Part of a recruiter. All of the function.
Some teams are hiring constantly and still cannot justify a full time recruiter. Fractional support gives you a senior person for part of the week, priced as capacity, flexing up and down with the plan instead of with your headcount approvals.
What fractional actually buys you
The point is seniority at a size you can afford, not cheap hours.
A slice of a senior person, not a junior full timer
For the cost of a junior recruiter you get part of the week from someone who has closed the roles you are trying to close. On a small req load that trade is almost always worth making, because seniority shows up in the close rate rather than the hours logged.
Priced as capacity
You buy a defined amount of recruiter time per week or per month. Not a percentage of anyone's salary, and not a per hire fee that punishes you for hiring more.
It flexes with the plan
Two days a week during a steady quarter, four when a funding round lands, back down when the roles are filled. Changing the level is a conversation, not a contract renegotiation or a layoff.
The function keeps running when you are between leaders
Interviews still get scheduled, pipeline still gets worked, candidates still hear back. A fractional recruiter keeps the machine alive while you run the search for the person who will own it.
Not sure which shape you need?
Fractional, contract, and embedded are the same idea at different intensities. Describe the req list and the deadline and we will tell you which one the plan actually calls for.
Frequently asked
- What is fractional recruiting support?
- Fractional recruiting support is engaging a senior recruiter for part of their working time rather than hiring one full time. You get a defined amount of recruiting capacity each week, dedicated to your reqs and working inside your systems. It suits companies whose hiring is steady but not heavy enough to justify a full time recruiter, and companies who need to start hiring before headcount for a recruiter is approved.
- How is fractional different from contract or embedded recruiting?
- They sit on the same spectrum and differ mainly in intensity and duration. Fractional is part of a week, usually ongoing, and often the whole recruiting function for a smaller company. Contract recruiting is typically full time capacity for a defined period, aimed at a specific hiring push. Embedded recruiting is full time capacity sitting inside an existing talent team and following that team's standards. The pricing logic is the same in all three: you buy capacity, not placements.
- How many hires can a fractional recruiter realistically close?
- It depends on role difficulty far more than on hours. A fractional recruiter at two days a week on mid level commercial roles can usually carry four to six active reqs. The same two days against deep specialist searches might carry two. We scope against your actual req list rather than quoting a number that sounds good, and we will tell you when the capacity you are asking for does not match the plan you have described.
- Is fractional recruiting worth it for a small company?
- Usually yes when you are hiring continuously at low volume, because agency fees on even a handful of hires tend to exceed a year of part time capacity. It is usually not worth it if you expect to make one or two hires and then stop, where contingent search costs less and carries no ongoing commitment. The break even depends on your salary bands, so ask us to run it against your real numbers.
- Can fractional support convert to full time later?
- Frequently, and that is a healthy outcome. Many teams use fractional support to prove the hiring volume is real before they ask for recruiter headcount, then either convert the person or hire beside them. Conversion terms are agreed up front.
Start with the req list.
Send us what you are hiring for and we will come back inside 48 hours with the capacity the plan needs and what it costs.