of Staff, Family Office Directors, CFOs, CIOs, and Portfolio Managers are almost always retained.
We discuss the right model at the first scoping conversation and explain the trade-offs. Clients choose, but we are transparent about what each model will and will not deliver.
For current opportunities, see our job board. To discuss a search, get in touch.
Contingent recruitment pays the fee only on successful placement and is typically open to multiple agencies. Retained recruitment pays part of the fee at engagement and is exclusive to one firm. Retained funds a deeper search process and is usually reserved for senior, specialist, or sensitive roles.
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