Found cheaper? We match it — see conditions. Incorporation and secretary transfer also carry a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Recruitment isn't the fee. It's what happens when it fails.
Weeks of searching, sixty CVs in, only twelve read — still nobody right.
6 weeks
gone, still no hire
What the fee is, and when it's due
Four, and only four
Success fee
Paid on a start date
You pay when someone accepts and starts. Not before.
The formula
Percent of annual salary
Monthly pay × 12. A RM 5,000/month hire is RM 10,800 on Professional Hire.
Retainer
Paid whether you hire or not
We do not charge one, on Essential and Professional Hire.
Replacement window
If it doesn't work out
Resigns, or is let go for performance, inside 60 or 90 days — the search runs again free.
+ many agencies work this way too — some bill a retainer regardless
What it looks like
The number to compare is the percentage.
What's actually true
The number that matters is what you've spent if it doesn't work — nobody found, or gone again by week six.
Every agency in Malaysia quotes somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five percent, so on that number alone there is barely anything to choose between us.
The one search that works differently
Essential and Professional Hire are contingency — nothing invoiced until someone starts. Executive Search is not.
Retained means paid for the search itself, whether or not it ends in a hire — the one place on this page the zero-cost-until-start promise does not apply. It is priced differently, and that is stated here rather than left for the small print.
The one question that decides this
Any agency can place someone. Almost none will carry it past that.
What you're holding if it doesn't stick
This month, a typical agency and OCTIS do the same work for a similar fee, and the difference only shows up if the person you hired leaves within the replacement window:
What a standalone agency's shape prevents
What they do well
A good agency finds and places the right person — every CV read, the shortlist interviewed before you ever see it.
What their shape can't reach
Their job ends the moment someone accepts. The contract and the first payroll run become somebody else's problem to arrange, because a standalone agency was never set up to hold that account too.
This is the fee, as a percentage of the hire's annual salary, charged only if someone accepts and starts:
Every agency in Malaysia sits somewhere in that range, so on the percentage alone there is very little to choose between us.
Resigns, or is let go for performance, inside the window and the search runs again free. This is the placement guarantee — a separate, service-specific promise from the site-wide money-back guarantee, which covers two other services; see the guarantee page for what that one covers.
RM 0
Retainer, on Essential and Professional Hire. Nothing beyond the briefing call if nobody suitable is found — many agencies work this way too; some bill a retainer regardless.
More money buys strictly more
The three tiers differ in the fee percentage and how long the free-replacement guarantee lasts, and Executive Search is priced differently because it is retained rather than paid only on a successful hire:
| Tier | Fee, and what happens if it doesn't work |
|---|---|
| Essential Hire | 15% of salary, min RM 4,000 — 60-day free replacement |
| Professional Hire | 18%, min RM 6,000 — 90-day free replacement |
| Executive Search | Retained, priced per search — scoped per search |
When you pay
When someone accepts and starts — not before
The fee base
Gross annual salary, monthly pay × 12
Retainer
None, on Essential and Professional Hire
Executive Search is retained — the one exception.
Not covered
- Extended replacement window, psychometric assessment, extra reference checks, employer branding pack — not priced yet
- Contract drafting and payroll onboarding are separate services in the same account, not bundled into this fee
- Executive Search is retained, priced per search — not contingency like Essential and Professional Hire
What if nobody suitable turns up?
Nothing beyond the briefing call, on Essential and Professional Hire. Many agencies work the same way — some still bill a retainer regardless of the outcome, which is worth checking before you sign with anyone.
What counts as "they left", for the replacement window?
Resigns, or is let go for performance, inside 60 days on Essential Hire or 90 on Professional Hire. The search runs again, free.
Why is Executive Search priced differently?
It's retained, not contingency — paid for the search itself, whether or not it ends in a hire. Scoped per search.
Is the fee on take-home pay or gross?
Gross annual salary — monthly pay times twelve. A RM 5,000-a-month hire on Professional Hire works out to RM 10,800.
You've spent six weeks doing this. You were supposed to be running the business.
Brief us once. Nothing is invoiced until someone signs and starts.