Paris Recruitment Agency

Fees are a percentage of the candidate's gross annual package, base salary and variable pay included. The market rate is typically 20% to 27%, depending on how scarce the profile is and how senior the role. We work on a contingency basis: no retainer, no set-up fee, and you are only invoiced once your candidate accepts the offer. The percentage is agreed at the briefing stage, before the search begins. Executive and C-level searches are the exception: they are run as retained searches, paid in three instalments. Full terms are on our contingency recruitment page (in French), and typical fees in France are covered in our article on how much a recruitment agency costs (in French).

Five things matter far more than price. Genuine specialisation: ask which roles similar to yours the agency has filled in the last six months, rather than for a list of sectors it covers. Who actually runs the search: will the consultant who pitched you be the one approaching candidates? The fee model: contingency, exclusive or retained, each makes sense depending on how hard the role is to fill. Time to first shortlist, which tells you whether the talent pool already exists or still has to be built. The replacement guarantee and how long it lasts, written into the contract. An agency that knows your market should also be able to tell you on the very first call whether your salary range is realistic for Paris.

You get a first shortlist of qualified candidates within 7 days of the briefing. From the start of the search to a signed offer, allow 4 to 8 weeks on average, plus the candidate's notice period of one to three months. What makes Paris different is competition: strong candidates are often in several processes at once and regularly receive counter-offers from their current employer. Keeping your interview process tight, two or three rounds over two weeks, is the best way to stay on schedule.

Every candidate is screened by a consultant who specialises in the role, never by a generalist. We review their track record and concrete achievements, the technical depth the role requires and their motivation for your company, then the issues that tend to derail a process at the last minute: salary expectations, office attendance, remote work, availability and other ongoing processes. You get a written report on each candidate covering these points, and we stay involved until they start.

In Île-de-France, 64% of the executive hires planned for 2026 come from high value-added services: IT, engineering and R&D, and business consulting (Apec). On our Paris searches, demand is strongest among software and SaaS companies, AI and data, fintech and insurtech, healthcare and biotech, and greentech and impact companies. The hardest roles to fill are much the same across sectors: experienced developers, data and AI, product, and B2B sales.

Our service agreement includes a replacement guarantee. If the candidate leaves during the guarantee period, we run the search again at no extra cost. The length of the guarantee is agreed at the briefing stage, along with the fee percentage and invoicing terms. In practice, we keep in touch with every new hire during their first weeks to pick up on warning signs before they lead to a departure.