The best recruiting marketplace for you is the one whose actual searches fit your expertise and whose terms you understand. A headline split or a large network count is not enough.
Correction: An earlier version ranked platforms using unsupported commission, conversion, and earnings figures. Those rankings have been withdrawn. This is an evaluation checklist, not an independent ranking or a verified market study.
1. Separate the client fee from your share
Ask what the client pays, what that percentage applies to, and which portion you receive. A partner share is not the same thing as a placement-fee rate.
Refery’s client fee is 15% to 25% of first-year base salary. Independent recruiters, operator scouts, and TA partners each earn 70% of the collected placement fee on eligible hires they originate. The applicable agreements govern attribution, timing, and guarantee effects.
A labeled example: $200,000 base × 15% client fee × 70% partner share = $21,000 in gross partner fees, if the placement is eligible and the fee is collected. It is not typical earnings or a volume forecast.
2. Inspect role fit, not just role count
Ask which searches are active now and which match your specialty. Review the brief, compensation, location, working arrangement, interview process, and hiring-team availability.
Refery focuses on Engineering, AI, and GTM at VC-backed Seed to Series B companies. The public partner pages explain that focus; they are not a live vacancy inventory or a promise of ongoing role volume.
A generous split on a search you cannot credibly work is not useful. How Refery’s independent recruiter network works.
3. Understand who does the work
Ask who owns client communication, brief changes, candidate screening, feedback, scheduling, and fee collection. Do not infer that a managed service means you have no responsibilities after making an introduction.
At Refery, specialist independent recruiters contribute search expertise while founder, operator, and investor scouts contribute first-hand referrals. Refery coordinates the search and hiring-company relationship. Confirm your role with the team.
What search support looked like at Refery
In one engagement, a recruiting partner spotted that a full-stack brief combined product engineering with specialist work overlapping another open seat. Refery brought the concern to the founder, got agreement on a broader profile, and relayed that answer back.
That is a concrete thing to look for when evaluating support: can your market feedback reach the person who can change the brief? A contact channel is useful only if it leads to a decision you can work with.
Read the anonymized Refery search story. It is a documented example of coordination, not a promise that every search will change its requirements or produce the same result.
4. Read the payment conditions
Ask when fees become payable, whether payment depends on client collection, and what happens if a search stops or a hire leaves. Request the relevant agreement before relying on a payout forecast.
For Refery, partner payment follows client-fee collection and the partner agreement. Do not translate that into an unconditional number of days after a start date. The client’s 90-day guarantee and your partner payment terms are connected questions, not interchangeable promises.
5. Resolve attribution and conflicts
Which introduction qualifies? What if the candidate is already known, arrives through another channel, or is considered for a different role? How long does attribution last under the agreement?
Keep records of candidate permission, submission, role, company, and confirmation. Avoid duplicate submissions, and check restrictions in your existing employment or client agreements before doing outside work.
A worksheet for your shortlist
Fill this in from current proposals and written terms, not a third-party leaderboard.
| Question | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Can I work these roles well? | Current briefs in your specialty |
| What do I earn on an eligible hire? | Client fee basis, partner share, and adjustments |
| Who supports the search? | Named responsibilities and feedback process |
| When might I be paid? | Collection and payout conditions |
| What protects attribution? | Written rules for duplicates, timing, and changed roles |
| What obligations do I take on? | Confidentiality, conflicts, outside work, and termination terms |
Make a small, deliberate start
Choose a relevant search, confirm the agreement, and track the work from introduction through feedback and collection. Use your own results to decide whether to expand. Do not treat one success or one difficult search as an industry benchmark.
Refery’s partner recruiter page, scout page, and TA partner page explain the same 70% collected-fee share for different kinds of contributors. Apply to join if the role focus fits your work.
For how each network actually pays, including split-placement networks and their membership costs, see recruiting networks and marketplaces for independent recruiters.