The short answer: Traditional retained executive search firms charge 30 to 35 percent of the hired executive’s first-year total compensation, with minimum fees between $100,000 and $200,000 per search. Many add administrative fees of 10 to 12 percent on top. Contingency recruiters charge 20 to 30 percent but only get paid on placement, which changes their incentives. ExactSearch charges a flat 20 percent total fee with a modest retainer credited against it and no admin fees.
Almost no search firm publishes its fees. This page exists because we think the lack of transparency is the main reason mid-sized companies overpay or avoid retained search entirely. Here is how the market actually prices.
The three fee models
Retained search. You pay a retainer at kickoff (typically one third of the projected fee at traditional firms), with the balance billed during and at completion of the search. The firm works exclusively for you and is accountable for the outcome. This is the standard model for C-suite and VP searches. Industry-standard pricing: 30 to 35 percent of first-year total compensation, meaning base salary plus target bonus and sometimes equity.
Contingency search. No fee unless you hire a candidate the recruiter presented. Typical pricing: 20 to 30 percent of first-year base salary. Because multiple firms often work the same role and only one gets paid, contingency optimizes for speed of resume delivery rather than depth of search. It works for director-level roles and below. For executive roles it tends to surface candidates who are actively looking, which is a minority of the strong ones.
Container or hybrid search. A smaller upfront retainer plus a success fee on placement. A middle path used for roles where neither model fits cleanly.
What a search costs at real compensation levels
Using a traditional retained firm at 33 percent plus a typical 12 percent admin fee, compared with ExactSearch at 20 percent with no admin fee:
| Executive’s first-year compensation | Traditional retained firm | ExactSearch |
| $250,000 | $92,400 (or the firm’s minimum, often higher) | $50,000 |
| $300,000 | $110,880 | $60,000 |
| $400,000 | $147,840 | $80,000 |
| $500,000 | $184,800 | $100,000 |
Two structural notes on the traditional model. First, the minimums matter more than the percentages for mid-sized companies: a $250K VP search at a firm with a $120K minimum is effectively a 48 percent fee. Second, admin or expense fees (research, travel, assessment) are often layered on after the engagement letter, so always request total cost in writing.
Why large firms cost what they cost
The major retained firms (Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart, Heidrick & Struggles, Russell Reynolds, Egon Zehnder) do excellent work for Fortune 1000 boards and C-suites. Their pricing reflects their cost structure: large research staffs, global offices, partner leverage models where senior partners sell the work and teams of associates execute it.
For a $50M company hiring a $300K CFO, that overhead buys little. The search does not need a global office network. It needs a senior person who has run hundreds of searches doing the work personally. That is the structural insight behind lower-fee retained firms: remove the overhead, keep the methodology.
What should be included in any retained fee
Whatever firm you use, the fee should cover all of the following with no surcharges: a dedicated senior search lead (ask directly who does the work after the sale, since handoffs to junior staff are the industry’s most common bait and switch), original research and outreach to passive candidates rather than database resumes, structured assessment and references, weekly progress reporting, and a written guarantee.
On guarantees, read the specifics. Most firms offer to redo a search if the hire leaves within 6 to 12 months. The more important protection is what happens if the search never produces a hire at all. At ExactSearch, if a search does not result in a hire, the retainer transfers to a second search.
When retained search is worth it for a mid-sized company
Retained search pays for itself when the cost of a vacancy or a mis-hire exceeds the fee, which is almost always true at the VP level and above. A mis-hired executive costs an estimated 3 to 5 times annual salary. A six-month vacancy in a revenue or finance leadership seat typically costs more than any search fee.
The honest cases against retained search: roles below $150K compensation (use contingency or hire directly), roles where you have a strong internal candidate, and companies not ready to decide within 90 days, since a stalled process wastes the retainer.
ExactSearch pricing, stated plainly
- 20 percent of first-year total compensation, total
- $20,000 retainer at kickoff, fully credited against the fee
- No administrative fees of any kind
- If the search does not result in a hire, the retainer transfers to a second search
- Senior partners only, no handoffs
- Typical completion in 30 to 60 days
Our team includes alumni of Robert Half, Korn Ferry, and Boyden. Same methodology as the firms charging 33 percent, without the overhead that drives the 33 percent. Run your own numbers with the fee calculator at exactsearch.ai.
Frequently asked questions
Is the fee negotiable at big search firms? Sometimes, especially on multi-search agreements, but rarely below 28 to 30 percent, and minimums are usually firm. The structure is the structure.
What does “total compensation” include for fee purposes? At most firms: base salary plus target bonus for year one. Some include signing bonuses and equity value, which can move the fee meaningfully. Get the definition in writing before signing.
Why do contingency recruiters cost less? They carry the risk of working for free, so they spread effort across many roles and many clients. You pay less per placement but get a shallower search. For executive roles, the candidates that matter are usually not in any recruiter’s active database.
Do search fees vary by industry or geography? Modestly. Technology and healthcare executive searches price at the high end. Geography matters less than it used to since most searches are now national.
What is the cheapest way to fill an executive role? Promote a ready internal candidate. If you do not have one, the cheapest path that reliably works is a retained search at a fair fee. The cheapest path that frequently fails is running it yourself off LinkedIn postings, which costs nothing up front and several months of momentum when it stalls.
ExactSearch is a retained executive search firm for growing mid-sized companies. Transparent pricing, senior partners only. exactsearch.ai
