Select Your Recruiter

With contingency searches, usually used for mid-level executive and multiple position searches, you pay only if the recruiter delivers people you decide to hire. However, says Gore, the fees are often about the same as for retained searches.

Contract recruiters help you run a recruiting operation and generally charge $75 to $100 per hour, says Gore. They’re particularly good if you need to find and hire many employees at once, say, for your holiday rush.