Why Retained Search Is About More Than How a Recruiter Is Paid
When people hear the term "retained search," they often assume it simply means the recruiter receives part of the fee upfront. In reality, that's the least important distinction.
We Facilitate the Client's Objectives: Whether the hiring decision rests with a General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, CHRO, or another business leader, a retained search is built around helping a client achieve broader hiring objectives. We work on behalf of the client to understand the role, the organization, the team dynamics, and the long-term goals behind the hire, not simply present available candidates.
We Are a Dedicated, Non-Biased Hiring Partner: Because we are retained, we are able to serve as a dedicated advisor throughout the search process, working exclusively on the client's behalf to identify the best fit for the team and organization. Our objective isn't simply to complete a search. It's to help the client make the best hiring decision by providing candid feedback, market intelligence, and impartial guidance every step of the way.
Market Intelligence Is Part of Our Deliverable: As a retained search firm, we provide ongoing market feedback, competitive intelligence, compensation insights, and strategic advice throughout the search, whether or not that information is tied to a specific candidate.
Our Search Process Begins Long Before We Present Candidates: Market mapping, research, outreach, assessment, and search management all take place well before a candidate reaches the interview stage with the client. The client benefits from our work during the entire search process, not just the final hire of a candidate.
We Know Quality Matters More Than Volume: The goal is not to send the most resumes. The goal is to identify, assess, and present the individuals who are best positioned to succeed in the role, contribute to the team, and thrive within the organization. Often that means narrowing a broad universe of potential candidates down to just a handful of exceptional individuals who truly fit the role and company culture.
We Facilitate Communication and Help Build Working Relationships: A retained recruiter is paid to be the communication bridge between a client and prospective candidates throughout the search process. We get to know both the client and the candidates on a deeper level, making sure they, in turn, receive that knowledge and feedback throughout the search process so that trust, and a professional relationship, can build.
Our Search Process Continues Long after You Hire a Candidate: Our commitment does not end at the point of hire. We follow up with our client and the hired candidate throughout the onboarding stage and on the candidate's employment anniversaries to continue providing the mutual feedback that can be critical to continued team building and career progression.
At Carpenter Legal Search, our role isn't simply to "make a placement." We employ our Focused on the Fit® methodology throughout the search process to help our client make informed hiring decisions and find a new team member who will have the greatest probability for long-term impact on their team and organization.
At its core, our retained search process is simply a different business model, one that provides uncompromising service and exceptional results for our clients.
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