How we staff you

Three engagement models. The difference between them is not really the paperwork, it is who carries which risk and for how long. This page is about choosing the right one, and about what actually happens once you have.

Choosing between them

Most of the time the right model falls out of two questions: do you know how long you need the person, and do you know yet whether you want to keep them.

	Contract	Contract-to-hire	Direct hire
Use it when	The work has an end date, or you need capacity without adding headcount	You want the role permanently but not before you have seen the person do it	You know you want a permanent hire and you want it filled properly
Who employs the worker	Us, or the worker's own corporation. Not you.	Us at first, then you on conversion	You, from day one
How it ends	On the end date, or on notice	By conversion, or by the contract ending	It does not. They are your employee.
Who carries the payroll risk	Us. Workers are paid on schedule regardless of when you settle our invoice.	Us until conversion, then you	You
Headcount impact	None	None until conversion	Immediate
What it does not solve	Continuity. Plan for the person leaving when the contract does.	Speed to permanence. Conversion takes as long as the trial needs.	Flexibility. Getting it wrong is expensive for both of you.

Contract staffing

Coverage for a defined period without a permanent hiring commitment. A parental leave, a funded program with an end date, a system implementation, a seasonal peak, or capacity you need now and cannot justify as permanent headcount.

The worker is engaged by us, not by you. We handle their engagement, their pay cycle and their invoicing, and they are paid on schedule regardless of when your accounts payable settles with us. That last point matters more than it sounds: it is the difference between a contractor who stays and one who leaves mid-assignment because they were not paid.

What we will tell you before you commit: who the person is, what they have done, what they cost, and when they can start. What you should tell us: the real end date, whether it is likely to extend, and what the work actually involves rather than what the job description says.

Contract-to-hire

The person starts on contract and converts to your permanent employee once the fit is proven on the job. It is the honest answer to a role you want to fill permanently but cannot yet describe precisely, or where the cost of a bad permanent hire is high.

Two things worth saying plainly. First, conversion is mutual. The candidate is not obliged to convert, and we tell them that up front, because a candidate who feels trapped into a permanent role is a candidate who leaves in month four. Second, agree the conversion terms at the start, not at the point you want to convert. Leaving it open creates an argument at exactly the moment everyone is happy, which is a bad trade.

If you are using this model mainly to defer a hiring decision you have already made, contract staffing is usually cheaper and direct hire is usually faster. Tell us what you are actually trying to do and we will say which one we think it is.

Direct hire

We recruit and place a permanent employee onto your team, on your payroll, your benefits and your terms, from the first day. We run the search, screen, and manage the process with you, then step out.

This is the model where the work is almost entirely front-loaded, and where the quality of the brief determines the quality of the outcome more than anything we do afterwards. The conversations worth having before the search starts are about the salary band you will actually approve, the two or three things a candidate genuinely cannot lack, and who on your side makes the decision.

How an engagement runs

You tell us the requirement. Discipline, how many, the timeline, where the work is, and any screening the role carries.
We respond within two business days, including when the answer is that this is not a requirement we should be taking. We would rather decline than fill something badly.
We agree the shape. Model, rate or fee basis, duration, replacement terms, and how you want candidates presented.
We source and screen. Candidates we have already vetted shorten the front end where they fit; where they do not, we go and find people for this specific requirement. Both run at once rather than one after the other.
We present a shortlist with our reasoning, including what each candidate is weaker on. A shortlist where everyone looks perfect is a shortlist that has not been read properly.
You interview and decide. We handle scheduling, feedback both ways, and the offer conversation.
They start, and we stay in it. A partner remains on the account for the duration, not just through the placement.

What we ask you for, and what you should ask us

The engagements that go well are the ones where both sides front-load the awkward questions.

What helps us most

The rate or salary band you will actually approve, not the one you would like to pay
Which requirements are genuinely non-negotiable and which are on the list out of habit
Whether the work is on site, hybrid or remote, and how firm that is
Who decides, and how quickly they can move once they have seen someone good
Any screening the role carries, and who sponsors it

What you should make us answer

Pricing, timelines and deliverables for a specific engagement are set out in a written agreement rather than on a web page, because they vary by discipline, volume and duration. That is not a reason for you to go into a conversation without a checklist. Ask us, and expect specific answers rather than ranges that mean nothing:

The fee basis for each model, and the conversion fee schedule for contract-to-hire
What is inside the bill rate and what is passed through
The replacement guarantee: how long it runs, and whether it is a replacement or a refund
Who employs the worker, and who carries the classification risk
Payment terms, invoicing format, and how time is approved
What happens if a placement fails in week two, and what happens if it fails in month six

If a staffing supplier will not answer those on a first call, that tells you something useful about them.

Talk to us about a requirement

Tell us the discipline, the number of roles and the timeline. Two business days, either way.

Talk to us about a requirement Read the FAQ