The ProFound Group was designed to give growing companies a more flexible and transparent alternative to traditional retained or contingency search. Rather than charging a placement fee based on a percentage of a candidate’s compensation, we work on an hourly basis. Our clients pay for the actual research, recruiting, and candidate evaluation required for their search—not a fee based on the eventual salary for the person they hire. The research and candidate information developed during the engagement belong to the client. If several people identified through the same project ultimately join the company, there are no additional placement fees. Clients also have visibility into the work as it progresses, including the people being identified and contacted, candidate status, our notes, and current billing. The result is a recruiting process in which company leadership remains informed and in control throughout the engagement.

Traditional recruiting fees are typically tied to a percentage of the compensation paid to the person who is hired. We believe the cost of a search should instead reflect the work required to complete it. ProFound bills only for the time actually spent on research, candidate identification, outreach, evaluation, and managing the search process. Time is tracked in quarter-hour increments, and clients have visibility into current billing throughout the engagement. Because our fees are not tied to compensation, the economics can become particularly attractive for senior, highly compensated, and difficult-to-fill positions. The hourly structure also gives clients greater flexibility: the scope of a search can be adjusted as circumstances change, and an engagement can be stopped at any time.

ProFound has operated under this model for decades. It is not a new approach or a recent alternative to traditional search fees—it is the way we have built and maintained our recruiting practice over many years. A significant part of our business has come from repeat clients who have returned to ProFound for additional searches. We have also worked with company leaders who first engaged us at one organization and later brought us into another as their careers progressed. We believe those long-term relationships are particularly important because our model is unusual in the recruiting industry. Clients who have experienced the transparency, flexibility, and economics of the approach firsthand have continued to use it as their hiring needs evolved.

There is no additional placement fee. The research and candidate information developed during an engagement belong to the client. If the original search identifies several people the company ultimately wants to hire, the client is free to hire them without paying ProFound a separate fee for each additional person. This can be particularly valuable for growing companies. A search for one position may uncover strong candidates for other current or future needs, or a company may decide to build out a larger part of its team after seeing the available talent. Our clients have already paid for the work required to identify and evaluate those individuals. We do not believe they should have to pay for that same work again simply because more than one person ultimately joins the company.

The client does. The research developed specifically for an engagement belongs to the client. Throughout the search, clients have access to the people we identify, along with relevant candidate information, our notes, and the status of our outreach and evaluation. That information remains valuable beyond the immediate hire. Someone who is not the right fit for the position being filled today may be an excellent candidate for another role as the company grows. At the conclusion of an engagement, the client’s database remains available online for 60 days and is then archived by ProFound. The information can be reactivated or exported if the client wants to use the research again in the future. We view the research as something the client has paid us to develop—not as information that should disappear when a search ends.

A great deal. Transparency is an important part of the ProFound model. Each client has access to a private, client-specific database where they can see the research as it develops. This includes the people we have identified, relevant background information, our notes, outreach and candidate status, and the progress of the search. Clients can review the work in progress rather than waiting for periodic candidate presentations to find out what has been happening behind the scenes. We also provide regular progress reports and visibility into current billing. This allows company leadership to provide input throughout the search—refining target companies, identifying people they may already know, adjusting priorities, or helping us redirect the research as we learn more about the available talent. The search remains collaborative and transparent from beginning to end.

We do much more than identify people whose backgrounds appear to match a position description. Before beginning outreach, we work closely with company leadership to understand the position in detail—including the technical requirements, day-to-day responsibilities, priorities, areas of flexibility, and the experience that will distinguish a strong candidate from someone who simply looks appropriate on paper. Potential candidates are then evaluated against those requirements. When we identify someone who appears promising, we conduct a detailed conversation to understand their actual experience, accomplishments, technical capabilities, interests, motivations, and potential fit with the opportunity. Our objective is not to generate a large number of resumes. It is to do the evaluation work up front so that the people we ultimately present are fully qualified candidates who merit the client’s time and consideration. The client can still see the broader research through the private database, but formal candidate presentations are reserved for people we believe meet the requirements established at the beginning of the search.

We adjust with you. Hiring priorities can change, particularly in growing companies. A position may evolve, technical requirements may shift, funding or timing may change, or the research itself may reveal that the available talent looks different from what was originally anticipated. Because ProFound works on an hourly basis, the search can be adjusted as circumstances change. We can refine the candidate profile, redirect the research toward different companies or backgrounds, change priorities, pause the work, or stop the engagement entirely. Clients are not committed to completing a predetermined search process or paying a placement fee simply because an engagement has begun. They pay for the work actually performed. The ongoing visibility into our research also means that these decisions can be made as the search develops rather than after significant time has been spent pursuing the wrong direction.

Yes. A strong candidate does not have to originate with ProFound to become part of the search process. If a client has already identified someone, receives a referral, or has candidates apply directly through its website or another source, we can incorporate those individuals into the same evaluation process. When appropriate, we can review their backgrounds, conduct the same detailed screening we use with candidates we identify, document our findings, and include them in the client’s search database and pipeline. This gives company leadership a consistent way to evaluate candidates regardless of where they came from and can reduce the amount of time the internal team spends screening people who may ultimately not meet the requirements. Our objective is to help the client make the right hire—not to determine who gets credit for finding the candidate.

We take client conflicts seriously. When ProFound accepts an engagement, we do not simultaneously work with a direct competitor on a search that could compromise the client’s interests or create uncertainty about whom we represent. This is particularly important in the specialized technical markets where we often work. The strongest candidates may come from a relatively small group of companies, and clients may share sensitive information with us about their organization, technology, hiring plans, and future growth. We want company leadership to be comfortable discussing those issues openly. Our responsibility is to protect the integrity of the search and the trust the client has placed in us—not to create competing assignments simply to generate additional recruiting fees. If a potential conflict exists, we discuss it before accepting the work.

Every search begins with an in-depth conversation with the company leaders who understand the position and the organization best. We use that discussion to go well beyond the written position description. We want to understand what the person will actually be expected to accomplish, the day-to-day responsibilities, which qualifications are essential and where there is flexibility, the technical and leadership environment, and what will make someone successful within the company. We also discuss practical considerations such as location, remote work or relocation, visa requirements, compensation parameters, preferred backgrounds or schools when relevant, companies we should target or avoid, and any individuals the company has already considered or does not want us to contact. From that conversation, we develop the search strategy and begin mapping the relevant talent market. As the initial research develops, we can review it with company leadership to make sure we are looking in the right places before significant time is spent on outreach. The objective I s simple: understand the assignment thoroughly at the beginning while retaining the flexibility to refine it as we learn more.

We combine ongoing access to the search with regular communication from ProFound. In addition to the client’s real-time access to the private search database, we provide regular progress reports summarizing the work completed, candidate activity, issues we are encountering, and areas where client input may be helpful. We do not believe a client should have to wonder what is happening between candidate presentations. If the research reveals something important—perhaps the target market is narrower than anticipated, compensation is affecting candidate interest, or a particular requirement is significantly limiting the available talent—we discuss it with company leadership rather than simply continuing down the same path. The purpose of our reporting is not just to document activity. It is to keep the client informed enough to make decisions while the search is underway and to make adjustments when they can still improve the outcome.

Because every search is different, we do not believe in assigning the same fixed price to every engagement. Clients are billed for the actual time spent on their search, with time tracked in quarter-hour increments. The amount of work required depends on factors such as the complexity of the position, the size of the relevant talent market, the availability of qualified candidates, and the amount of research and outreach necessary. Clients have visibility into current billing throughout the engagement, so costs do not accumulate without their knowledge. If desired, we can also establish spending parameters or limits for a particular period. We invoice twice monthly, normally on the 1st and 15th, with payment due within 15 days. This progressive billing structure allows clients to pay for the search as the work is performed rather than facing a large recruiting fee at one time. Most importantly, our fees are based on the work required to conduct the search—not on the compensation ultimately paid to the person who is hired. That distinction can make the economics particularly attractive for senior and highly compensated positions.

Every ProFound engagement is led directly by senior leadership. We do not use a model in which the person who develops the client relationship hands the search off and disappears from the process. The same senior-level involvement continues from the initial discussion and search strategy through research, candidate evaluation, presentations, and ongoing communication with the client. Experienced researchers and recruiters may support an engagement as needed, particularly when a search requires extensive market mapping or outreach. Their work is coordinated and reviewed as part of the overall search process. This structure allows us to bring additional resources to an assignment when they are useful while maintaining continuity, accountability, and direct senior involvement throughout the engagement.

The research does not disappear when the engagement ends. The client’s private search database remains available online for 60 days after the engagement is completed, giving company leadership continued access to the candidate research, notes, and other information developed during the search. After that period, ProFound archives the database indefinitely. If the company has another hiring need in the future, the information can be reactivated and used as a starting point for a new engagement rather than automatically beginning the research again from scratch. The information can also be exported for the client if requested. This can be particularly valuable for growing companies because people identified during one search may become relevant to another position months or even years later. The research was developed for the client and paid for by the client. We believe its value should extend beyond the date on which the original search ends.

ProFound works primarily with early-stage and growing companies that need to identify and recruit people for important technical and leadership positions. Much of our experience has been with companies in advanced materials, chemistry, energy, critical minerals, emerging technology, advanced manufacturing, and other technically complex markets. These are often environments where the people a company needs are not actively looking for a new position and cannot be reached effectively through job postings alone. Our work can range from an individual critical hire to helping a company build out a technical, commercial, or leadership team. We are particularly well suited to assignments that require focused market research, direct outreach, and a detailed understanding of what a candidate has actually accomplished. We do not need a large number of openings to work with a company. Many engagements begin with a single position where making the right hire is especially important.