How to choose a government recruiting firm

Decide what you are buying

Recruiting help comes in a few shapes, and each is priced differently. Know which one you need before you compare firms.

• One hard role: a search for a senior or specialist hire, paid on contingency or retained.
• A hiring program: many hires to a deadline, usually priced per engagement.
• Staff augmentation: recruiters who work inside your HR team for a period, billed for their time.
• Software: a sourcing tool your own team uses, priced per seat.

Many teams need two of these at once, such as a program for the volume roles and a search for the one role nobody can fill.

Ask for the market before the pitch

A firm that knows your market can tell you, on the first call, who else is hiring your role, what they advertise and how many openings are new. It can say roughly where the people are and how many of them are likely to move.

Ask where every figure comes from and what date it is. A number with no source or date is a sales line, not a market view. The firm you want will also tell you when the answer is “not many”, because it would rather lose the deal than miss the deadline.

Check how it handles public-sector rules

For an agency role, the firm should know that it brings applicants to your announcement and nothing more. Your agency rates them, applies veterans’ preference and selects. A firm that promises candidates a job, or suggests working around the announcement, is a risk to you.

For a cleared role, ask how the firm finds cleared people and who verifies them. A recruiter can find people who state a clearance or whose work history makes one likely. Only a facility or agency security officer can verify eligibility. Treat any claim of “verified cleared candidates” as a question: ask who verified, and how.

Ask, too, how the firm keeps protected traits such as age, race, sex and religion out of its screening. The answer should be simple and immediate.

Compare fees on the same basis

Contingency firms are paid only when you hire, usually a share of first-year salary. Retained firms take part of the fee up front and commit a team to the search. Programs and staff augmentation are usually priced per engagement or by time.

Put these questions to every firm, and compare the written answers side by side:

• What exactly counts as a hire, and when is the fee due?
• Is there a replacement guarantee if the hire leaves early?
• Do you need exclusivity, and for how long?
• How long do you claim a candidate you introduced?

Look at the reporting

Ask to see a sample of what you will receive each week. The useful version lists every candidate on the shortlist with the reason they are there, the people the firm passed on and why, and where the search stands against the deadline.

Ask how candidate data is stored, who can see it and whether it is ever sold. Candidates trust the firm with their details, and that trust reflects on you.

Make the purchase simple

Since October 1, 2025, the micro-purchase threshold is $15,000, so a government office can buy smaller engagements or software on a purchase card. Buys up to the simplified acquisition threshold, now $350,000, can use simplified procedures. Ask for a written quote and a W-9 before any work starts.

For anything larger, your contracting officer decides what registrations and contract vehicles are required. Ask the firm about them early, so the answer does not surprise you late.