Retained Search - This is when a company is looking to fill an open position and they are willing to “retain” the services of a recruiting firm. In other words, they want to use a recruiter and they are open to paying an upfront fee to engage the recruiter in the search. Usually the “retainer” is a percentage of the total fee to be paid when a candidate is found and hired. A company is usually willing to pay a retainer for higher level positions.

Contingency Search -This is when a company is looking to fill an open position and are willing to pay a recruiting fee “ contingent” upon the company hiring your candidate. In other words, you present candidates for an open position, and are only paid if the company hires your candidate. This is the most popular form of recruiting.

Contract Recruiting – This is when a company has one or more open positions to fill and they are willing to pay a recruiter on a contract basis, to fill the open positions. There are many ways for contract agreements to be set up, but typically contract recruiters are paid hourly (usually $40 -$ 100 per hour) or by the position. Contract recruiting is popular when a company has a lot of open positions to fill.

There are many ways to get involved and make money in the recruiting industry. The first and most important thing to do is to get the right training.