The return for the agency’s services traditionally takes one of two forms:
- A contingency fee paid by the organization when a recommended candidate gets a job with the client company (normally 20%-30% of the candidate’s starting salary), which typically has some form of guarantee, should the candidate not manage to perform and is completed within a set period of time.
- An advance payment that acts as a retainer, also paid by the organization.
- It may still be lawful for an employment agency to charge the candidate rather than the company, but in most places that experience is now illegal, due to past dishonest and deceptive practices.