Engagements
Scoped engagements
Every engagement states what you receive, how long it runs and what completion means before it begins. It starts with a hiring diagnostic, runs on weekly written reporting, and ends with your team keeping the research and the pipeline.
Steps
Engagement steps
Five steps, each with a defined output. Nothing in the engagement depends on a placement happening.
Hiring diagnostic
A short session on scope, market reality and compensation. You get a written recommendation on the right next move, whether that is a search, a market map or a scope change on your side.
Scope selection
Pick the engagement model: research sprint, embedded search, fractional partnership, site launch team build or executive search. Each states deliverables, duration and what completion means.
Kickoff and calibration
Scorecards, a written success profile and an approved compensation range before outreach begins. A named hiring sponsor on your side keeps decisions moving.
Weekly reporting
A written report every week: who was contacted, what candidates said and what is blocking the search.
Completion and transfer
Completion is defined in writing up front. At handoff, your team keeps the research, the pipeline, the messaging and the compensation data.
Structures
Engagement structures
Scope, duration and commercial structure are stated in writing for every model. The hiring diagnostic confirms which one fits before any agreement is signed.
Fixed-fee research sprint
A time-boxed research engagement with defined deliverables and no placement obligation. Used for talent intelligence and market maps.
Talent Intelligence Sprint
Fixed monthly fee
A dedicated recruiter operating inside your process for a defined set of hard roles, with weekly written reporting.
Embedded Search Sprint
Fixed monthly retainer
Recruiting leadership, interview process design and compensation intelligence at a defined weekly capacity, without adding a full-time talent hire.
Fractional Talent Partner
Milestone-aligned monthly fee
Hiring sequenced against construction, commissioning and go-live dates for a new site, region or platform team.
Site Launch or Team Build
Staged fixed fee
A scoped leadership search with calibration, confidential market mapping, structured assessment and offer strategy through the start date.
Selective Executive Search
Deliverables, time boxes and commercial terms for each engagement are listed on the homepage engagement scopes. We commit to the deliverables listed. We don't guarantee hires.
Method
Search stages
Six steps, each with a written output. The research and pipeline go to your team at the end.
- Step 1
Brief
A written role brief, a scorecard agreed with the hiring manager, and a check of scope, pay and location against the candidate market before outreach starts.
- Step 2
Market map
A named list of target companies across AI infrastructure firms, operators, EPCs and OEMs, built with AI tools and checked against people we already know.
- Step 3
Outreach
Direct outreach from Czarina, with a weekly report on how many people were contacted, who replied and why people passed.
- Step 4
Screening
Screens against the scorecard, a written case for each candidate including the risks, and their pay expectations on the record.
- Step 5
Offer
Offer planning, a read on counteroffer risk, and help with the resignation and any relocation through the start date.
- Step 6
Handover
Your team keeps the pipeline, research files, messaging and comp data. The work stays with you when the engagement ends.
Commitments
Delivery standards, research depth, outreach volume, reporting cadence and response times. Outcomes depend on market conditions, scope, compensation and process speed, and the weekly report names those risks while the search is live.
Contingency
Contingency pays only on placement, which rewards fast submittals, and the market research stays with the agency. Engagements here are paid for the work, so mapping, comp research and accurate feedback are part of the deliverable.
What the engagement requires from you
- A named hiring sponsor who can make decisions
- An approved compensation range before outreach begins
- Feedback on submitted candidates within 48 hours
- Interview slots held open during the active search window
We commit to delivery standards, research depth, outreach volume, reporting cadence and response times. Outcomes depend on market conditions, scope, compensation and process speed.
FAQ
Questions
If your question is not answered here, the hiring diagnostic is the fastest way to ask it.
- How does an engagement start?
- With a hiring diagnostic: a short working session on role scope, market reality and compensation. You leave with a recommendation on the right next move, even if the recommendation is not a search. The engagement scope is confirmed in writing before any agreement is signed.
- Do you work on contingency?
- No. Engagements are paid for the work: market mapping, role definition, outreach and weekly reporting are the deliverables, whether or not a placement happens. It also means we can tell you when a role is not fillable as written.
- Who runs the engagement?
- Czarina Tabayoyong, founder of Critical Path Hiring, personally leads calibration, market mapping, outreach strategy, candidate assessment and close. Searches are not staffed with junior sourcers or subcontracted out.
- What do we receive during the engagement?
- A written report every week: named target companies, professionals profiled against the scorecard, outreach status, response themes, compensation feedback, market objections, role-definition risks and recommended changes, plus next actions and what we need from your team.
- What happens at the end?
- Every scope defines what completion means before the engagement begins. At completion, your team keeps the research files, the pipeline, the messaging and the compensation data. The work stays with you when the engagement ends.
- Can a scope change once it has started?
- Scopes can be extended or revised by mutual agreement, and the completion conditions in writing are updated to match. Changes are agreed in writing.
Hiring requirements
A short hiring diagnostic covers scope, market reality and compensation. You leave with a recommendation even if it is not a search.