Plenty of hiring to do, not enough to justify a full-time recruiter, and no appetite for an agency paid to close fast rather than close well. BizFirst gives you senior recruiting on flexible, flat-fee terms: pay only when you hire, take one role at a flat rate, or embed a dedicated recruiter month to month and scale up or down as your hiring changes. No percentage-of-salary pressure, no long lock-in.
Fractional recruiting means getting an experienced recruiter as an extension of your team for as long as you need one, then stepping back when the work is done. BizFirst delivers exactly that, on flat fees rather than an hourly meter, in whichever shape fits how you are hiring right now.
Contingent, billed only when someone starts, with a 90-day replacement guarantee. Best for an occasional or one-off role where you would rather pay once on success. DirectHire →
A single role, sourced and screened for one flat fee, never a percentage of salary. The simplest way to try flexible recruiting on one hire. HireSelect →
A dedicated embedded recruiter, month to month, working your process and pipeline. Add or reduce recruiters as hiring changes. Flat $1,000 per placement, never a percentage. PartnerHire Core →
Have a specific project and a budget in mind? Tell us the roles, the timeline, and the number you are working toward, and we will shape a recruiting team and a price around your project rather than fit you into a fixed tier. Let’s talk it through →
Most early-stage teams reach for one of four options. Flexible recruiting sits in the middle: senior help and real alignment, without the fixed cost of a full-time hire or the speed-to-fill pressure of a contingency agency.
| Approach | Cost structure | Recruiter alignment | Flexibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contingency agency | 15–25% of first-year salary, paid on placement | Incentivized to close quickly | Low; the engagement ends at placement |
| Full-time recruiter | $70K–$100K+ salary, plus benefits | Fully aligned, but expensive to maintain | Low; a fixed cost regardless of hiring volume |
| DIY (founder or manager) | Your time only | Fully aligned, but limited in capacity | High, but capped by the hours you have |
| BizFirst flexible models | Flat fee per hire (DirectHire 10–15% on success, or HireSelect $3,500/role), or a flat monthly embedded recruiter (PartnerHire Core from $8,500/mo) | Aligned to fit; no placement-fee pressure | High; scale up or down month to month |
Contingency and full-time ranges are typical market figures and vary by role and region. BizFirst’s DirectHire rate of 10–15% sits below the usual contingency range, and the embedded model carries no percentage-of-salary fee at all.
Flexible recruiting fits a few specific situations. If one of these sounds like your team, it is worth a conversation.
Real hiring, limited runway, and no dedicated recruiting function yet. Flexible support covers the gap without headcount you may not need in six months.
A round closes and you suddenly need several engineers and a first sales leader. An embedded recruiter starts quickly, without the two-to-three-month ramp of a new internal hire.
When onboarding, culture, and compliance already fill the day, handing active searches to a senior recruiter keeps hiring moving without burning out your team.
You get sourcing workflows, interview structure, and candidate communication that would take months to build in-house, run inside your tools, not a separate workflow.
Senior recruiting help sized to your actual hiring, instead of carrying a full-time recruiter or signing a rigid agency contract. At BizFirst it takes three flat-fee shapes: pay only on a hire with DirectHire, one flat fee per role with HireSelect, or a dedicated embedded recruiter billed monthly with PartnerHire Core that you can scale up or down.
A contingency agency is paid a percentage of first-year salary only when it places someone, which rewards speed to fill over fit. BizFirst uses flat fees, so no one is pushing a candidate through to trigger a bigger commission. On the embedded model there is no per-hire percentage at all, just a predictable monthly fee.
No. BizFirst prices flat, not hourly. DirectHire is billed only on a successful hire, HireSelect is one flat fee per role, and PartnerHire Core is a flat monthly fee per embedded recruiter with a flat $1,000 per placement, never a percentage of salary. You always know the number up front.
It depends on the shape that fits. DirectHire is 10 to 15 percent of first-year salary, paid only on a hire. HireSelect is a flat $3,500 for a single role. PartnerHire Core, the embedded option, starts at $8,500 per month for one dedicated recruiter plus a flat $1,000 per placement, and scales as you add or reduce recruiters.
Once you are hiring enough roles consistently, often around 15 to 20 or more per year, a full-time recruiter’s salary starts to make sense. Below that, a full-time hire sits mostly idle between searches, and a flexible model covers the gap without the fixed cost.
Yes. PartnerHire Core is month to month after a short initial term, so you add recruiters during a growth push and reduce when the pipeline is quiet. You are not carrying fixed headcount between hiring cycles.
Tell us the roles and your timeline. We will recommend the simplest shape, pay-on-hire, one flat fee, or an embedded recruiter, and send a firm quote, usually within one business day.
Let's talk hiringBook a time, email us, or just call. Whatever's easiest.
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