Why we invest before presenting the first candidate
In recruitment, success fees are a familiar commercial model. A company engages a recruitment agency and pays an agreed fee when a candidate is successfully hired. At Ahoy Career, we also work with success-based recruitment fees. However, our approach commonly includes a prepayment at the beginning of the engagement.
In many projects, this represents approximately one-third of the agreed recruitment fee. The actual proportion and payment structure depend on the scope, hiring volume, locations and requirements of the assignment. The reason is connected to how we recruit.
We combine traditional recruitment expertise with market research, direct sourcing, performance marketing hiring, candidate qualification and recruiter-led assessment.
This approach involves work and investment before a candidate reaches the client’s interview process. Prepayment allows us to commit resources to the recruitment project from the beginning, while the remaining success-based component keeps our remuneration connected to the hiring outcome.
Recruitment starts before the first CV reaches the client
When a company approaches us with a vacancy, the first step is to understand the hiring challenge.
The job description explains what the employer is looking for, but it does not necessarily tell us where the relevant candidates can be reached, how competitive the opportunity is or what may influence candidate interest. This is particularly important in multilingual and international recruitment.
Language requirements, location, salary expectations, working arrangements and relocation considerations can substantially affect the candidate audience. Before starting acquisition activities, we examine the recruitment brief and relevant market signals.
We then determine how to approach the audience, which channels are appropriate and what qualification criteria should be established.
Paid candidate acquisition is part of our standard recruitment methodology, alongside direct sourcing and other recruitment channels. Its intensity, platform selection and execution depend on the requirements of the assignment. We do not apply an identical acquisition plan to every vacancy.
A specialist role in one location may require a different approach from a multilingual recruitment project covering several countries or a high-volume hiring assignment. The objective is to create an effective recruitment process for the specific hiring challenge.
Where does our recruitment investment go?
When Ahoy Career agrees to deliver a recruitment project, we decide how to allocate the resources needed to execute it. Those resources may include several connected activities.
Market research and recruitment planning
We begin by examining the role, target audience and available market information. This helps us understand potential acquisition channels, geographical considerations and requirements that may affect the reachable candidate pool.
Research does not eliminate uncertainty, but it provides a stronger basis for planning recruitment activities.
Candidate acquisition
Our recruitment approach combines appropriate channels to reach relevant candidates. Direct sourcing, professional networks, candidate relationships, job advertising and paid acquisition may all contribute.
Performance marketing hiring allows us to introduce opportunities to audiences beyond people who are actively searching for a specific vacancy. Depending on the market and role, that may involve Meta, Google or other suitable advertising channels.
Ahoy Career plans, operates and funds these acquisition activities as part of delivering the agreed recruitment service.
Candidate qualification and communication
Generating candidate interest is only the beginning of the process. Before launching acquisition activities, we establish the essential qualification criteria with the client.
These requirements inform how we assess initial candidate interest and suitability. Where relevant, we use technology such as Kimberlit.ai to support qualification, communication and candidate follow-up.
Our recruiters then assess suitable candidates through direct conversations, reviewing their experience, motivation, expectations and fit against the agreed brief. The purpose is to present candidates who have progressed through a meaningful qualification process rather than forwarding every application or lead.
Recruitment delivery and market feedback
As the project progresses, we assess the information available from acquisition activities, qualification results and recruiter conversations. We may identify differences in candidate interest between locations, recurring concerns about employment conditions or requirements that limit the relevant audience. These findings can inform discussions with the client about the recruitment approach.
Advertising data alone cannot determine whether a candidate will be hired. The client’s interview process, feedback and hiring decisions remain important parts of the overall outcome.
Why combine prepayment with a success fee?
The traditional success-fee model can work well, particularly where recruitment relies on established candidate relationships, networks and direct sourcing.
Our approach also includes active investment in candidate acquisition. That investment begins before the hiring outcome is known. Rather than treating every recruitment assignment as an activity financed entirely until placement, we structure many engagements around an initial commitment and a remaining success-based payment.
Prepayment supports the mobilisation of the recruitment project. It allows us to begin research, acquisition, qualification and delivery activities with resources committed to the assignment.
At the same time, the success-based component preserves a direct commercial connection between Ahoy Career and the client’s hiring result. The two elements serve different purposes within one recruitment agreement.
Is prepayment an additional cost?
Under our standard approach, prepayment is part of the agreed recruitment fee, not an additional charge on top of it.
For example, the agreement may provide for approximately one-third of the expected recruitment fee to be paid at the beginning of the project, with the remaining amount payable according to the agreed success-based terms. The exact structure depends on the assignment.
The client agrees on the commercial conditions for recruitment delivery. Ahoy Career then manages the resources and operating costs required to perform the service. That includes decisions about the use of paid media, technology, research and recruiter capacity. The client is not purchasing a separate advertising campaign budget or paying individual invoices for each recruitment activity under this model. Our responsibility is to organise and execute the agreed recruitment service within the commercial framework established with the client.
What does the employer gain from this approach?
The value lies in the recruitment activities that the model enables.
Access to a wider candidate audience
Existing databases, direct sourcing and job advertisements remain useful recruitment channels. Performance marketing hiring adds the ability to introduce opportunities to relevant audiences who may not be actively applying for that specific vacancy. This can be particularly useful when language requirements, location or hiring volume make the candidate market more challenging.
A structured qualification process
We agree on essential requirements before candidate acquisition begins. Candidate interest can then be assessed against those criteria, supported by technology where appropriate and followed by recruiter-led evaluation. This helps distinguish between someone who has expressed interest and someone who may be suitable for the position.
Market feedback during recruitment
Active candidate acquisition can reveal useful information about the response to a role. Combined with recruiter conversations and client feedback, this can support adjustments to recruitment communication, targeting or the original assumptions behind the brief. It does not guarantee that every vacancy can be filled, but it provides a more informed basis for managing the search.
A committed recruitment engagement
Successful recruitment also requires cooperation from the employer. Timely feedback, interview availability, clear requirements and competitive employment conditions influence whether relevant candidates progress to a hire.
Our commercial approach reflects a shared commitment to the recruitment project, with responsibilities on both sides.
What happens if the recruitment does not result in a hire?
Recruitment outcomes are never entirely within the control of one party.
The available candidate market, employment conditions, candidate decisions and the client’s selection process all influence the final result. If a project does not progress as expected, we review the information available and discuss the situation with the client.
This may include candidate response, qualification results, market feedback and changes in the hiring requirements. The financial treatment of an unsuccessful assignment or a cancelled project depends on the agreed contract and the scope of work performed.
We establish these conditions before the engagement begins. Prepayment supports the delivery of recruitment activities. It is not a guarantee that a hire will occur regardless of market conditions.
Does every project follow the same commercial structure?
No.
Recruiting one specialist is different from delivering a multilingual hiring project across several locations or supporting a company with recurring volume recruitment. The scope of work, recruitment volume, geography, hiring requirements and expected delivery model influence the appropriate commercial arrangement.
While paid candidate acquisition is part of our standard methodology, the way we execute it varies. The same applies to prepayment.
We agree on a recruitment fee and payment structure appropriate to the assignment rather than applying identical terms to every project.
What should employers consider when choosing a recruitment partner?
Whether a recruitment agency works entirely on success fee, requests prepayment or uses another commercial model, employers should understand what they are buying.
Relevant questions include:
- How will the agency approach the candidate market?
- Which recruitment channels and methods will it use?
- What happens before candidates are presented?
- How will candidates be qualified against the agreed requirements?
- What market feedback will the employer receive?
- What responsibilities does each party have during the recruitment process?
- How are payment milestones, cancellation and unsuccessful searches addressed in the agreement?
The commercial model matters, but so does the work behind it.
An agency charging only after a successful hire is not automatically a better or worse partner than one that requests prepayment. The important question is whether the recruitment approach, responsibilities and commercial terms are appropriate for the hiring challenge.
Recruitment fees should reflect how recruitment is delivered
At Ahoy Career, we combine recruiter expertise with active candidate acquisition.
We research the market, reach relevant audiences, qualify candidate interest and assess suitable candidates before presenting them to employers. This requires investment before the first candidate is hired. Our prepayment model supports that investment while retaining a success-based component linked to recruitment results.
The employer agrees on the recruitment fee and commercial conditions. We take responsibility for organising and funding the activities needed to deliver the agreed service. For companies evaluating recruitment partners, the relevant question is therefore not simply whether an agency requests prepayment.
It is what the agency does to find and qualify candidates, how it manages the recruitment process and whether its approach fits the organisation’s hiring needs.
Planning a recruitment project?
If your organisation is looking for multilingual, international or volume recruitment support, we can discuss the hiring requirements, candidate market and appropriate commercial model.
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What Happens Before We Send You a Candidate? Inside the Ahoy Career Recruitment Process